Nagasako Elna M, Johnson Robert W, Griffin David R J, Elpern David J, Dworkin Robert H
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
J Med Virol. 2003;70 Suppl 1:S20-3. doi: 10.1002/jmv.10315.
Geographic and racial factors have been reported in studies of the epidemiology of varicella and herpes zoster. To clarify further these relationships, data from five multicenter clinical trials of the antiviral agent famciclovir were examined (total N = 2074). Non-Caucasian racial group and tropical region were each significantly associated with younger age at zoster onset. In analyses of the non-Caucasian subgroups, Black and Asian patients did not significantly differ in age or sex; however, Black and Asian patients from tropical regions had significantly younger mean ages at onset and greater rash duration at enrollment than those from temperate regions. Controlling for sex and rash duration at enrollment, both tropical region and non-Caucasian racial group were found to be independently associated with a younger age at zoster onset. These results suggest that racial group and geographic region may be independent factors associated with age at onset in patients with herpes zoster.
在水痘和带状疱疹的流行病学研究中，已报告了地理和种族因素。为进一步阐明这些关系，对抗病毒药物泛昔洛韦的五项多中心临床试验数据进行了检查（总样本量N = 2074）。非白种人种族群体和热带地区均与带状疱疹发病时的年龄较小显著相关。在对非白种人亚组的分析中，黑人和亚洲患者在年龄或性别上无显著差异；然而，来自热带地区的黑人和亚洲患者在发病时的平均年龄显著更小，且在入组时皮疹持续时间比来自温带地区的患者更长。在控制了性别和入组时的皮疹持续时间后，发现热带地区和非白种人种族群体均与带状疱疹发病时年龄较小独立相关。这些结果表明，种族群体和地理区域可能是与带状疱疹患者发病年龄相关的独立因素。
