Is it possible to get chicken pox again? Chickenpox second time - an exceptional case

Most people living in our country have experienced chickenpox, a highly contagious viral infection caused by a type 3 herpes family virus. It is believed that after the disease, the human body develops lifelong immunity and it is impossible to get chickenpox again. However, some medical sources state that recurrent chickenpox is possible. So is it possible to get chickenpox a second time? Let's figure it out.

Immunity, fact or fiction

During the course of the infection, the body produces antibodies of the IgM and IgG classes, which subsequently form a stable lifelong immunity against the chickenpox pathogen.

It should be understood that after the transfer of chickenpox, the virus does not completely eliminate, that is, the pathogen remains in the human body, hiding in the cells of the posterior horns of the spinal cord, in the cells of the autonomic nervous system, or in the ganglia of the cranial nerves. The virus is in the body, but has no activity. We can say that the pathogen is "sleeping". It is thanks to the developed immunity that the virus is in this state. So immunity is really being developed.

Therefore, if we ask ourselves the question: “Is it possible to get chickenpox a second time?”, We will come to the logical conclusion that re-infection is, in fact, excluded.

The opinion of doctors on this issue differs. Some argue that re-infection in adults who have had chickenpox is impossible. The argument for this point of view is the "axiom" of the formed immunity. Doctors who adhere to this point of view believe that it is possible to get chickenpox only once, and if chickenpox nevertheless appeared 2 times, then either it is not chickenpox, or it was not chickenpox in the past.

There are many infections similar in symptomatic picture. The infections caused by herpes viruses are especially similar. Differences, of course, are present, but they are not obvious and therefore the diagnosis of the disease may be erroneous.

In addition, it is believed that the repeated manifestation of the "chickenpox" virus is shingles or herpes zoster. The symptoms of this disease are different from the symptoms of chickenpox. Herpes zoster is characterized by unilateral herpes sores, accompanied by pain and itching. Pain and itching can go away in 2-4 weeks, along with a rash. There are cases when pain and itching persist for several months and even years. This condition is called postherpetic neuralgia.

The virus can become active after 10-20 years of life. It is believed that the activation of the pathogen in the body is directly related to the weakening of the immune system. However, scientists do not give exact data on this issue, since the mechanisms for the virus to exit “anabiosis” and enter “sleep mode” have not been studied.

So can there be chickenpox a second time? Based on this point of view, the second windmill is impossible.

There is a second category of doctors who answer the question: "Is it possible to get chickenpox again?", Answer: "Yes." At the same time, the chance of getting chickenpox again in adults is 20%. The risk group includes people with reduced immunity, or with congenital or acquired immunodeficiency, as well as people who have undergone organ transplants or undergone chemotherapy. This point of view has many supporters in scientific circles and also has its own reasons.

One of the arguments of this opinion is the ability of viruses to mutate. Due to this property, the virus can re-provoke chickenpox, and the body will classify it differently. This explains the more frequent manifestations of recurrent chickenpox today.

Another argument is the presence of the virus in the human body after infection. In other words, scientists believe that the recurrence of the virus may not necessarily be herpes zoster. In some cases, the manifestation of Varicella zoster - the name of the causative agent of chicken pox and shingles, may be just repeated chicken pox.

Let us add that physicians who are inclined to this point of view believe that contact with a patient with chickenpox can provoke re-infection with chickenpox in a person who has previously had this infection.

It is believed that the second chickenpox in adulthood is much easier to tolerate than the first, but there are no visible differences in the symptomatic picture. Typical symptoms of recurrent chickenpox are:

• Temperature rise. Can reach 38 degrees;
• General weakness and lethargy of the body, reduced tone;
• Nausea;
• Pain in the joints and muscles;
• mild fever;
• Headache;

As with the first chickenpox, the symptoms resemble a common cold.

