Summaries of Must-Read Clinical Literature, Guidelines, and FDA Actions

Exogenous Boosting Against Shingles Not as Robust as Previously Thought

Publish date:: January 23, 2020

Key clinical point: Exposure to children with chickenpox reduces the incidence of shingles in adults, but does not provide complete protection.

Major finding: Chickenpox exposure from children in their households reduced the incidence of shingles in adults 33% over 2 years, and 27% out to 20 years.

Study details: Self-controlled case series with almost 10,000 adults.

Disclosures: There was no external funding, and the lead investigator had no relevant disclosures. One investigator reported research grants from GSK and Merck, both makers of chickenpox and shingles vaccines.

Citation:

Forbes H et al. BMJ 2020 Jan 22;368:l6987.

This Week's Must Reads

Younger adults present with more advanced esophageal adenocarcinoma,

Osteoporosis prevalence in PsA similar to general population,

Mortality risks rise with age, infections, but not inhibitor status in persons with non-severe hemophilia A,

DOACs look safe in elective endoscopic procedures,

Anorexia and diarrhea top list of GI symptoms in COVID-19 patients,

Must Reads in Infectious Diseases

Obesity, hypoxia predict severity in children with COVID-19,

Prophylactic HIV treatment in female STI patients is rare,

Combo DAA treatments may benefit patients with resistant HCV genotype 3,

Pronounced racial differences in HBsAg loss after stopping nucleos(t)ide,

Opt-out policy at a syringe service program increased HIV/HCV testing,