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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Surv Ophthalmol. 2012 Apr 28;57(5):448–462. doi: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2012.01.005

TABLE 4.

Studies of HSV Keratitis Incidence

Location and Dates Method of Inclusion Incidence Data Trend Strengths Weaknesses
France; Sept–Dec 2002 Dendritic or geographic ulcer (epithelial), stromal keratitis with identical previous events, and subjective description by investigators (low, medium, or high probability of herpetic origin) New and recurrent epithelial keratitis in 22.0 per 100,000 person-years None noted during study period (3 months) Well-defined nationwide multicenter study with large number of randomized investigators reducing possibility of referral bias Potential seasonal effect on keratitis incidence
New and recurrent stromal keratitis in 9.2 per 100,000 person-years
Keratitis in 0.3 per 100,000 person-years that could not be classified
New and recurrent epithelial and stromal keratitis cases that were “highly probable” in 25.8 per 100,00 person-years
Rochester, MN (USA); 1950–1982 Punctate keratitis, dendritic or geographic ulcer (epithelial), or disciform/necrotizing keratitis (stromal) New and recurrent epithelial keratitis in 15.6 per 100,000 person-years Statistically insignificant rise in incidence during study period, possibly related to changing HSV-1 seroprevalence Well-defined long-term study data from single center that serves all of Rochester reducing possibility of referral bias Data from single center serving mostly white patients
New and recurrent stromal keratitis in 2.6 per 100,000 person-years
Funen, Denmark; 1976–1978 Epithelial dendritic ulcer Epithelial dendritic keratitis in 12 per 100,000 person-years None noted during study period (24 months) All cases in Funen that presented to an ophthalmologist were included (population 446,223) virtually eliminating referral bias Only cases of epithelial dendritic keratitis included
Copenhagen, Denmark; (study dates not reported) Epithelial dendritic ulcer Epithelial dendritic keratitis in 5.9 per 100,000 person-years None noted during study period (7 years) Long-term study data from single center Only cases of epithelial dendritic keratitis included, many cases seen in the community likely not included
Tunisia; Oct 1972– June 1973 Dendritic or geographic ulcer (epithelial) Epithelial keratitis in 1.4 per 100,000 person-years None noted during study period (8 months) Record-keeping included extraocular herpetic lesions and previous treatment Only epithelial keratitis incidence determined, no efforts made to include all cases from l’Institute d’Ophthalmologie de Tunis, no other centers included
Rijeka, Croatia; (study dates not reported) Keratitis Keratitis in 4 per 100,000 person-years None noted during study period (18 years) Long-term study performed at single center Methodology and results not well-described