Chickenpox
Chickenpox is one of the 'classic' childhood diseases. Most
children will catch it sooner or later.
Chickenpox is an airborne disease and is very contagious. The
symptoms are:
- general mild flu like symptoms (headache, fever, tummy ache,
and loss of appetite);
- followed a day or two later by hundreds of itchy, fluid
filled blisters.
Once you have had chickenpox the virus is with you for life but
kept in check by your immune system. However, the virus can
flare up later in life in the form of shingles, especially if
you undergo a period of stress.
Most cases occur in children younger than 10 and the disease is
usually mild. Older children and adults often develop a more
severe case of chickenpox.
Chickenpox can cause serious complications:
- a secondary infection of the blisters may occur if these are
scratched and this can cause scarring.
- newborns are at risk of severe infection if the mother is not
immune (i.e. she has not previously had the disease).
- other, rare, complications include encephalitis; Reye's
syndrome; and cerebellar ataxia.
Treatment:
As it is a virus, chickenpox can not be treated by antibiotics.
In most cases a chickenpox infection can be left to run its
course, however, it is advisable to treat the blisters to reduce
the likelihood of them being scratched. To this end, it is
advisable to trim the nails of young children and place
scratch-mitts on babies to minimise scratching and reduce the
chance of scarring.
Calamine lotion will help to ease the itching as will baking
soda (bicarbonate of soda). When our toddlers caught
chickenpox a friend suggested adding a little water to baking
powder to make a paste and applying that to the blisters. As our
son passed his chickenpox on to me I can verify that the baking
soda does work! It was more effective than calamine lotion at
reducing the itching.
Antiviral medicines have been developed and can help the fight
against chickenpox if the medicine is started within the first
24 hours of the rash developing. For most healthy children
antiviral medicine is not required, but teenagers and adults who
are likely to experience a more severe dose, may benefit.
Others who could benefit from antiviral medicine are kids with
eczema, lung conditions such as asthma, and those who have been
prescribed steroids.