Human immunodeficiency virus infection-AIDS in patients with herpes zoster in Gab贸n, 脕frica

[摘要] Introduction: herpes zoster results from the viral reactivation of the zoster´s varicella in the ganglion of the sensitive nerves, and is regularly associated to depression of the immunological system as is in the case of AIDS. Objective: to determine positivity for HIV in patients with Herpes Zoster. Methods: an observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study, which included all the 15 years-old or over patients of both sexes who went to the emergency service of the regional hospital in Mouila, Gabon and who presented characteristic herpes zoster lesions, was conducted. Results: in the studied patients, 74.13 % with herpes zoster were HIV-positive, males prevailed and the average age was 29.9 years old. In the majority of the cases, pain was the initial symptom and the more frequent location was the thorax. The location of several dermatomes was found in 16.27 % of the patients. Pre herpetic neuralgia averaged 3,209 days depending on the type of affected dermatome, being the cranial one the shortest. The most frequent complication was the post-zoster neuritis. Type I HIV was predominant; the LTCD4+ values ranged 200 to 499 cell/mm3. The treatment response was inadequate in patients with two types of HIV and the LTCD4+ count was below 500 cell/mm3. Conclusions: the presence of herpes zoster in young persons living in high AIDS/HIV incidence areas could be both a good clinic indicator of seropositivity and one of the disease manifestations.

[学科分类] 传染病学

[关键词] herpes zoster;HIV;AIDS