Chickenpox in children and adults: how not to get sick and how to be treated

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Even if you have easily borne chickenpox, it can come back to haunt you in the future.

What is chickenpox and where does it come from

Chickenpox (aka chickenpox) is an infectious disease of Chickenpox (Varicella). It is caused by the varicella zoster virus (Varicella Zoster). By the way, a close relative of the herpes familiar to many.

All herpes are contagious, but varicella is the coolest. Chickenpox spreads by airborne droplets, and it does so very actively. To catch an infection, it is sometimes enough to look into the patient's room for a second.

It always seemed to people that the sore was literally carried through the air, by the wind. Hence the first part of the name is wind. Smallpox was named because of the numerous eruptions in the form of liquid-filled vesicles (papules), similar to those that form with smallpox.

Fortunately, chickenpox isn't nearly as deadly.

Why is chickenpox dangerous for children and adults

First of all, volatility. The infectivity of varicella is so high that chickenpox has long been considered a purely childhood disease: the child had almost no chance of growing up without encountering an infection. Fortunately, most people aged 1–12 years tolerate chickenpox easily, and after being ill, they acquire immunity for life.

But sometimes the disease can cause serious complications of Chickenpox:

• Bacterial infection of the skin, soft tissues, bones, joints, up to blood poisoning. This happens if a child or an adult scratches an itchy rash and accidentally introduces germs into the wound.
• Dehydration. This dangerous condition is associated with the high temperature that is observed with chickenpox.
• Pneumonia.
• Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).
• Toxic shock syndrome.

But before you are afraid of complications, you should make sure that it is about chickenpox.

What are the symptoms of chickenpox in children and adults

At the initial stage, it is almost impossible to recognize the disease. Chickenpox has a long incubation period: 2-3 weeks after infection, the virus does not make itself felt in any way. Its first manifestations are similar to those of the flu:

• fever: temperature 38 ° C and above;
• headache;
• general malaise;
• aching muscles;
• loss of appetite;
• sometimes nausea.

However, these symptoms are optional. Quite often, small red dots immediately appear on the skin. At first they resemble mosquito bites, but within a few hours they turn into bubbles filled with a cloudy liquid.

The rash spreads throughout the body, sometimes even capturing the mucous membrane of the mouth and genitals.

After a day or two, the bubbles burst, their contents flow out. The pockmarks dry up and soon fall off, leaving no traces. But next to the disappeared new ones appear.

The rash lasts 4-8 days. All this time, the person remains contagious, although he already feels well: the temperature and malaise disappear at most on the fourth day after the onset of the active stage of the disease.

This happens with a mild or normal course of chickenpox. But there are other situations as well.

When you urgently need to see a doctor or call an ambulance

Complications most often occur in those who are more or less than 1–12 years old, as well as in people with weakened immunity. To reduce the risks, you will need qualified medical help.

Consult your doctor as soon as possible if the patient:

• never had chickenpox and was not vaccinated against it;
• infant under the age of 1 year;
• pregnant woman;
• a child over 12 years old;
• is diagnosed with cancer, HIV, or AIDS;
• had an organ transplant;
• is taking immunosuppressants or steroid-based medications;
• has a fever for more than four days.

Call an ambulance immediately if:

• the temperature rises above 38, 9 ° C and you cannot bring it down;
• Any part of the skin under the rash turns red and hot, or looks like pus under the skin - this could indicate a bacterial infection
• the person has difficulty walking;
• it is difficult for him to turn his head: the neck seems to be wooden;
• there is frequent vomiting or severe abdominal pain;
• there is a strong cough or shortness of breath;
• bruising under the rash (called a hemorrhagic rash).

How to treat chickenpox

Chickenpox is a virus. And, like most viruses, there is no specific treatment for it. Helping a sick person is reduced only to alleviating the main symptoms of what you need to know about chickenpox.

Fever and headache

Remember: paracetamol and nothing else! Popular pain relievers and antipyretics based on ibuprofen should not be taken. According to some reports, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use and the risk of severe skin and soft tissue complications in patients with varicella or zoster disease, ibuprofen with chickenpox increases the incidence of complications in the form of skin infections.

Aspirin is completely contraindicated. In conjunction with the varicella-zoster virus, it has a powerful toxic effect on the liver and brain (the so-called Reye's syndrome).

Itching

To relieve itching, your therapist may recommend an antihistamine. Given the insidiousness of the virus, in any case, do not prescribe it yourself!

You can also treat your skin with calamine lotion according to the instructions.

Scratches and wounds

In order not to scratch the skin and not infect the wounds:

• Trim your nails as short as possible. If the baby is sick, put on thin protective gloves.
• Wear clean, loose clothing.
• Change your underwear and bedding often.

It is not necessary to smear rashes with green stuff: brilliant green will not speed up the maturation of the bubbles. Color only helps to mark pimples in order to track the moment when new ones stop appearing.

Sore mouth

If there are rashes on the oral mucosa, doctors recommend eating popsicles without sugar. The cold will help relieve discomfort. Also try not to eat salty and spicy foods.

Possible complications

If chickenpox can be dangerous for you, your doctor will prescribe medications to help shorten the duration of the illness and reduce the risk of complications. It can be an antiviral agent, such as acyclovir, or an intravenous immunoglobulin. True, they will only be effective if used within the first 24 hours after the onset of the rash.

When it comes to complications, serious means are used. Depending on which organ is affected, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics and more powerful antiviral drugs. You may have to go to the hospital.

How not to get chickenpox and get complications

A person becomes contagious 48 hours before the onset of the rash and remains so until all of the bursting blisters are covered with a crust.

If contact with a sick person has occurred, and you have never had chickenpox, the only thing that can theoretically save you from infection is vaccination. Try to do it within the first 3-5 days of Varilrix after contact. Then the vaccine will have time to work and either prevent chickenpox or make it easier.

Everyone should be vaccinated against chickenpox. And not only because the vaccine is more easily tolerated by the body than a real disease. The point is the insidious property of the varicella-zoster virus.

If you once met with chickenpox, it will forever remain in your body, "hiding" in the nerve cells. As long as immunity is strong, the virus behaves decently. But with age or in stressful situations, when the body's defenses weaken, varicella-zoster can become active again and cause extremely painful inflammation of some nerves. It is accompanied by a rash similar to chickenpox.

Since the nerve endings run perpendicular to the spine, the rash also takes the form of horizontal stripes. This consequence of encountering chickenpox is called herpes zoster Shingles (Herpes Zoster).

In addition to pain, shingles is fraught with numerous complications:

• prolonged postherpetic neuralgia, when severe persistent pain continues at the site of the rash and after its disappearance;
• eye lesions with dangerous consequences for vision in general;
• paralysis of the cranial and peripheral nerves;
• lesions of internal organs - pneumonia, hepatitis, meningoencephalitis …

Chickenpox vaccine can also reduce the risk of shingles by more than 85%. And this is a good reason to think about vaccination.