Parents usually mean the familiar cold sore on their lips by the term “herpes”. And it seems that there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, herpes is a voluminous concept, and is not at all as harmless as people who are far from medicine imagine. Herpes is a viral infection and experts distinguish 8 types of herpes. Today we will talk about one of them - herpes of the sixth type. And also we will find out what the famous children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky thinks about this infection.
What it is
The very "cold" on the lips (small watery rash, itching and spreading rapidly), with which we began this conversation, is nothing more than the first type of herpes. The second type is genital herpes. The third type of virus causes a very famous disease - chickenpox. Herpes of the fourth type is a virus with a complex name that comes from the names of its discoverers - the Epstein-Barr virus. The fifth type of herpes infection is cytomegalovirus.
Starting with the sixth type and up to the eighth inclusive, science can tell less to the curious, since these viruses are rather little studied. Therefore, they have the input names VG-6, VG-7, VG-8.
Herpes simplex virus of the sixth type, once it enters the body, never leaves it. If all is well, conditions are favorable, nutrition is normal, immunity is not weakened, the virus is in a dormant state. It starts to activate only when the immune system briefly "weakens" close attention to it, this happens during an illness or after it.
In fairness, it should be noted that representatives of all eight types of herpes behave this way. There is no cure for them, since they are incurable.
Most often, VG-6 affects not adults, but children, and in a certain age group - up to 3 years. Until the baby is 3 years old, he has a rather weak immunity. This type of virus has two subspecies: A - most often found in children with HIV or AIDS, B - in all other children.
The symptoms of the virus are not easy to recognize. Like all viral diseases, everything starts with a high temperature (above 38.0), which lasts for several days. Against the background of intense fever, the lymph nodes increase, the doctor may ascertain an increase in the size of the spleen. Examination of the throat reveals swelling of the tonsils, overgrowth of lymphoid tissue, and a rash may appear in the mouth. In this case, conjunctivitis often develops in a child.
In the acute phase, everything looks like ARVI or pharyngitis, and only a doctor can recognize the herpes simplex virus in these symptoms. When the peak of the disease is over, the manifestations gradually decline, a rash appears on the child's skin, mainly it is deployed on the back, neck, baby's tummy and behind the ears. When the rash heals, small scaly pieces remain.
There is a positive point in all this - most often VH-6 is a one-time disease. After the child has had it, he develops lifelong immunity to the pathogen. This means that the next penetration of the virus into the body will pass without symptoms, imperceptibly.
Doctor Komarovsky about the problem
It is not worth dramatizing, because herpes happened not only with your child, it is a very common ailment, 95% of all people on the planet have had one or another, or even several types of herpes infection, and continue to live quite normally and happily. Eight out of ten children aged 6-7 years, when the time comes for the first large-scale medical examination before going to school, have antibodies to the sixth herpes in blood tests, which means that they have already suffered this ailment.
Parents often start to object, but this only indicates gaps in the diagnosis. Doctors are not always able to recognize VH-6, often mistakenly diagnosing a child with ARVI. Be that as it may, but this disease is almost universal.
When asked by parents how to treat a child for herpes simplex virus, a well-known pediatrician replies that there is no way. It is impossible to cure this ailment in principle. The use of antiviral agents with an antiherpetic effect only suppresses the pathogen, but does not get rid of it. As a result, VG-6 hides away and goes into hibernation. At rest, he is not dangerous, not contagious and does not indicate his presence in any way. It can only be detected by a blood test for antibodies.
Herpes of the sixth type is often called baby roseola for a kind of rash. It is often the only symptom of an infection. For example, my mother stopped breastfeeding the baby, he lost her additional mother's immunity, and herpes manifestations appear. This often happens after any previous illness or even in situations where the child has suffered severe stress.
Among the factors that lead to the activation of herpes in the body, Komarovsky also names malnutrition, a lack of vitamins in the child's diet, severe physical fatigue, stress, a variety of injuries.
In no case does he urge parents to humbly ignore herpes simplex in a child, because the virus itself is not so dangerous as the complications that it can cause. And these are eye lesions, and pneumonia and even herpetic meningitis, which is one of the most severe lesions of the brain mucosa. What complications there will be, not a single doctor will say. As well as whether they will be at all. It all depends only on the state of immunity of this particular child, emphasizes Evgeny Olegovich.
Treatment according to Komarovsky
As mentioned, cold sores cannot be cured, but symptoms can be relieved. For this there is the drug "Acyclovir", the appearance of which the doctor compares with the same breakthrough in medicine as the appearance of the first antibiotic - penicillin. The doctor advises this remedy to treat local rashes, with a more severe form of infection - to take pills according to the course and scheme prescribed by the infectious disease doctor. With a very severe infection, "Acyclovir" is administered intravenously, but this is a completely different story, since such treatment is usually carried out in a hospital setting.
With a complex course, it makes sense to start taking drugs that increase the production of interferon in the body. Do not think that we are talking about inexpensive pharmaceutical drops and ointment in the nose. Komarovsky talks about serious and powerful drugs that are given intravenously. These drugs, unfortunately, are quite expensive, and not every family can afford them. Evgeny Olegovich considers this to be the main difficulty in the treatment of VH-6.
Otherwise, the whole therapy is quite simple, albeit long-term, its task is not to destroy the virus itself, but to make the child forget about it forever, so that herpes simply “doze off” and no longer wake up.
When asked how to protect the child, the pediatrician replies that it is almost impossible to do this. If mom or dad at least once in their life noticed a “cold” on their lips, they are carriers of HSV (herpes simplex virus), and at the first contact with a newborn baby, they generously “share” their “heritage”. Or someone else will do it.
But it is up to the parents to organize the correct way of life for the child. Do not raise him in "greenhouse conditions", do not wrap him up and do not overfeed, often walk for a long time, air, temper the baby from birth, and later encourage sports. Ensure that the child has a complete and balanced diet. Strong immunity will not let herpes "roam".
At the same time, Evgeny Olegovich urges to be very vigilant and remember that any type of herpes, including the sixth, is a very insidious disease, and in the absence of proper attention and correct assessment of the situation, simple watery pimples on the lip or in the nose can cause very severe and serious ailments. Therefore, the doctor urges parents not to self-medicate herpes, not to smear the rash with earwax, garlic, and not to give the child decoctions of dandelions to drink.
A herpetic infection should be treated exclusively by a specialist doctor, and if there is no infectious disease specialist in the clinic (now there are big problems with doctors of this specialization, they are not enough), then a pediatrician.
Dr. Komarovsky will tell you about the features of the virus in the next video.
