Facts About Chicken Pox

Chicken pox is a common children's disease, causing a child to run a fever and producing itchy, red bumps all over the skin. Although a vaccine is available, most children will still become infected with the chicken pox virus. Once a child recovers from the virus, however, the virus typically will not afflict her again.

What is Chicken Pox?

• Chicken pox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It usually affects children younger than 12. Generally, chicken pox makes a person sick once; however, VZV can lie dormant in the body and cause shingles, another type of skin rash, later in life. The virus is highly contagious, so the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) asks that children or anyone not immune to the virus get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Signs and Symptoms

• The most well-known symptom of chicken pox is the red, itchy rash. Little blisters or bumps typically start at the back, abdomen and face and later move to the arms, legs, mouth and genitals. The blisters look like insect bites or pimples at first, but then fill with a cloudy pus and, eventually, burst. The bumps are usually less than a quarter-inch wide and last two to four days.

  Flu-like symptoms may precede the bumps. Fever, nausea, headache, sore throat, aches and fatigue will typically appear one or two days ahead of the rash.

Complications

• Although chicken pox is generally a mild illness--especially in young children--infants, adults and those with weak immune systems may be at risk for a harsher illness. Occasionally the body's skin, bones, joints, lungs and brain may develop a bacterial infection.

  Anyone who had chicken pox earlier in life is at risk for developing shingles. Shingles occurs when dormant VZV becomes reactivated in the nerve cells near the spinal cord. Twenty percent of those infected with chicken pox will become infected with shingles. However, in 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a vaccine to prevent shingles in those 60 and older.

Treatments

• Typically, a doctor will not prescribe any medications for chicken pox. This is because the infection is viral and antibiotics do not treat viral infections. However, the doctor may prescribe an antiviral medication for those at risk for later complications.

  The best treatment for chicken pox is to treat the flu-like symptoms with over-the-counter medications and keep the child from scratching the rash. Wearing socks over the hands is a common way to keep from scratching the rash.

  Never use aspirin to treat fever or pain from chicken pox, as it has been associated with Reye syndrome, which may lead to liver failure and death.

Prevention

• Because chicken pox is highly contagious, the best way to prevent it from spreading is by keeping the sick individual at home and away from others until the blisters have dried. In 2007, the FDA approved a complete vaccine (Varivax) for young children, unvaccinated children age 7 to 12, and adults who have not had chicken pox but are at a high risk of exposure. According to the CDC, 90 percent of those who receive the vaccine will be protected. For those who are not completely protected, the vaccine greatly lessens the intensity of the rash.