Herpes Zoster in Children and Adolescents: A 10-year Retrospective Study at a Single Institution

Song, Jun Gyu; Suh, Moo Kyu; Ha, Gyoung Yim; Kim, Heesoo

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Studies on herpes zoster have been extensively reported in Korea. However, few reports have dealt with herpes zoster in children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiological features and clinical characteristics of herpes zoster in children and adolescents.
METHODS
During a 10-year period (2005~2014), 95 herpes zoster patients, aged 18 years and younger, were evaluated in regard to the annual, monthly, and seasonal incidences; the age distribution; and the gender ratio. The children and adolescents with herpes zoster were further assessed on the accompanying symptoms, dermatomal distribution, associated diseases, treatments, and complications.
RESULTS
Among all the patients with herpes zoster, 2.41% were children and adolescents. The highest incidence was in summer (35.8%). The age group of 10 to 14 years had the highest incidence (40.0%). The male to female ratio was 1.4:1. The common accompanying symptoms were pain (77.9%) and pruritus (22.1%). The most common dermatomal distribution was the thoracic dermatome (50.5%), followed by the cervical (21.1%), the trigeminal (16.8%), the lumbar (7.4%) and the sacral (4.2%) dermatomes. Associated diseases including atopic dermatitis, bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and epilepsy were observed in 23.2%. There was no case with immunosuppression. The most common complication was secondary bacterial infection (5.2%), followed by herpes zoster ophthalmicus or herpes zoster generalisatus (4.2%), Ramsay Hunt syndrome (2.1%), meningitis and recurrent herpes zoster (1.1%). No patient developed postherpetic neuralgia.
CONCLUSION
Herpes zoster is rare and relatively mild in healthy immunocompetent children and adolescents. Pruritus was observed in some pediatric patients, but there was no occurrence of postherpetic neuralgia.