A research team at Gangnam Severance Hospital has confirmed that antiviral treatment for acute herpes zoster could prevent cardiovascular disease, the hospital said.

Herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is a skin disease that causes rashes or blisters, usually occurring in people over 50 as their immune systems weaken. If the herpes zoster virus directly penetrates the blood vessels of the brain, it can cause serious cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction, according to the hospital.

The team, led by Professor Lee Gyung-yeol of the Department of Neurology, studied the effects of antiviral drug treatment on cardiovascular disease in patients with herpes zoster and found that antiviral drugs lowered cardiovascular disease risks in patients with shingles.

Professor Kim Jin-kwon at Yongin Severance Hospital also participated in the study.

In the study, the team analyzed the incidence of cardiovascular diseases among 84,993 shingles patients who received antiviral treatment or did not receive treatment from 2003 to 2014. Researchers then followed up on the two groups for an average of 5.4 years to compare the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke.

As a result, they confirmed an 18 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular complications for the patient group who received antiviral treatment compared to the untreated group.

Also, the risk ratio of myocardial infarction in the group treated with antiviral drugs was 0.89, reducing the risk of myocardial infarction by 11 percent compared to the untreated group.

“Although herpes zoster is a disease that mainly occurs in older adults, we must not dismiss the ailment as a mere pain or skin disease as it can cause severe cardiovascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction or stroke,” Professor Lee said.

Professor Kim also said, “While antiviral drugs can effectively prevent complications of skin lesions and neuralgia during herpes zoster, no researches have confirmed whether the treatment can also reduce cardiovascular complications associated with herpes zoster.”

In this study, the researchers could confirm that administering an appropriate antiviral drug in the acute phase can sufficiently reduce the complications of severe cardiovascular disease in patients with shingles, Kim added.

Clinical Infectious Diseases published the results of the study in its latest issue.