Repeated rashes also do not have certain deviations and, often, they are not too plentiful. At first, the rash looks like small insect bites (mosquitoes) and looks like reddish spots. The first elements of the rash appear in the head area (in the hairline) and on the face. In the future, the rash spreads throughout the body and takes the form of papules (small reddish pimples, no more than 0.5 cm in diameter, with a pronounced head filled with a clear liquid). The first rashes soon begin to dry out and become covered with a characteristic brown crust, which peels off and disappears after 2-3 weeks, leaving red-pink spots at the site of the rash. The spots, in turn, also pass without leaving marks.

As we have already said, the only difference between the first chickenpox and the second is a milder form of the disease.

True point of view

We analyzed two opposing points of view on the question: “Can there be a second chickenpox?”. However, to be frank, the answer to the question: “Is it possible to get chickenpox a second time?” Is: “No one knows.” In fact, research on this issue has been going on for a long time, but no one has ever found a real answer to this question.

There is a sure way to find out if it's chickenpox or not. As we wrote above, after the transfer of infection, antibodies are produced in the blood. Therefore, after the disease, it makes sense to take a serological test for antibodies of the lgM and lgG classes. If the blood test is positive, then you really had this infection, if negative, then you were ill with something else.

Note that after chemotherapy and organ transplantation, immunity against Varicella zoster disappears, so in these cases a second chickenpox is possible.

What to do to prevent the infection from reappearing

Based on the fact that the virus stays in the human body until the end of life, there is a risk of re-manifestation of Varicella zoster. How not to get sick? First of all, it is necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle, since bad habits have a detrimental effect on the human immune system, and this is precisely the reason for the “exit from sleep mode” of the virus. Severe stress, improper and unhealthy food, chronic fatigue and lack of sleep, and many other factors can reduce the functioning of the immune system.

Whether you get a second chickenpox or not, it's worth supporting your immune system (herpes zoster is a serious disease that has a very unpleasant course that can occur at any age). For these purposes, you can periodically use multivitamins. They contribute to raising the general tone of the body, and also improve the functioning of the immune system.

The contagiousness of chickenpox is known to all. Many people remember how they were ill in childhood, and fearlessly make contact with sick adults and children. When a child falls ill, he is isolated from other children, and his mother and father take care of him. Due to the widespread assertion that a person who has had chickenpox once receives lifelong immunity, parents do not show concern for themselves and their already ill children. The older a person is, the more difficult he is to tolerate chickenpox, and the question of whether it is possible to get chickenpox a second time becomes very important.

What is chickenpox and how does infection occur

How not to get chickenpox

Chickenpox is very easy to get. The key points for the prevention of chickenpox are isolation, vaccination, hygiene.

Prevention of chickenpox within the family:

• keeping an infectious family member separate from others;
• individual personal hygiene products, dishes;
• gauze bandages for each family member (to reduce the risk of the virus getting into the mucous membrane of the mouth and nose);
• the patient's belongings are washed separately from the belongings of other family members.

In order to protect yourself as much as possible from the ingress of viruses and infections from the external environment, you must carefully observe the rules of personal hygiene, eat right, include vitamins in your diet, lead a healthy lifestyle, play sports.

Important! When the first symptoms of chickenpox are detected, the child or adult is isolated from others for the entire duration of the appearance of the rash, plus another 5 days from the moment the last pimple appears. For treatment it is possible.

Vaccination against chickenpox is a worldwide practice for preventing the disease. It is recommended that all adults get vaccinated, especially women planning a pregnancy. The issue of vaccinating a woman should be especially acute for those women whose older children attend kindergarten or school, can become infected and bring the infection home.

Almost every person in his life suffered chickenpox. In most cases, the varicella-zoster virus affects children. Once a child's body gets sick, it develops immunity to this infection. However, in some cases, repeated chickenpox in children is likely. Is it really? And how does the disease proceed in this case?

How often does it occur?

