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What is it about ?
Chickenpox is a viral infection that is mainly accompanied by skin symptoms. The disease is spread by small droplets in the air or by the fluid in the vesicles. Transmission begins 1 to 2 days before the rash and lasts a minimum of 5 days after the onset of the rash, in fact, until the last small blister (blister) has crusted. The time between contamination and the first symptoms of the disease (incubation period) is 10 to 21 days.
Chickenpox usually occurs in winter or early spring.
Overall, the children recover after a few days without sequelae. But in people who are less able to defend themselves against infections (reduced immunity), in pregnant women and in newborns, chickenpox can cause life-threatening complications.
Once healed, you are immune to chickenpox for life. However, after infection, the virus hides in the body. It may reactivate later and cause a shingles.
Where and how often?
Almost all children get chickenpox. It is a very common and very characteristic childhood disease. The risk of reactivation (recurrence) of the virus, in the form of shingles, increases with age.
How to recognize it?
The clinical picture is really easy to recognize:
- it starts with redness of the skin;
- small pimples (papules) then appear where the skin is red;
- some papules turn into small blisters (vesicles);
- the blisters dry up and crusts form;
- the scabs disappear after 10 days.
Skin manifestations can appear almost anywhere on the body, but they are most noticeable on the trunk.
Sometimes there are lesions on the mucous membranes, for example in the mouth.
When the skin lesions appear, the person may have a fever.
In adults, the risk of pneumonia is 15 to 30%. This risk is even higher in smokers and pregnant women. Other, rarer complications include:
- bacterial infections caused by streptococci and / or staphylococci. They occur mainly in the event of a new attack of fever or acute pain;
- inflammation of the brain and brain envelopes (meninges) (meningoencephalitis), very rare;
- inflammation of the cerebellum (cerebellum), which in particular causes balance disorders. We recover spontaneously.
How is the diagnosis made?
Skin lesions and their evolution are characteristic. Your doctor can easily diagnose chickenpox.
What can you do ?
A child without conditions other than chickenpox only needs treatment to relieve the symptoms (symptomatic treatment).
Children with immune system disorders need to be hospitalized to receive antiviral drugs.
Keep fingernails clean and make sure your child does not scratch. Scratching leaves scars or causes infections.
Keep your child at home. The child can return to the nursery or daycare when all the blisters are dry or at the earliest 6 days after the appearance of the first blisters.
What can your doctor do?
In a child who does not have a particular health problem, the doctor will prescribe treatment to relieve the symptoms.
In case of fever, paracetamol is the first choice. Anti-inflammatory drugs or aspirin should be avoided.
Allergy medication (antihistamine) can relieve itching.
Antiviral drugs, if started within 24 hours of the onset of the rash, may be helpful in some cases. For example, in case of chronic disease, atopy (hereditary form of hypersensitivity or allergy), treatment with cortisone, child over 12 years old.
When a generalized bacterial infection appears, the doctor will refer to an emergency department for an administration of antibiotics.
People with leukemia, lymphoma, or other immune system disorders who have not had chickenpox and who have been exposed to a child with chickenpox are given an antiviral medicine. This precaution can prevent illness or make the illness less serious. Another option is to administer a chickenpox vaccine within 3 days of exposure.
The chickenpox vaccine is not included in the basic vaccination program. It can, at the parents’ request, be administered to children from the age of 12.
Chickenpox is particularly dangerous for pregnant women just before childbirth and in the first days after. If the fetus or newborn is infected with the virus, serious complications, and even death, can ensue. Therefore, all newborns exposed to the virus are treated with antiviral drugs.
When a pregnant woman contracts chickenpox, the general practitioner refers her to the specialist or discusses it with the latter.
Want to know more?
- Chickenpox: all children go through it (image) – mongeneraliste.be – SSMG – Scientific Society of General Medicine
- Chickenpox (image) – DermIS – Dermatology Information System
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