Introduction
Shingles is a skin disease that manifests itself mainly by a one-sided redness of the skin in certain areas of the skin. The redness is usually accompanied by moderate to severe pain and blisters about the size of a pinhead. Most frequently affected are people between the ages of 60 and 70, although children can also contract the virus infection.
The disease is triggered by its pathogen: the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) from the herpes virus family. Shingles can be counted as a late consequence of chickenpox infection. The causes of Varicella zoster virus disease are mainly the infection of other sick persons.
Mostly this happens in kindergarten or elementary school, especially when children put a lot into their mouths and touch everything. Usually the contents of the blisters are infectious. Unfortunately, the vesicles sometimes itch very badly and especially children scratch them. After that, the pathogens are of course spread all over the hands and fingers of the children and can thus be transmitted particularly well to other children.
Diagnosis
The doctor can diagnose shingles very easily. In most cases, a good medical history and physical examination are sufficient. The characteristic blisters are easily visible on the skin.
They also produce unmistakable characteristic symptoms. Nevertheless, a smear test in the laboratory can give you further certainty if you are not sure whether shingles is actually present. For this purpose, the PCR – the polymerase chain reaction – is used to examine the vesicles for pathogens.
Course and duration
Normally, the disease usually does not last longer than 5 to 6 weeks. The course of the disease is very characteristic for shingles. At the beginning of the disease, when the typical blisters are not yet visible, children are very sensitive in the places where blisters will appear later.
Even light touching can cause pain. After only a few days, small blisters appear, which are close together and filled with highly infectious fluid. In addition, flu-like symptoms can also occur, which one also has when a flu-like infection begins, that is, in addition to fever and fatigue, as well as listlessness and swelling of the lymph nodes.
The location of the blisters can be varied. In children, however, it is usually said that they occur in the trunk area. This can, for example, only affect the back or abdomen, but can also extend around the body in a belt shape.
In some children, however, the blisters are also found in the head and neck area. Blisters can even appear on the face. The difference to chickenpox, where the vesicles look the same, is that in shingles they always appear in a certain area.
They are usually seen in groups. With chickenpox, on the other hand, the blisters can be scattered all over the body. The blisters themselves are often very itchy.
Due to the many scratching, scars may remain later, when the disease heals. You should therefore make sure that the children do not scratch themselves too much. In addition, the pathogens within the blisters spread very well to other patients. Pain is also possible, but it is usually more likely to occur in older people with greater intensity. Usually the dried out remains of the blisters (scab) fall off the skin after about 4 weeks.
