Chicken pox

Chicken pox, also spelled chickenpox, is caused by the varicella-zoster virus and is a highly contagious infection that mostly affects children under the age of 12; despite the prevalence of the infection in children, adult chicken pox also exists. The chicken pox virus, or varicella virus, is actually a type of herpes virus. The infection is spread by close contact and by breathing in airborne droplets released by infected people.

The most common of the symptoms of chicken pox is the itchy rash of spots that appears pretty much all over the body; it starts on the chest, back, face and scalp but then can spread everywhere else, including your eyes and inside your throat. The rash will start to appear within the first two weeks following exposure to the virus; first there will be simple spots which then turn into blisters filled with liquid.

These blisters break open, crust over, and new spots will appear; this cycle will continue for quite a number of days and may be accompanied by mild to severe itching. Other chickenpox symptoms are very flu-like and include fever, mild headache, abdominal pain; loss of appetite, mild cough, malaise and runny nose are also chicken pox symptoms.

Antibiotics may be included in treatment for chicken pox; the antibiotics, however, are not to deal with the chickenpox virus, but rather to deal with any potential bacterial infection that may have invaded the sores caused by any open blisters. Antiviral drugs may be prescribed for certain people who may be at risk for complications following the infection. The majority of chickenpox cases will resolve themselves on their own, with plenty of bed rest.

Before 1995, almost all children under the age of 12 contracted the infection and spent at least a week in bed. In 1995, though, the chicken pox vaccine was released and the number of cases has been drastically reduced. There are a few cases in which the chickenpox vaccine does not completely protect against the infection; but in these cases, the infection is extremely mild.

Though chicken pox itself is not serious, it could lead to serious complications in certain groups of people. Newborns and infants born of mothers who never had either the infection or the disease, adults, pregnant women, individuals with compromised immune systems, people taking steroids for other illnesses and people with eczema are all at risk for chicken pox complications. These include shingles (anyone who has had chicken pox is at risk for shingles), encephalitis, pneumonia and various bacterial skin infections.

If you’re asking yourself “what do chicken pox look like”, check out some chicken pox pictures online; you can view pictures of chicken pox at your doctors’ office as well, and you can also ask your physician about the history of chickenpox.