Hussey Hannah, Abdullahi Leila, Collins Jamie, Muloiwa Rudzani, Hussey Gregory, Kagina Benjamin
Institute of Tropical Medicine and International Health, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Vaccines for Africa Initiative, Division of Medical Microbiology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
BMC Infect Dis. 2017 Nov 14;17(1):717. doi: 10.1186/s12879-017-2815-9.
Varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes varicella and herpes zoster. These vaccine preventable diseases are common globally. Most available data on VZV epidemiology are from industrialised temperate countries and cannot be used to guide decisions on the immunization policy against VZV in Africa. This systematic review aims to review the published data on VZV morbidity and mortality in Africa.
All published studies conducted in Africa from 1974 to 2015 were eligible. Eligible studies must have reported any VZV epidemiological measure (incidence, prevalence, hospitalization rate and mortality rate). For inclusion in the review, studies must have used a defined VZV case definition, be it clinical or laboratory-based.
Twenty articles from 13 African countries were included in the review. Most included studies were cross-sectional, conducted on hospitalized patients, and half of the studies used varying serological methods for diagnosis. VZV seroprevalence was very high among adults. Limited data on VZV seroprevalence in children showed very low seropositivity to anti-VZV antibodies. Co-morbidity with VZV was common.
There is lack of quality data that could be used to develop VZV control programmes, including vaccination, in Africa.
PROSPERO 2015: CRD42015026144 .
水痘带状疱疹病毒（VZV）可引起水痘和带状疱疹。这些疫苗可预防的疾病在全球范围内都很常见。大多数关于VZV流行病学的现有数据来自工业化温带国家，无法用于指导非洲针对VZV的免疫政策决策。本系统评价旨在回顾非洲已发表的关于VZV发病率和死亡率的数据。
1974年至2015年在非洲进行的所有已发表研究均符合条件。符合条件的研究必须报告任何VZV流行病学指标（发病率、患病率、住院率和死亡率）。为纳入本评价，研究必须使用明确的VZV病例定义，无论是基于临床还是实验室的定义。
本评价纳入了来自13个非洲国家的20篇文章。大多数纳入研究为横断面研究，针对住院患者开展，且一半的研究使用了不同的血清学方法进行诊断。VZV血清阳性率在成年人中非常高。关于儿童VZV血清阳性率的有限数据显示，抗VZV抗体的血清阳性率非常低。VZV合并症很常见。
在非洲，缺乏可用于制定包括疫苗接种在内的VZV控制计划的高质量数据。
PROSPERO 2015：CRD42015026144 。
