Introduction
Bullous diseases are called so because of the Bullous, also known as blisters. Blisters are small pockets of fluid formed within the upper layers of the skin, that are typically caused by forceful rubbing, burning, freezing, chemical exposure or infection. Most blisters are filled with serum (a clear fluid, also known as plasma) but several cases of blisters filled with blood or pus are possible. Bullous diseases are very often only cutaneous conditions. A cutaneous condition is any medical condition that affects the human integumentary system. The integumentary system is specific not only to the human body, and it consists in the tissues that cover and protect parts of the human body, such as skin, hair, and nails. These Bullous diseases may appear at any age, in childhood there are several medical conditions that affect most children, but if treated right, the only thing remaining after recovery are some scars (this is the case only if the child breaks any of the blisters).
Bullous pemphigoid
Bullous pemphigoid, also known in the medical area as BP, is one of the many Bullous diseases of the modern world. This disease is an acute or chronic autoimmune skin condition, which involves the appearance of blisters between the two skin layers epidermis and dermis (at the surface of the skin). Bullous pemphigoid is a medical condition that is very often found in old people. The treatment consists in administration of steroids under many forms (intravenous or as pills) under a controlled environment such as hospitals. The Bullous pemphigoid is not a deadly disease.
Smallpox
Smallpox is one of the most common and known Bullous diseases of the childhood. It is an infectious disease that localizes in the small blood vessels of the skin, throat and mouth. In the skin this disease results in a characteristic rash, which evolves in raised blisters filled with fluid. In normal cases of smallpox, the fluid is thick and opaque which usually has a depression or dimple in the center. This dimple in the center of the blisters is a specific characteristic for smallpox. This disease affected millions of people and was deadly in early ages when people didn’t know any treatment for it. Smallpox is believed to be eradicated through vaccines in 2011.
Chickenpox
Chickenpox is another affection from the childhood diseases that present blisters category. Also known as the Chicken Pox, this disease is highly contagious caused by infection with a virus. It usually has an incubation time of 10 days, but this time may vary up to 21 days. The illness usually starts with fever, a skin rash mainly on the body and the head and after the days passes by, the rash will be itchy, spread out on the entire body and several blisters will begin healing. The healing process consists in the fever to go away, the rash spreads out on the entire body and several bullous will lose their serum and form shells that must not be broken. It usually doesn’t leave any marks and it is not deadly anymore.
