Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Eczema herpeticum, warts and molluscum

I was diagnosed with eczema herpeticum, which cleared
up quickly after treatment with aciclovir. Is there more
information on this condition?
Eczema herpeticum is a term used for a severe, widespread skin
infection with the herpes virus that occasionally occurs in people
with eczema. Herpes infections are usually localised, causing a few
blisters or a cold sore on the lip. Eczema herpeticum shows much
more widespread blistering of the skin and also ‘punched-out’ sores
which look like little holes in the skin. Typically, the condition
involves the face, but it can occur anywhere on the body. Multiple
punched-out, crusted lesions around a patch of eczema should
make you suspicious. It is sometimes, but not always, associated
with a high temperature, and if this was the case with you, you
probably felt very unwell. In rare cases, it can be a very severe
infection, especially if it is not recognised and treated – and it may
require hospital admission. Although it is said to have caused death
on one or two occasions, we believe that this is rare because most
individuals or their carers will seek medical help before such a risk
arises. As you have found out, treatment involves a simple course
of tablets taken by mouth.
Eczema herpeticum is thought to occur because some people
with eczema do not fight off viruses affecting the skin very quickly
and the scratching and skin damage helps to spread the virus. It is
possible to suffer from it more that once, but it seems that the first
bout of infection is often the worst, with much less chance of it
becoming serious during recurrences.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting information on Eczema treatment and Eczema viruses.Its really dangerous /problem.

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