A distinctive feature of chickenpox is due to the fact that once it enters the body, this virus remains there forever. You cannot get re-infected with chickenpox. There is an opinion that a person who has been ill with this disease once will not encounter it a second time. However, the virus, sitting in the body and staying in the sleep stage, can wake up, and the disease can recur. Why does chickenpox come back? The answer lies in the weakness of the immune system.

Children with low immunity can get chickenpox twice.

So far, such cases have rarely been observed. However, nowadays more and more children have a weakened immune system. Therefore, no matter how many doctors say that it is not possible to get chickenpox twice, they are not able to guarantee this. This is especially true for oncologically ill babies who have undergone several sessions of chemotherapy, which additionally reduces immunity in addition to the main ailment.

There is a likely risk of a secondary chickenpox disease in people who have undergone organ transplants, severe illnesses, who have been in severe stressful situations, suffering from chronic pathologies that reduce immunity. Such diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus, diabetes mellitus, HIV infection, etc. If a person becomes infected with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), his immune system will constantly fail. For such people, the risk of getting chickenpox increases significantly.

Symptoms

Both in the primary and in the secondary version of the development of chickenpox, the symptoms appear almost the same. First, there is malaise, constant fatigue, lethargy, worried about the head and throat. With primary chickenpox, a high temperature rises. With the secondary manifestation of the virus, the temperature is kept within the acceptable range. In the primary variant, an itchy rash occurs on the 2nd-3rd day after the onset. The second time the bubbles cover the child's body on the 2nd - 7th day. In this situation, the area of ​​​​the rash is not so common, a smaller part of the body is affected.

During the secondary activation of the chickenpox virus, the following processes occur:

• appetite disappears, health worsens;
• acne appears on the body with cloudy or clear water inside;
• blisters ripen and, bursting, transform into sores;
• after a while, the wounds become covered with a crust, which dries up and soon disappears.

The danger of the second chickenpox

In childhood, chickenpox is not as dangerous as in adults. The secondary activation of the virus is much easier than the primary one. However, it happens that a secondary infection develops into shingles. Sometimes, when making a final diagnosis, the doctor's opinion is erroneous. Rashes on the body, which the doctor took for smallpox, may be a manifestation of some forms of herpes, the symptoms of which are similar to chickenpox.
A blistering rash similar to smallpox can also be provoked by intestinal infections.

Chickenpox is considered a childhood disease, but the adult population of the planet (about 10-15%) is also sick. This happens in the absence of immunity to the virus, the characteristic difference of which is 100% infectiousness.

It is known that it is easier (without serious consequences and complications) to endure the disease at kindergarten or school age, having received strong immunity for the rest of life. But some people have an urgent question: is it possible for an adult to get chickenpox again?

The causative agent of infection is the Varicella zoster virus, which belongs to the group of herpes viruses. The propagation path is exclusively through the air, it moves over long distances - up to several tens of meters. For example, the virus can easily move through several rooms, both along corridors and through ventilation ducts.

It is possible to get chickenpox from a sick person who is in the incubation period (this is an average of 10 to 20 days). At this time, a sick person does not feel any signs of the disease and does not suspect an infection. Infection occurs during contact by airborne droplets. At the same time, the Varicella zoster virus does not adapt well in the external environment and dies almost immediately.

The course of chickenpox in people over 20 years of age is characterized by a serious condition, and after the illness, there is a high risk of complications that are dangerous not only for health, but also for human life.

As a rule, having had chickenpox once, you can forget about it, but it happens during the occurrence of favorable conditions and predisposing factors that adults can re-infect with chickenpox, which will be modified and pass in the form of shingles. The causes of repeated chickenpox in adults can be nervous experiences, a period of exacerbation of chronic pathologies that suppress the immune system.

Who can get chickenpox again?

Usually, chickenpox is carried in childhood, after which a virus remains in the human body, which is not dangerous, because it is, as it were, in hibernation. And thanks to this, immunity to the repetition of the disease appears. However, it happens that the immune system fails, and at the time of contact with a patient with chickenpox, re-infection may occur. Therefore, people with poor health and chronic diseases often worry, is it possible for an adult to get chickenpox again?

