Childhood asthma may increase risk of shingles
/1/5/2016
Nearly 1 million cases of herpes zoster, which is also known as shingles, occur every year in the U.S., with an estimated one-third of all adults affected by age 80. Despite its prevalence, particularly between ages 50 and 59, it is still unclear why some individuals will develop shingles and others will not. In a population-based study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Mayo Clinic researchers build on their previous research from 2013, which linked asthma in childhood with an increased risk of shingles.
"Asthma represents one of the five most burdensome chronic diseases in the U.S., affecting up to 17 percent of the population," says lead author Dr. Young Juhn, a general academic pediatrician and asthma epidemiologist at the Mayo Clinic Children's Research Center. "The effect of asthma on the risk of infection or immune dysfunction might very well go beyond the airways."...
