Cómo tratamos el herpes zóster en Atención Primaria

Objectives: Main goal: evaluation of the treatment of the patients with herpes zoster (HZ); Secondary goals: a) assessment of the incidence of HZ; b) assessment of the epidemiological and clinical characteristic of the patients; and c) analysis of the clinical course and the possible existence of postherpetic neuralgia (NP). Design, material and methods: clinical retrospective study, carried out in a urban health centre, on one sample of 106 patients with HZ in the computerized clinical history, during the year 2000 in morning and afternoon shift. Results: The incidence of HZ during the year 2000 was 5.28/1,000 inhab./year. The average of age was 51.18 ± 3. 78 years (IC 95%: 47.40-54.96). 26.4% of patients present a potential ability of immunity decrease. The treatment was very variable. Only 27.4% of the patients received oral antiviral drugs. The rate of complicated situations of HZ, which is similar to that of NP was 3.8 ± 3.6% (IC 95%: 0.2-7.4). Conclusions: there is a large variability in the treatment of patients with HZ in Primary Health Care. Because of this reason, it is important to unify issues of treatment by selectioning those patients who should receive antiviral drugs.