Symptoms and treatment of herpes simplex virus

My child is still very young. Since I took him home from kindergarten, he has been unable to sleep in the middle of the night and has been crying all the time. My husband and I were at a loss as to what to do. We refused to eat the next morning and were very worried. My neighbor said it might be herpetic pharyngitis, which is very common at this time of year. It is said to be a special manifestation of children's colds, and it often occurs in nurseries and kindergartens, especially among infants and young children. Does my child really have that disease? What are its symptoms? How should it be treated?

Hello! When herpetic pharyngitis occurs, the white blood cell count in the blood of most children does not increase or may decrease (the white blood cell count often increases during bacterial infection and is normal or decreases during viral infection). The clinical symptoms of herpetic pharyngitis include fever, sore throat, and the appearance of small blisters in the mouth, on the soft palate, tonsils, and uvula. In the early stage of herpes, there are small gray-white papules with red halos around them. Later, they turn into shiny blisters and then turn into small ulcers after breaking. In most cases, papules, herpes and ulcers coexist. Children often drool and refuse to eat because of sore throat. Because infants and young children cannot complain about their sore throat, they cry day and night and cannot sleep. The general course of the disease is about 7 days. The sick child will suddenly vomit, have a high temperature of around 39°C, and not want to eat.

Some antiviral drugs should be used to treat herpetic pharyngitis. If the condition is serious and the child has a high fever and cannot eat, drugs such as acyclovir can be given intravenously, which are effective against viruses. Those with mild illness can take antiviral drugs such as sirolimus or ribavirin orally. And symptomatic treatment should be given, such as using some antipyretic drugs. Chinese medicine can be taken orally as antiviral medicine, isatis root granules, and shuanghuanglian injection via intravenous drip. For high fever, you can use Zixuesan, antelope horn powder, etc. Decoctions often use heat-clearing and detoxifying drugs such as honeysuckle, forsythia, isatis root, mint, gypsum, bamboo leaves, and rehmannia. When children suffer from herpetic pharyngitis, they should drink more water to help reduce their fever. Eat nutritious and easily digestible liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as milk, rice porridge, and fruit juice. Children should eat small amounts and frequently, and should not be given spicy, sweet or fried foods.

I hope my insights can help you. I suggest you take your child to the hospital for a comprehensive check-up. Children are children after all, and their immunity is not as high as ours. I wish your child a speedy recovery.