Which patients are at risk for the development of PHN?

Which patients are at risk for the development of PHN?

Overall, the incidence of PHN is 5–10% in patients who develop an acute herpes zoster infection. The older the patient is when they develop acute herpes zoster, the greater the chance that they develop PHN. There is a greater than a 70% chance of developing PHN if the acute herpes infec-tion begins at age 70 years. In addition, increasing age at the onset of infection is also correlated with a longer duration of the PHN. It has been proposed that patients who have a longer, more painful episode of acute herpes zoster have an increased chance of developing PHN, and thus aggressive treatment, including pain management, of the acute herpes infection is recommended .