What Are the Causes of Shingles in Children?
Shingles in children is a rare condition. Less than 5 percent of all shingles sufferers are children. The disease, which is characterized by a rash, occurs as the second stage of chicken pox. The disease is most prevalent in adults over the age of 50. However, when shingles does occur in children, the symptoms don't always mirror those of adult shingles.
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History
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Most adults have had chicken pox at one point or another. The condition is caused by the varicella zoster virus. Prior to 1995, there was not a commercially available vaccine on the American market. Currently, many children receive the vaccine, which lowers the child's chance of contracting chicken pox and eventually shingles.
Significance
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After a child or adult contracts chicken pox, the varicella zoster virus can remain dormant in their body's nerve cells. Often, it will remain dormant for the rest of their lives, but in 1 percent of all people who contract chicken pox, the condition will return as shingles. Although shingles can appear at any age, it typically shows up in patients over 20, with the majority of sufferers being middle-aged or older.
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Symptoms
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In adults, shingles will begin with flu-like symptoms, including muscle aches, fever and chills. The virus will then cause severe pain in the nerves, a burning sensation and blistering of the skin on the torso. In children, there is no pain or fever associated with the condition. The disease may take up to five weeks to run its course.
Warning
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Once shingles reaches the blistering stage, it can be contagious by direct contact to people who have not had chicken pox. Children should be kept away from individuals who have not had chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine at this stage to prevent spreading the varicella zoster virus. However, if it is spread, the infected patient will develop chicken pox rather than shingles. Unlike chicken pox, which may be spread through airborne droplets, varicella zoster in shingles can only be spread through direct contact.
Immune system
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It is thought that a weakened immune system may play a factor in determining whether a patient will get shingles. This may be why older patients develop shingles more frequently. In children, shingles tends to show up if a child has a compromised immune system.
Pregnancy
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A child who develops chicken pox early in life is at a greater risk for developing shingles. According to Novartis Pharmaceuticals, one third of all children whose mothers had chicken pox while pregnant, or who developed chicken pox within their first year of life, also developed shingles by the time they were five years old.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Photo by Preston Hunt (me@prestonhunt.com)
