Health and Wellness

Chicken Pox is an irregular disease in children and really disreputable for being infectious. A child infected on chickenpox virus will develop a lot of itchy blisters which are filled with fluid. These blisters burst later, which lead to crusts formation. Children get approximately five hundred such blisters which overgrow a red skin spot. They show on the face first then spread to the trunk, scalp and the rest of the body. After a day of appearance, the fluid filled blisters become cloudy and afterward, scabby.

The itchiness caused due to chicken pox is really intense and irritating. And the crust, if not treated, can leave marks for life. Within 48 hours from getting infected, the symptoms start to surface. It’s just after 10 to 20 days after contamination, that the pox appears. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, headache, loss of appetite and finally the pox rash. The condition can be confirmed by testing the pox blisters and by even taking blood test. The medical record of the kid could be helpful in determining the severity of the circumstance.

The virus blameworthy for infecting an individual with chicken pox is varicella-zoster or simply, varicella. The virus spreads through airborne transmission, droplet transmission and direct contact. Not only the infected carry these viruses and should be avoided, also people or kids who have taken the vaccination recently should also be avoided. Since the invention of chicken pox vaccine, there has been a decline in the chicken pox cases. Children who are under the age of ten should be highly prepared as they are more prone to getting infected by this virus. But contrarily, when  catch chicken pox, older children or adults become less balanced when compared to young kids.

A child or a person who has been infected by chicken pox virus becomes host to the virus for lifetime. But the quantity is kept under control by the body’s immune system. Infants, sometimes, get partial immunity from the blood of their mother, if the mother was already infected by chicken pox. Kids of mothers, who haven’t been infected by chicken pox, tend to get severe chickenpox.

Children who have been administered with chicken pox vaccination get mild chicken pox. Children with skin disease like eczema or sunburn can worsen.  Such kids can be getting above one thousand and five hundred poxes.  Children who have taken steroids can also facing worst situation.

Along with the application of the prescribed lotion and consumption of oral medication containing antihistamine, the itchiness can be eased by bathing the child in lukewarm water and oatmeal. The antiviral medications should be started within the first day itself. Other people living in the same house as of the patient should as well consume antiviral medicines recommended by a doctor. It’s an essential for everybody to take chicken pox vaccination as a part of immunization routine schedule.

There is a hundred percent chance of not developing moderate to severe chickenpox and nearly 90% chance of not developing mild chicken pox. Chicken pox vaccine is the only vaccine which doesn’t demand a booster. But a higher dose can be given to adolescents so as to avoid shingles or herpes zoster. But a doctor should be consulted before opting for the higher dose.