An increase in the number of herpes zoster patients has been reported since universal varicella immunization was introduced, perhaps because of reduced opportunities for varicella patients to experience the natural booster effect caused by reexposure. We investigated recent trends of varicella zoster virus (VZV)–related central nervous system (CNS) infections at a university hospital in Japan. We enrolled patients with suspected CNS infection during 2013–2022 and tested cerebrospinal fluid samples by real-time PCR for DNA from 7 human herpesviruses. VZV DNA was the most commonly detected in 62 (10.2%) of 615 patients. Kulldorff’s circular spatial scan statistics demonstrated a significant temporal cluster of patients with VZV-related CNS infections during 2019–2022 (p = 0.008). Among persons with such infections, the percentage with aseptic meningitis was significantly higher during 2019–2022 (86.8%), when the temporal cluster of cases occurred, than during 2013–2018 (50.0%) (p = 0.0029).

据报道，自从引入普遍水痘免疫接种以来，带状疱疹患者的数量有所增加，这可能是因为水痘患者体验再次暴露引起的自然增强效应的机会减少。我们调查了日本一所大学医院水痘带状疱疹病毒 （VZV） 相关中枢神经系统 （CNS） 感染的最新趋势。我们在 2013-2022 年期间招募了疑似 CNS 感染的患者，并通过实时 PCR 检测了脑脊液样本中 7 种人类疱疹病毒的 DNA。VZV DNA 在 615 例患者中的 62 例 （10.2%） 中最常见。Kulldorff 的圆形空间扫描统计表明，在 2019-2022 年期间，VZV 相关 CNS 感染患者存在显着的时间集群 （p = 0.008）。在此类感染者中，无菌性脑膜炎百分比在 2019-2022 年（当病例发生时间聚集性病例时）显著高于 2013-2018 年期间 （50.0%） （p = 0.0029）。