ACUTE HERPES-ZOSTER IN TAYSIDE - DEMOGRAPHIC AND TREATMENT DETAILS INIMMUNOCOMPETENT PATIENTS 1989-1992

Medical records of 105 patients admitted to Tayside hospitals with acu te Herpes zoster without underlying immunosuppression were examined re trospectively for the period 1984-1992. In this elderly population (me dian age: 79 years) there was a female preponderance (70.5%), most adm issions were for trigeminal tester (49.5%) and length of stay ranged f rom 1-70 days (median: 11 days), indicating significant morbidity, The re was a wide variation in both pre-admission and inpatient treatment; 53.3% of patients bid not receive any anti-viral therapy prior to adm ission, and prescribing patterns for in-patients revealed marked diffe rences, according to the dermatome affected, Idoxuridine 5% solution w as prescribed by 15.24% of General Practitioners, Given the significan t morbidity and associated costs of Herpes zoster, and that existing a nti-viral agents exert maximal benefit when administered early in the course of the disease, recommendations are made with respect to approp riate therapy, and auditing current management of this serious illness , which is expected to increase in prevalence as the population ages.