Case-control study of the effect of mechanical trauma on the risk of herpes zoster

Herpes zoster results from reactivation of latent varicella zoster virus infection. 2] But these studies had no control group, and physical mishaps and surgical trauma are common in older people. We investigated whether trauma is associated with increased risk of zoster using a case-control design. Table A on bmj.com gives details of 14 people who had recent trauma at the site of subsequent rash in the case