What Is Chickenpox? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention

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Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a viral infection that causes a rash that can spread over the entire body. The rash starts as small, red spots and progresses to itchy, fluid-filled blisters.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762969bcadc4-21d1-45d0-9bb8-81ac62708495 These blisters eventually form a scab and heal, typically within a week or two. Chickenpox is highly contagious and can spread quickly from an infected person to others who haven’t had the disease or been vaccinated against it. While it usually affects children, adult chickenpox can occur in those who haven’t previously had the infection or the chickenpox vaccine . Adolescents and adults are at higher risk for complications from chickenpox. Before vaccination for chickenpox became routine in the United States, nearly everyone got chickenpox before adulthood. Since that time, cases of chickenpox and related hospitalizations have dropped dramatically.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762954955a08-b72b-4d8c-8379-a3717a480162 While you can reduce your risk of catching chickenpox by avoiding contact with people known to be infected, the most effective way to prevent the disease is to get vaccinated. If you suspect that you or your child has chickenpox, it’s a good idea to see a doctor. Your doctor can make a diagnosis and prescribe any necessary treatments.
Signs and Symptoms of Chickenpox Symptoms The main sign of chickenpox is a rash that turns into itchy, fluid-filled blisters.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629dbbdd998-99b5-4f0b-a0d8-c77f9d1cb984 This rash may start on the chest, back, or face before spreading all over the body. After about a week, chickenpox blisters typically develop a crust and turn into scabs. Other common symptoms associated with chickenpox include: Fever Fatigue Headache Reduced appetite These symptoms may start a day or two before the rash develops. If you develop these symptoms and know that you’ve been exposed to chickenpox, it’s a good idea to stay home to avoid infecting others. Learn More About Signs and Symptoms of Chickenpox
Causes and Risk Factors of Chickenpox Causes Chickenpox is caused by a virus called the varicella-zoster virus. The disease spreads two ways:e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629c94e5404-8033-47c3-af74-637eb8a13118 By breathing in air droplets containing the chickenpox virus (from a person with chickenpox who coughs or sneezes) Through direct contact with a chickenpox rash You’re at high risk for chickenpox in these situations only if you’ve never had the disease or if you haven’t been vaccinated for it. Having the disease or getting vaccinated usually gives you immunity for life. Most people get chickenpox through close contact with someone else who has the infection.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976290220030b-63d8-4d07-9268-d07b658ca09f Chickenpox is contagious starting one to two days before a rash develops until all the blisters have crusted or turned into scabs. If the lesions do not turn into scabs, you are considered contagious until no new lesions have developed for 24 hours. It’s also possible to get chickenpox from someone with shingles (herpes zoster) , a viral infection that occurs when the chickenpox virus, which remains dormant (inactive) in the body after the illness has resolved, reactivates later in life, causing a blistering rash that can be extremely painful. In the rare situation that you’ve been vaccinated for chickenpox but still get the disease, you can pass on your infection to other people — despite the likelihood that your symptoms will be mild. There have been cases in which someone gets chickenpox more than once, but this is extremely rare. Risk Factors While serious complications of chickenpox are rare in healthy people, it’s possible for the disease to cause more dangerous secondary infections, brain infection or swelling, or even death.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629821ff46f-f2b9-43a8-b435-5ad246b0621a Infants, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, and people with a weakened immune system due to illness or medications are at the highest risk for chickenpox complications. Chickenpox in adults is a serious concern, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629821ff46f-f2b9-43a8-b435-5ad246b0621a
How Is Chickenpox Diagnosed? Diagnosis The rash caused by chickenpox is usually enough for a doctor to diagnose it. If there is any doubt about what is causing your rash, your doctor may conduct laboratory tests, including blood tests or a culture of lesion samples.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762972093804-9700-40f1-bb6d-e6b5038f4ffa Prognosis of Chickenpox Chickenpox is typically mild in healthy children.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762972093804-9700-40f1-bb6d-e6b5038f4ffa The chickenpox vaccine also prevents almost all severe illness associated with the disease. If you or your child develops chickenpox after being vaccinated, it is likely to be a mild illness.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629b8737ba3-eeab-4320-a723-28da50a1bd97
Duration of Chickenpox Duration Once you’re exposed to the chickenpox virus, it generally takes 10 to 21 days for you to develop a rash or any other symptoms. The itchy rash that chickenpox causes usually lasts 5 to 10 days.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629ad8a83e0-1345-47db-8a9c-e4c360a3d0be It typically takes about a week for all of the blisters to turn into scabs.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976292b793d62-a060-4f05-ac6d-6f82855c99cc While the symptoms of chickenpox mostly clear up within a week or two, the virus itself stays in a person’s body for the rest of their life. For the most part, the virus remains dormant.
