Shingles in a 10 year old

[kacaju]

What a way to start our first full week of summer vacation!! (kids only got out of school 6/23)

My dd10 has shingles!!

She had chicken pox when she was 6 months old. Within the last year to year and a half we did have her blood titer taken and it showed she had the immunity for Chicken pox. (we did this because she had a mild case at 6 months and if she was not immune we would have given her the shot).

So last week she has a funny rash, it looked like the #5 on a dice four spots in a square and one in the middle. I really didn't think much of it. She was playing in a softball tournament all weekend so we never gave the rash another thought.
Sunday night she comes down after showering and shows me the rash, it was getting worse and she had 2 more clusters along the same nerve band.

take her to the ped on Monday and were told it was shingles. She also has a rash along a second nerve band so the ped said to take her to a dermatologist for confirmation of shingles.

Wed. I take her back to the ped because she now has a fever (tuesday night) and we found a small (painfull) lump up higher on her chest. The rash is getting worse.

This Dr. (a different Dr in our practice) says that lump is a lymph node, dd
now has a cough so she put her on zithromax and an anti viral.

So.. onto this morning.... I already have a call into the ped, and she has an appt. with the dermotologist for tomorrow.

This morning she now has many spots all over her back, a few on her arms, face...basically all over..

So, my question to anyone in healthcare...have you seen anything like this before?? Can shingles morph into Chicken pox??
Why would she be getting more spots all over?

She is taking tylenol for pain and benadryl for the itch. Anything else I can do to make her more comfortable??

 

[kellyg403]

When my ds was 9 he came down with a similar rash. Initially the dr couldn't figure out what it was because it did not present itself as shingles, imetigo, ringworm nothing. He gave us some cream and sent us on our way. Two weeks later, ds woke up one morning covered in chicken pox. I mean he had the WORSE case. The dr's are pretty sure that he had the shingles. He had the shot and the shingles came along.

So, yes, my ds did get shingles at 9. The dr did say that he will have more times in his life when he will get them. They weren't super painful for him but when then started to heal they itched like the devil for him. Because the rash itself did not hurt, or so ds said, the dr couldn't understand why it looked like shingles but didn't hurt!

Kelly

 

[monkeybug]

I could be wrong, but I don't think shingles itch. My mom just had them and she did not have a fever or a cough or itching, just pain along the nerve line with the rash. Maybe that's because she's a nurse and went to the Dr. right away because she knew what it was? I don't know though.
I do know your immunity to chicken pox can wear off. I think it's more common for teens and college age kids to get it again, but I'm pretty sure they recommend getting a booster shot now at some point. I got a booster shot when I was in my twenties at my doctors recommendation.

 

[design_mom]

I had shingles a few years ago (in my early 30s). It's my understanding that shingles is caused by a "reactivation" of the chicken pox virus but the breakout goes along one nerve. Mine was on the back of my head and it hurt/itched a lot... but at least nobody could see it!

I am wondering if she's having an allergic reaction to one of the meds she started earlier. I am allergic to several antibiotics (not zithromax though) and get a rash that starts on my trunk and spreads. I have even "developed an allergy" to medicines that I took previously without any bad effects.

Good luck getting her back in at the ped.

 

[kacaju]

I was able to get her derm appt moved up to today (per her ped). 11:45. We will see what they say. I did think it could be a reaction to the medicine...who knows. SHe does have pain as well as the itch. The ped said shingles in children react a little different then shingles in adults. Of course the ped does not see too many cases of shingles, which is why they wanted her to see the dermotolgist.

Her rash is a classic shingles rash along the one nerve band, it is the other spots that are strange...along with the one other cluster of rash on a second nerve band.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I had shingles several years ago, too. Not fun -- my heart goes out to your daughter. I thought that unless you catch it pronto, all you can really do is treat the symptoms and the rash would spread to the point it was going to naturally. (Does that make sense? I mean that if you catch it early, you can prevent the rash/spreading, otherwise, if you miss that window you have to let it ride.)

Sorry she's going through this.

 

[Mskanga]

I have had the shingles three times ( yeah lucky me huh ? ) and yes they do itch . Usually also they follow the path of a nerve , that has been my case.
Hope your daughter gets better soon.

 

[PatMcDuck]

My son got shingles at age 5. He had chicken pox when he was a few weeks old. (I got chicken pox for the first time when I was 9 months pregnant with him).

At age 5 he got a weird rash down one thigh. That was the shingles. He was not verbal, so we do not know if it hurt him or was itchy.

 

[kacaju]

OK back from the Derm (and Sonic, there is one near the Dr so it was a special treat for her since we don't have one close to us)

The NP saw her and then had the Dr come in to look at her.

He says it is not shingles because it is all over vs. the 1 nerve band. He says it is a herpes simplex 1 virus (cold sore).

