What happens if you get chicken pox

The rash may first show up on the chest, back, and face, and then spread over the entire body, including inside the mouth, eyelids, or genital area. It usually takes about one week for all of the blisters to become scabs.

Other typical symptoms that may begin to appear one to two days before rash include:. Some people who have been vaccinated against chickenpox can still get the disease. However, they usually have milder symptoms with fewer or no blisters or just red spots , a mild or no fever, and are sick for a shorter period of time than people who are not vaccinated.

You'll be glad that you did if chickenpox starts making its way around your school! Reviewed by: Kate M. Cronan, MD. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is Chickenpox? People who get the virus have: a fever a rash of spots that look like blisters They also might get a runny nose, cough, and stomachache. What Are the Signs of Chickenpox? How Does Chickenpox Spread?

Itchy-Itchy, Scratchy-Scratchy If you are that unlucky person, how do you keep your chickenpox from driving you crazy? These tips can help you feel less itchy: Keep cool because heat and sweat will make you itch more. You might want to put a lukewarm washcloth on the really bad areas. Trim your fingernails, so if you do scratch, you won't tear your skin.

Soak in a lukewarm bath. Adding some oatmeal to your bath water can help relieve the itching. Have your mom or dad help you apply calamine lotion, which soothes itching. For most healthy people, chickenpox is mild and the person recovers fully without specific treatment. Complications do occur in approximately one per cent of cases. Chickenpox is more severe in adults and in anyone of any age with impaired immunity.

Immunisation is the best way to prevent chickenpox. For chickenpox, the time from infection to the appearance of the rash incubation period is around 14 to 16 days. A few days before the appearance of the rash, the person may feel feverish and have a sore throat and headache. The skin may be marked for some months after the rash has cleared. Nine out of ten pregnant women have immunity against chickenpox. Although contact with chickenpox is common during pregnancy, few women become infected during pregnancy approximately 3 in 1, pregnancies have complications caused by chickenpox.

If you have chickenpox for the first time during pregnancy, you can become seriously ill with conditions such as pneumonia, hepatitis and encephalitis. If you are infected with chickenpox in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, there is a risk to the baby of congenital varicella syndrome, which can cause abnormalities.

After 20 weeks, the risk is lower. Shingles occurs in people who have previously had chickenpox, but it does not appear to cause complications for unborn babies. An infected person is contagious for one to two days possibly five days before the onset of the rash and remains infectious until the blisters form scabs usually around day five of the illness. Chickenpox is usually diagnosed by physical examination. The diagnosis can also be confirmed using tests such as taking a sample of the blister fluid to check for the presence of the virus.

In cases of severe illness, treatment with an antiviral medication may be needed. In most cases, chickenpox is mild and gets better without the need for specific treatment. As well as causing chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus can cause shingles in some people who have had chickenpox. Following an attack of chickenpox, the virus becomes latent lies dormant in nerve cells in the body.

The dormant virus may reactivate, causing shingles later in life. One in three adults will be affected in their lifetime. The incidence and severity increase with age. People who have never had the chickenpox illness or have never been immunised against chickenpox can get chickenpox not shingles if they come into contact with the fluid in the blisters of a person with shingles.

Immunisation against chickenpox can be achieved with either of two vaccines. The first is a combined vaccine containing components to protect against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella MMRV. For some people who have had chickenpox, the virus can become active again later in life and cause a painful rash with blisters called shingles. Symptoms of shingles include headache, fever, nausea and chills. People may feel itching, tingling, or extreme pain in the area where a rash develops several days later.

It takes 2 to 4 weeks for the blisters to heal, although some scars may remain. A person with shingles who feels well does not need to stay away from work or other activities, as long as the rash can be completely covered. Shingles can not be passed from person to person. However, a person who has not had chickenpox or the chickenpox vaccine can get chickenpox from someone with shingles. This is uncommon and requires direct contact with the fluid from the shingles blisters.

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