The need for better preventative strategies for inflammatory bowel disease patients at risk of herpes zoster virus.

Our series is consistent with existing epidemiological analysis that identified more severe IBD and the use of multiple immunosuppressive therapies as risk factors for HZV. If the promise of an investigational subunit HZV vaccine is realised in immunocompromised patients, better protection may be possible in the future. Thiopurine medications were the most commonly used immunosuppressant in this series. Age and duration of immunosuppressive therapy do not appear to predict HZV infection.