Facial Paralysıs During Varicella Zoster Infection in a child

Introduction: Primary infection with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) results in chickenpox, characterized by viremia with a diffuse rash and seeding of multiple sensory ganglia, where the virus establishes lifelong latency. Herpes zoster is caused by reactivation of latent VZV in cranial-nerve or dorsal-root ganglia, with spread of the virus along the sensory nerve to the dermatome. Both entities have a benign clinical course in immunocompetent and young individuals. Although Herpes zoster virüs may result in Ramsey Hunt sendrom, it may rarely cause peripheral facial paralysis in the course of varicella Case: A 4-year-old girl patient was admitted to the ear, nose, and throat clinic with a complaint of a rash over the body with vesicles and pustules a few days. She had left peripheral facial palsy about 2 days ago. In a general clinical examination, a few macular lesions, probably residues of vesicles, and fl uid-fi lled blisters and pustules were observed on the back, chest, abdomen, upper, and lower limbs. She had remarkable left peripheral facial palsy. Her facial palsy was assessed as a grade II using the House-Brackmann Score. Otoscopic examination was normal and otalgia and auricular vesicle was absent. 1 mg/kg/day prednisone and 30 mg/kg/day acyclovir therapy were given to the patient due to the peripheral facial nerve palsy involvement of the VZV infection. Complete remission was achieved at 1 month after treatment. Conclusion: Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is one of eight herpes viruses known to cause human infection and is distributed worldwide. While the results of bell palsy are good, facial paralysis results during viral infections are severe. Cranial nerve involvement secondary to viral infection should be followed closely. The current standard of care for treatment is acyclovir and prednisone. Thus early treatment can be started in the face of developing complications and possible mortality and morbidity can be prevented. Case Report Facial Paralysıs During Varicella Zoster Infection in a child Fatih Oghan*, Muhammet Fatih Topuz and Onur Erdogan Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Dumlupinar University, Medical Faculty, Kutahya, Turkey *Address for Correspondence: Dr.Fatih Oghan, M.D, Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Medicine Faculty of Dumlupinar University, Kütahya, Turkey, Tel: +905057267375, Fax: +902742316673; Email: fatihoghan@ hotmail.com Submitted: 06 March 2017 Approved: 21 March2017 Published: 23 March 2017 Copyright: 2017 Oghan F, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.