Treatment and Medication Options for Chickenpox Treatment For most mild cases of chickenpox, resting, staying home, and employing some home remedies or over-the-counter products to ease the itching and discomfort are all that’s needed.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762982cc642a-f983-4583-a58a-52edd9ab2624 Adults and children at risk of complications may be prescribed antiviral drugs to reduce the severity and duration of chickenpox symptoms. Children and teenagers should never be given aspirin while they have chickenpox. Doing so raises the risk of developing Reye’s syndrome , a serious disease that causes swelling of the brain and liver.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629bf24a4a0-9da1-47e9-b276-818b9853b4f6 Also talk to your doctor before taking any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) while you have chickenpox, or giving them to a child or teenager with chickenpox, as some studies have linked it to skin infections or tissue damage. Medication Options Most of the time, no medications are needed to treat chickenpox. If you or your child has severe itching, talk to your doctor about taking an antihistamine to help control it.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976292d97c45c-bdf7-427c-8583-b40871933d5b If you or your child has a fever due to chickenpox, taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) can help lower it. For people with an elevated risk of complications from chickenpox, doctors often prescribe an antiviral drug, such as acyclovir (Zovirax) . Other antiviral drugs that may be options for some people include valacyclovir (Valtrex) and famciclovir (Famvir) . In some cases, your doctor may recommend getting the chickenpox vaccine within three to five days after you’ve been exposed to the virus, to prevent the disease or reduce its severity. As an alternative, a postexposure prophylaxis, known as varicella-zoster immune globulin, may be administered to those who are exposed to chickenpox and cannot tolerate the chickenpox vaccine, such as immunocompromised people with no chickenpox immunity.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762949cd4904-7d10-4784-b5cc-7fd3a8acad03 Alternative and Complementary Therapies For most people, the only treatments needed for chickenpox are measures to relieve discomfort and help prevent bacterial skin infections. There are a couple tried-and-true home remedies:e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976292d97c45c-bdf7-427c-8583-b40871933d5b Calamine lotion (dabbed on itchy spots) Baking soda or oatmeal baths A cool bath with added baking soda, aluminum acetate, uncooked oatmeal, or a colloidal oatmeal preparation may help relieve itching from chickenpox. A wet compress — soaking a towel with cold water, placing it over an ice pack if desired, and holding or wrapping it against the skin — may also help relieve itching.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976297d0277b7-4e0a-4083-813d-cf0fad8ca2d4 Learn More About Treatment for Chickenpox: Medication, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and More
Prevention of Chickenpox Getting the chickenpox vaccine is the best way to prevent chickenpox. This vaccine is recommended for people who have never had chickenpox.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762970fb236b-f03f-4e34-8e07-680b5d368487 Two doses of the chickenpox vaccine are needed for effective protection. Most people who receive the vaccine will never develop chickenpox, but those who do tend to have very mild symptoms, such as red spots without blisters and little to no fever. If you haven’t had chickenpox or the vaccine, avoid contact with anyone known to have chickenpox. Talk to your doctor if you believe you may have been exposed to someone with chickenpox in this situation. Learn More About the Chickenpox Vaccine
Complications of Chickenpox Complications Complications from chickenpox are uncommon in healthy people and range from mild secondary skin infections to life-threatening brain swelling. Among the possible complications of chickenpox:e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976290f04cbcd-b29d-4555-9dee-85547b40243d Bacterial infection (usually affects skin and soft tissues in children) Pneumonia (lung infection) Brain infection or swelling ( encephalitis or cerebellar ataxia) Dehydration Bleeding problems Sepsis (bloodstream infections) Death The people at highest risk of developing serious complications include infants, teenagers, adults, pregnant women, and people with an impaired immune system due to illness or medications, including people with HIV/AIDS or cancer, people who have had transplants, and people on chemotherapy, immunosuppressive