What causes snake skin sores?

Herpes zoster is a folk name for shingles, the main source of infection of which is the varicella-zoster virus, and the incidence rate among children is very high. After the occurrence of shingles, it will have a great impact on the child's skin health. In severe cases, it can also be transmitted to others, so it is necessary to receive timely treatment or take some preventive measures. Below we will introduce the pathological causes, symptoms and signs, as well as prevention and care methods of shingles!

Pathological etiology

The varicella-zoster virus is the causative agent of this disease. It can cause chickenpox in children and shingles in adults and the elderly. The body is incompletely immune after contracting chickenpox, and the virus can remain dormant in the dorsal root ganglia or trigeminal ganglia of the spinal cord for a long time and cannot be eliminated by the body's high-titer antibodies. When the body's immunity is low, it can induce shingles. After suffering from shingles, one is completely immune and recurrence is rare.

The virus is transmitted through the air and enters the respiratory tract to multiply, invades the blood circulation through regional lymph nodes, and spreads to various parts of the body (incubation period 12 to 17 days). Maculopapular rashes and blisters appear all over the body. This is chickenpox in children. At this time, the virus is deposited in epithelial cells, and the respiratory tract and acne scars can be sources of infection. After chickenpox is cured, a small number of viruses lurking in ganglion cells may be activated under certain irritation conditions several years later, descend along the sensory nerve axons to the cells of the innervated skin and mucous membranes and proliferate, causing a beaded vesicular rash that forms bands along the nerve distribution.

Symptoms and signs

The incidence of this disease is higher in summer and autumn. In the pre-onset stage, there are often symptoms of low fever and fatigue, pain and burning sensation at the rash site, and trigeminal herpes zoster may cause toothache. The most common form of this disease is chest, abdomen or lumbar herpes zoster, which accounts for about 70% of the total lesions, followed by trigeminal herpes zoster, which accounts for about 20%. The damage is distributed along the three branches of the trigeminal nerve. However, in the elderly over 60 years old, the trigeminal nerve is more susceptible to disease than the spinal nerve.

When herpes first occurs, the facial skin appears as irregular or oval erythema. A few hours later, blisters appear on the erythema, gradually increasing in number and merging into bullae. In severe cases, they may become blood blisters, and if there is secondary infection, they may become pustules. After a few days, the blister fluid becomes turbid and is absorbed, eventually forming a scab, which falls off in 1 to 2 weeks. The remaining pigment also gradually fades, generally leaving no scars and the damage does not exceed the midline. The course of the disease in the elderly is usually 4 to 6 weeks, and sometimes more than 8 weeks.

Damage to the oral mucosa: herpes is often dense, the ulcer surface is large, and the lesions on the lips, cheeks, tongue, and palate are limited to one side. The first branch can affect the mucous membrane of the eye corners and even cause blindness; the second branch affects the lips, palate, infratemporal, zygomatic, and infraorbital skin; the third branch affects the tongue, lower lip, cheek, and chin skin. In addition, virus invasion of the geniculate ganglion may cause extratympanic herpes, which manifests as ear pain, facial paralysis, and hearing impairment after recovery, which is called Ramsay-Hunt syndrome.

Preventive Care

1. Strengthen physical fitness and improve disease resistance. The elderly should adhere to appropriate outdoor activities or participate in sports to strengthen their physical fitness and improve their ability to resist disease.

2. Prevent infection. Infection is one of the causes of this disease. Elderly patients should prevent infection from various diseases, especially in the autumn season, when the weather alternates between cold and warm. They should add or remove clothes in time to avoid upper respiratory tract infections caused by cold. In addition, inflammation of the oral cavity and nasal cavity should be actively treated.

3. Prevent trauma. Trauma can easily reduce the body's disease resistance and lead to the occurrence of this disease. Therefore, elderly patients should be careful to avoid trauma.

4. Avoid contact with toxic substances. Try to avoid contact with chemicals and toxic drugs to prevent damage to the skin, affect your health, and reduce your body's resistance.

5. Improve nutrition. The elderly should pay attention to the nutrition of their diet, eat more soy products, fish, eggs, lean meat and other protein-rich foods and fresh fruits and vegetables to keep their physique strong and prevent various diseases that are directly or indirectly related to this disease.