They did viral cultures so we will know for sure by next week.

They think the combination of the sun/heat (it was very hot this past weekend) and the stress from her playing in 2 softball tournaments. She played between her all star and travel team alot of games (too many) in 4 days. May have just stressed her body too much.

 

[krcit]

Oh the poor thing! I get cold sores on my lip ans they kill. I can't imagine having them all over. You should have her take L-lysine every day. My oldest dd is prone to cold sores and I give her lysine every day. I hope she feels better asap.

 

[AristocatFan]

DD(11) just had shingles this past Feb. They were on her left ear and wrapped around the left side of her neck. They never really itched her but were painful and left some pretty bad scars. Doc said she most likely got them because she had a mild case of chicken pox when she was 3mos old. I was never going to get her the chick pox shot anyway and the doc told me they are seeing more shingles in kids/teens now, especially the ones who had the vaccination.

Glad it wasn't shingles for your DD but sorry she has to go through this. Rashes can be awful!

 

[quentina]

What a way to start our first full week of summer vacation!! (kids only got out of school 6/23)

My dd10 has shingles!!

She had chicken pox when she was 6 months old. Within the last year to year and a half we did have her blood titer taken and it showed she had the immunity for Chicken pox. (we did this because she had a mild case at 6 months and if she was not immune we would have given her the shot).

So last week she has a funny rash, it looked like the #5 on a dice four spots in a square and one in the middle. I really didn't think much of it. She was playing in a softball tournament all weekend so we never gave the rash another thought.
Sunday night she comes down after showering and shows me the rash, it was getting worse and she had 2 more clusters along the same nerve band.

take her to the ped on Monday and were told it was shingles. She also has a rash along a second nerve band so the ped said to take her to a dermatologist for confirmation of shingles.

Wed. I take her back to the ped because she now has a fever (tuesday night) and we found a small (painfull) lump up higher on her chest. The rash is getting worse.

This Dr. (a different Dr in our practice) says that lump is a lymph node, dd
now has a cough so she put her on zithromax and an anti viral.

So.. onto this morning.... I already have a call into the ped, and she has an appt. with the dermotologist for tomorrow.

This morning she now has many spots all over her back, a few on her arms, face...basically all over..

So, my question to anyone in healthcare...have you seen anything like this before?? Can shingles morph into Chicken pox??
Why would she be getting more spots all over?

She is taking tylenol for pain and benadryl for the itch. Anything else I can do to make her more comfortable??

I have add shingles quite a few times....they were nothing like this.

COntained to one area, VERY painful, no itching at all.

 

[kacaju]

The culture results came back from the Derm that it is indeed Shingles. The scabs are just about all gone now. She feels just fine, once in a while they itch. I think that it is from them drying up.

 

[Bonnie40]

Here I thought my son was the only one! lol

He had chicken pox at 4 wks, shingles at 2 and last summer at the age of 17, contracted shingles in his eye! Had never heard of such a thing, but boy did the doctors act quickly! If I hadn't taken him in when I did, he could have had permanent vision damage! It really didn't look that serious - it was the pain that made me take him in - he's not one to complain. He was in to see an eye surgeon within hours!

Just thought it would be helpful for those who have kids prone to shingles....

 

[AristocatFan]

I had shingles in my eye, it is nothing to mess around with! Glad you got him to the doc in time. That pain is horrible. Any amount of light was like a needle in the eye! and non-stop watering, redness, ugh. That was ten years ago and I can still remember how that felt.

OP glad she's feeling better and you finally found out what it really was.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Glad the OP's DD is on the mend!

I also had shingles as a kid, at age 17. At the time, I had no clue on earth what it was. I had a horrible rash all over my left side. My parents stopped taking me to doctors at age 14 (they didn't see my medical care as their responsibility after that) and I knew they would be dismissive if I asked them for help, so I told no one. I debated telling the school nurse, but I didn't like her. So I just bought the biggest bandaids I could find with my allowance money, and just put a bunch of them on the rash every day. It really took a week until I saw any improvement, and took many many months for it to heal. I remember being pretty horrified at it's original appearance, and very relieved when it started to "crust" over and heal!

I only found out it was shingles about 5 years later when I was flipping through a medical book and saw a photo of the exact rash I had.

Blows my mind that nowadays shingles is now viewed as something that should be treated by a doctor/dermatologist. And all I had were some bandaids!

 

[Junebugwv]

My husband had shingles at age 30. A son had them when he was 12, a daughter had them at 20 and 2 other times in the next 5 years and another son had them at 17. They all had pain, but I don't remember any complaints about itching. The last 2 boys are teens and haven't had shingles. Makes me wonder if there is something from my husband's side of the family that makes them susceptible. These are healthy people who have never had strep or typical illnesses.