Complications of shingles cause man to have seizures

Ho Chi Minh City , Anh Tuyen, 38 years old, had 10 days of burning pain in his genital area with 6-7 convulsions per day, incontinence, and was diagnosed with shingles by the doctor.

A clinic doctor diagnosed Mr. Tuyen with shingles but treatment failed. He went to Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for examination.

On October 26, Master, Doctor, Specialist I Tran Nguyen Anh Thu, Department of Dermatology - Dermatology, said that the patient's genital area was ulcerated, showing signs of infection, and the ulcer was slow to heal due to complications after shingles, not the usual shingles. The virus attacked and damaged the nerves, disrupting nerve conduction, causing the patient to have severe pain and sometimes convulsions.

Doctors from the Dermatology - Cosmetic Dermatology Department and the Internal Medicine Department coordinated to treat the patient's infected ulcers and post-herpetic complications. After three days, the lesions on the scrotum were dry, and the frequency of seizures decreased to 3-4 per day. He was discharged home for 1-2 weeks of observation. If there were any unusual signs, he would have to return to the hospital for treatment.

Doctor Anh Thu examines a patient. Photo: Pham Duy — Doctor Anh Thu examines a patient. Photo: *Pham Duy*

Doctor Thu said that shingles is an acute skin disease caused by the Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV). For people infected with VZV for the first time, the disease manifests as chickenpox. After completely recovering from chickenpox, VZV still exists and lives latent in the nerve ganglia for many months, many years. When favorable conditions such as immunodeficiency, stress, physical weakness... the virus is reactivated, causing shingles.

People with shingles often have symptoms of itching, burning or pain in the skin on one side of the body. Some people have fever, fatigue or headache. Within 1-2 days, a rash of blisters and vesicles appears in clusters, usually on one side of the body. Some people have complications of post-herpetic neuralgia. Symptoms are usually limited to the skin area where the shingles lesions began, most commonly around the trunk, usually on one side of the body. The pain significantly affects quality of life, mental health and sleep.

Doctor Thu recommends that patients should go to the hospital early when they start to have skin lesions. Treatment with antiviral drugs during the "golden" time, which is 72 hours after the onset of shingles, helps limit the progression of the disease and complications.

Do not apply leaves, green beans or medicines of unknown origin because they can cause more serious infection in the affected area. Keep the skin clean and apply medicine as directed by your doctor. Family members should limit contact with the patient's blisters that have not yet dried and crusted.

Pham Duy

Source link