Chicken Pox

Many parents have concern of your baby/kid get infected by chicken pox. This can be prevented by vaccination now. Read up more to understand it, so you can protect your baby in the early stage.


What Is Chickenpox?

Chickenpox is caused by a virus called varicella zoster. People who get the virus often develop a rash of spots that look like blisters all over their bodies. The blisters are small and sit on an area of red skin that can be anywhere from the size of a pencil eraser to the size of a dime.
The illness also may come along with a runny nose and cough. But the good news is that chickenpox is a common illness for kids and most people get better by just resting like you do with a cold or the flu. And the really good news is that, thanks to the chickenpox vaccine, lots of kids don't get chickenpox at all. Kids who do get it, if they got the shot, often get less severe cases, which means they get better quicker.


How to prevent it?

If your child is not yet vaccinated, it is best to keep him away from sufferers of chicken pox – whether at home or in school. If he contracts chicken pox, ask your doctor about the effective and fast-acting anti-viral tablets that can ease the discomfort of your child. It helps to reduce the duration and severity of the chickenpox infection, accelerate healing and potentially diminish long-term scarring.


What to Do When Your Child Has Chicken Pox?

Chicken pox - memories of being itchy and uncomfortable pop up with just the mention of the name. In most cases, chicken pox is a mild illness. It is very contagious because the virus particles that cause it actually get into the air we breathe.
Symptoms of chicken pox usually start with a fever and rash. The rash often looks like bug bites. After a day or so, each "bite" turns into a tiny clear blister on a red patch. From blisters, these spots turn into scabs. A person with chicken pox stays contagious until all of the blisters have scabs.
A child who has chicken pox can be very irritable, uncomfortable and itchy.

There are many things you can do to soothe a child with chicken pox:

* Control the fever with acetaminophen (children's Tylenol). Do not give aspirin. It is associated with chicken pox and a dangerous disease called Reye's syndrome.
* Keep the child in loose fitting clothes that will not rub the already irritated skin.
* Cool baths sometimes are helpful. An oatmeal bath (AveenoBath) is good for the irritated skin and reduces the itching for a while. (You can buy this special oatmeal at drug stores.)
* Apply Calamine Lotion or a cool cloth to soothe the skin.
* Give your child an antihistamine such as Benedryl Elixir to help control the itching. Follow the instructions for the age and size of your child.


Q&A

Q. My daughter was one in April and contracted chicken pox. She was quite literally covered from head to toe apart from two small patches on her shoulder and calf which were the only places we could hold her. Two months on and her torso and bottom in particular still bear many purple spots - they look like faded port-wine birthmark stains. Will these ever fade or will her skin be permanently marked?

A. The amount of scarring that is left after a severe attack of chickenpox depends on the severity of each individual pox spot, and whether it became infected. If it is only skin discolouration it is extremely likely that this discolouration will disappear, but if there has been a severe secondary infection it may lead to the well known characteristic pox pitting. These become pale with time and don't usually show. It is unusual to have more than one or two of these left as a relic of an attack of chickenpox.



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