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Chickenpox is one of the most common diseases of childhood and has the popular name of chicken pox. Caused by a totally contagious virus, it can be contracted by anyone who has not yet acquired the disease or who has not received the vaccination.
Disease Transmission
Transmitted by droplets of saliva or nasal secretions, coughs and sneezes or even by direct contact with another infected person . The virus can enter the child’s body behind the conjunctiva of the eyes or mucosa of the respiratory tract.
The virus multiplies and spreads through the blood until it reaches the skin and the virus incubation period is 10 to 21 days . The time when the disease multiplies most in children is in the cold winter periods. Due to the greater concentration of children in closed environments and with little air circulation, allowing the faster proliferation of chickenpox.
Chickenpox Treatment
No treatment has yet been developed that definitively ends chickenpox. The treatments indicated by the specialists are only to relieve the symptoms and discomfort caused so intensely by the disease.
After the diagnosis of the disease, avoid taking the child in public places, avoiding the proliferation of the disease. It is recommended that the child stay away from school until all symptoms disappear.
Usually the treatments indicated to control the symptoms are quite simple:
- Antipyretic (dipyrone or paracetamol) to control fever and pain;
- Oral anti allergic and antiallergic ointment to relieve itching;
- Baths with warm water;
A tip that should be taken into account in terms of food, is to avoid eating very salty foods and very hot foods so as not to increase the discomfort caused by the wounds that also appear on the inside of the mouth.
Do not medicate your child without a prescription and much less do treatments on your own. Ideally, after the doctor’s diagnosis, the correct treatment should be followed, avoiding further complications.
The intense itchiness if not controlled, can allow the body to be completely stained and scarred where the wounds burst. Prevent the child from pulling off the cones or scratching so hard.
How to prevent chickenpox?
The only way to prevent chickenpox is through the vaccine. The vaccine is supplied in two doses and all children from 1 year of age must be vaccinated and receive this vaccine free of charge at health centers throughout Brazil.
The second dose of chickenpox vaccine is not indicated for pregnant women, immunosuppressive people or those who have received another type of vaccine in the past few days.
The chickenpox vaccine protects the most serious cases of the disease, but it can happen that a vaccinated person catches the virus. Usually vaccinated people who get the disease have milder symptoms and in a few regions, as well as the absence of fever.
Family members who live with the infected child or adult, even if they have already had the vaccine, have a 90% chance of being infected if they have never had the disease. Transmission starts after 48 hours of the person experiencing the first symptoms.
Chickenpox Symptoms
Symptoms usually begin to appear after 20 days after contact with the infected person. Initially they start as an irritation, itching and intense tiredness of the body. Other symptoms that can occur with both children and adults are:
- Lack of appetite;
- High fever;
- Red spots all over the body;
- Balls with water up to 1cm that cause intense itching.
Usually these balls start at the abdomen and start to spread through the body , too many parts of the body. The scalp is one of the targets of blemishes too, but they occur with less intensity than the rest of the body.
Everything starts with small stains, which in a second stage turn into bubbles filled with liquid. The blisters start to burst and create small wounds that turn into cones and only after they disappear completely, will you be cured of chickenpox.
The duration of chickenpox is between 1 and 2 weeks, however it depends on the intensity that each person acquires the virus. Some people have severe injuries and others can be very mild. In more severe cases, chickenpox can reach the mucous membranes and the genital area.
See Also: Why Give the Chickenpox Vaccine?
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
