Psychological stress as a trigger for herpes zoster: might the conventional wisdom be wrong?

The causes for zoster remain largely unknown. Psychological stress is one commonly considered risk factor. We used self-controlled case series methods to look for increases in zoster following death or catastrophic health event occurring in a previously healthy spouse. We found no increase, although this stressor led to increased mental health visits. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.