Lotan Itay, Steiner Israel
Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Department of Neurology, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, and Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
J Neurol Sci. 2017 Apr 15;375:158-159. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2017.01.053. Epub 2017 Jan 18.
Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a form of large-vessel vasculitis affecting patients older than 50years old. Recent reports have suggested that the condition is caused by reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). If that is indeed the case, a vaccine that prevents VZV reactivation should reduce the incidence of GCA. To further test that hypothesis, we assessed the incidence of GCA among patients older than 50years of age who were vaccinated against VZV and compared it to GCA incidence in the general population.
Using a centralized electronic medical database of the major medical insurer in Israel, Clalit Health Services (CHS), we have calculated the incidence of newly-diagnosed GCA patients in the general population, as well as the incidence of GCA among patients previously vaccinated against VZV between 1.1 2014-31.10.2016.
The mean incidence of newly-diagnosed GCA among non-vaccinated patients older than 50years of age was 41.6/100,000/year, while the mean incidence of GCA among patients previously vaccinated against VZV in the same time period was 75.2/100,000/year (P=0.07).
These findings do not support the hypothesis that GCA is due to VZV reactivation.
巨细胞动脉炎（GCA）是一种影响50岁以上患者的大血管血管炎。最近的报告表明，这种疾病是由水痘带状疱疹病毒（VZV）重新激活引起的。如果确实如此，一种预防VZV重新激活的疫苗应该会降低GCA的发病率。为了进一步验证这一假设，我们评估了接种VZV疫苗的50岁以上患者中GCA的发病率，并将其与普通人群中GCA的发病率进行了比较。
利用以色列主要医疗保险公司Clalit Health Services（CHS）的集中式电子医疗数据库，我们计算了普通人群中新诊断GCA患者的发病率，以及2014年1月1日至2016年10月31日期间之前接种过VZV疫苗的患者中GCA的发病率。
50岁以上未接种疫苗患者中新诊断GCA的平均发病率为41.6/100,000/年，而同期之前接种过VZV疫苗的患者中GCA的平均发病率为75.2/100,000/年（P=0.07）。
这些发现不支持GCA是由VZV重新激活引起的这一假设。