medications, or long-term use of steroids. But even healthy children can develop complications of chickenpox. While some chickenpox complications are avoidable — for example, not scratching chickenpox blisters reduces the likelihood of skin infections — some are harder to prevent. The best way to avoid chickenpox complications is to see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment advice if you or your child develops symptoms of chickenpox. If a pregnant woman gets chickenpox early in her pregnancy, this can cause problems in her newborn, including:e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629f034c165-3b3d-40a3-8d9e-1852e9fccce0 Low birth weight Limb abnormalities In these cases, the newborn won’t actually be born with chickenpox. But if a woman develops chickenpox right before or after giving birth, it can cause a severe, life-threatening infection. Learn More About the Complications of Chickenpox: How It Affects Your Body in the Short and Long Term
Research and Statistics: How Many People Get Chickenpox? Research and Statistics Before the chickenpox vaccine was introduced in 1995, about 90 percent of children got chickenpox by age 15.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629163d1c15-f231-409a-b7ed-e47f6122dc11 In the early 1990s, there were about four million cases of chickenpox in the United States each year, resulting in 100 to 150 deaths annually.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629b375d0b3-8e59-4bbf-80c1-07d351507425 Since the chickenpox vaccine was introduced, cases of chickenpox, along with hospitalizations and deaths, have dropped by over 90 percent.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762916a6218c-f676-470f-b80c-21d6bb622084 While the chickenpox vaccine doesn’t prevent all cases of the disease, experts at the CDC estimate that about 92 percent of people who get both recommended doses will receive complete protection.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629927b19d4-3f5c-4790-b944-ff5b56c166e6
BIPOC Communities and Chickenpox BIPOC There’s little evidence to suggest that the risk of getting chickenpox is different for any racial or ethnic groups, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations, in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, in the United States, non-Hispanic Black children ages 19 to 35 months old received the chickenpox vaccine at almost the same rate as non-Hispanic white children in 2017 — 89.3 percent for Black children versus 90.3 percent for white children.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976296cf7f62a-e112-4295-98fa-8e12f7273b01 However, there is some evidence that among older adults, people in BIPOC communities are less likely to get the shingles vaccine. In 2019, the CDC reported that 26.1 percent of adults age 50 and older had received a shingles vaccination. Non-Hispanic white adults (29.3 percent) were more likely than non-Hispanic Asian (22.9 percent), non-Hispanic Black (17.9 percent), and Hispanic (15.1 percent) adults to have received a shingles vaccination.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762938039ad0-7719-4046-bc17-bfbbb6084619
Related Conditions Related Conditions The chickenpox virus is a close relative of herpes simplex viruses , which cause both cold sores and genital herpes .e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629a989a5ff-76ed-49ad-b840-94a3a17d14e7 However, herpes simplex viruses do not cause chickenpox, and varicella-zoster virus does not cause the sores typical of herpes simplex infections. In everyone who develops chickenpox, once the infection has passed, the chickenpox virus remains dormant in the body. But the virus can reactivate later in life, causing shingles. Shingles is marked by a painful rash, usually on one side of the body. It can also occur on the face. In addition to the rash — which may form blisters that itch, similar to chickenpox — shingles may cause fever, headache, chills, and upset stomach.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629b93c78b1-3909-4103-a842-6e9d8dc7e20c Certain eligible people can greatly reduce their risk of getting shingles by getting Shingrix , a shingles vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Shingrix, a two-dose vaccine, is recommended for all people who are 50 or older, and those 18 or older whose immune system is weakened or could become weakened by illness or treatment.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629eff46138-7075-40e9-b250-6500e492c84e The risk for shingles increases with age, so it’s particularly important for older adults to be vaccinated. Learn More About Chickenpox in Adults

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