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Do herpes zoster patients receive antivirals?

April 26, 2017antivirals Herpes Patients zoster

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Do herpes zoster patients receive antivirals?

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Opstelten W; van Essen GA; Moons KG; van Wijck AJ; Schellevis FG; Kalkman CJ; Verheij TJ Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. w.opstelten@med.uu.nl BACKGROUND: The main complications of herpes zoster (HZ) are postherpetic neuralgia and, in case of HZ ophthalmicus, eye disorders. Antiviral treatment may modify the course of disease and reduce the risk of complications. OBJECTIVE: To assess which doctors’ and patients’ characteristics were related to prescription of antiviral therapy for HZ. METHODS: Ninety general practices (358 008 patients) in The Netherlands registered all patient contacts in a database for one year as part of the Second Dutch National Survey of General Practice. The present study used ICPC code S70 to search that database for patients with a new diagnosis of HZ. The full-text medical records of the selected patients were then reviewed and the potential determinants for the prescription of antiviral d