Drug Induced Herpes Zoster(Do Statin induce Herpes Zoster?)

Abstract

Herpes zoster often occurs when cell-mediated immunity is impaired due to aging, primary diseases and drugs.
In recent time, one of the most commonly used antihyperlipidemic drugs, statin, is known to have an immunosuppressive effect. To determine the relationship between statin and herpes zoster, we have investigated (1) the side effects of the 362 drugs used in our hospital (2) the medication history of 76 patients who were admitted to our facility from January 2001 to June 2002 for herpes zoster treatment (3) the complications of the herpes zoster patients who had taken statin. The drugs with well documented immunosuppressive effect such as steroid hormone, immunosuppressant and anticancer drug were reported to produce herpes zoster. Additionally, statin(Lochol^® 5 cases, Lipitor^® 2 cases and Lipovas^® 1 case)and Onon^® were also reported to produce herpes zoster. 10 out of 76 HZ patients were taking statin in our study.
We must pay attention when examining herpes zoster patients as statin is commonly prescribed medication and often combined with other immunosuppressants.