Oral manifestations of infections of infections due to varicella zoster virus in otherwise healthy children

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) causes varicella (or chickenpox) and establishes latency in nerve ganglia after the primary infection. The reactivation of virus later in life can cause mono- or polyneuropathy. The cranial nerves most commonly involved are five (herpes zoster or shingles), six, seven eight, nine and ten. In the present study we describe the oral lesions associated with VZV infections in normal children. In a 3 year period we examined 62 children, age 2 to 13 years old with diagnosed varicella and a 4 year old boy with herpes zoster at the 3rd branch of the trigeminal nerve. According to the clinical picture of varicella, the disease was defined as: (1) group A mild cases; (2) group B moderate cases; (3) group C severe. The manifestations of varicella were: mild varicella 19 children, moderate 26 children and severe 17 children. The results of the present study indicate that the prevalence of oral manifestations of varicella is related to the severity of the disease. In 17 severe cases, oral lesions were always present and the number was between 5 to 30. From 26 moderate cases, oral lesions were observed in 23 and the number was between 2 to 10. From 19 mild cases, oral lesions were present only in 6 cases and their number was 1 or 2. Often varicella's oral lesions resemble manifestations of other entities, and this may cause differential diagnostics problems.