People with eczema face higher risk of developing shingles

An analysis in JDDG: Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft found that people with eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis) face an elevated risk of developing shingles (or herpes zoster).

Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition, while shingles presents as a painful rash when the virus that causes chicken pox reactivates in the nervous system, particularly later in life or in immunosuppressed individuals.

When researchers analyzed 1997–2023 primary care information pertaining to 113,426,267 people listed in a UK database, they found that individuals with eczema had a 28% higher risk of developing shingles after adjusting for other influencing factors such as age, sex, comorbidities, cigarette smoking, and alcohol use. Use of immunosuppressant medications had a minimal effect on shingles risk. Also, shingles risk increased with the severity of eczema.

Mechanistically, an altered skin immune response in people with eczema may put them at risk of developing shingles.

"These findings may inform vaccination guidelines," the authors wrote.