shingles in children

[Janet__0__0]

  My 6 yr old daughter was diagnosed with shingles today, but I have reason to doubt the diagnosis.  A couple of weeks ago, she complained of her left foot hurting - there were clear blisters in clusters on the bottom and slightly up the side.  Since they have have mostly dried up and her feet are peeling where they've been.  Last week, she complained of her right wrist hurting off and on - she had reddish blisters there, but the area was red in general.  Her wrist no longer hurts and is less red.  Yesterday she complained of sometimes painful blisters on her left side where a cluster of 6-8 reddish blisters were.  They itched sometimes, too.  The pain comes and goes, but they are sensitive to touch.  She's had no other symptoms. Today, her school nurse said she thought she has shingles, so my husband took her to the doctor.  He only showed him her left side and failed to show him the blisters on her right wrist or left foot.  The doctor diagnosed her as having shingles. (She had chicken pox when she was 2).  I question this because of the appearance on both sides of her body (right wrist and left side).  What do you think?  Thank you.
dear janet,
shingles is a reactivation of chickenpox. the virus stays dormant around the nerve root areas and when reactivated causes the
findings one knows as shingles or herpes zoster.
while the majority of cases tend to be seen unilaterally and only in one area there are cases where
it can occur in more than one area. Without seeing the lesion I cannot confirm if indeed what your
child has is shingles or not but from what you report it could very well be
the case.
if you doubt the diagnosis, i suggest you see a dsermatologist if the lesions are still present as
they can tell you if it is herpes zoster or not.
i hope i have been of help.