The risk group includes people with HIV, those who have cancer, during hormone therapy, chemotherapy, after prolonged use of steroids, after internal organ transplants.

People who have been subject to intense emotional distress, frequent stressful situations, or weakened by acclimatization after moving with climate change may also get chickenpox again.

Is it possible to determine the true reason why an adult got sick again with chickenpox? It is very rare, because the virus enters the body with low immunity, and accordingly, even after taking antibiotics, if health deteriorates, chickenpox may repeat.

How does the symptomatology of recurrent chickenpox manifest in an adult

The repeated picture of chickenpox practically does not differ from the symptoms of the primary disease. The only difference is the age of people who can catch the infection a second time, this applies to adult women and men, but bypasses children.

The clinical picture of patients with chickenpox is very diverse, and basically the course of the disease is extremely difficult for a person. The infection is transmitted through the air and by accidental contact with a bubble on the patient's skin at the time of fluid release. Recurrent chickenpox in adults occurs only during personal contact with the patient, as well as in people with no immunity. With immunodeficiency, it is easy to catch chickenpox a second time, and the course is much more complicated.

Repeated chickenpox begins with infection, after which an asymptomatic period (incubation) lasts for about two weeks. Then the first signs of the disease begin to appear - a prodromal period of 24 hours. The height of chickenpox lasts the next 3-5 days, after which the recovery period of the body begins.

The initial symptoms are completely different from chickenpox, so a re-infected adult does not understand what the illness is. The first days are characterized by the appearance of a feeling of weakness, excessive fatigue, and in general the general condition worsens. Therefore, often the repetition of chickenpox is initially mistaken for a cold, because temperature indicators may increase slightly during the prodromal period or remain unchanged at all.

Before the onset of the first rash (2-3 days), the following signs of the disease appear:

• feeling of aches all over the body;
• loss of appetite;
• dizzy, migraine appears;
• soreness in the muscles and joints, not only when walking, but also during rest;
• sleep disappears at night, and in the daytime, on the contrary, fatigue and drowsiness appear;
• increased sensitivity to light;
• painful, unpleasant sensations when moving the eyeballs to the sides;
• a slight increase in temperature values ​​\u200b\u200b(up to 37.5 degrees).

After 3-4 days, characteristic rashes form on the patient's body, at first similar to spots, then bubbles form in their place, inside which a cloudy liquid collects. After two days, the bubbles dry up and a crust appears on top, the period of rejection lasts 1-3 weeks and, accordingly, recovery.

The rash does not immediately appear throughout the body, within a few days it spreads - crusts dry out in some areas, and new bubbles with liquid appear in others. And all this happens at the same time and is a variant of the norm for the development of the disease. It happens that small scars remain in the areas of rejection of the crust, but this rarely happens and mainly when combing.

The duration of chickenpox and the severity of the course depend on the individuality of the patient's body, his immune system and proper treatment. As a rule, after 3 weeks there is a complete recovery. Chicken pox gives a lot of uncomfortable sensations to a sick person and spoils the whole aesthetic appearance. At the first signs of chickenpox, you should contact a specialist for further recommendations on treatment and exclude communication with healthy people.

How is the severity of the disease manifested?

Symptoms of repeated chickenpox in adults with low immunity and improper treatment of the rash are more severe, and if a bacterial infection also joins, complications may occur, including encephalitis, viral pneumonia, or even otitis media.

With a severe course of chickenpox, the patient develops nausea, which turns into vomiting, coordination of movements is disturbed, fainting is possible, loud sounds and bright lights cause discomfort, and an acute reaction occurs to them.

Rashes appear not only on the skin, but also on the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, on the genitals and even in the respiratory tract (enanthems). The rash can recur, with a feeling of unbearable itching and burning, the temperature rises to high values ​​​​(39-40 degrees). In such cases, the rash very often begins to fester, after which scars (pockmarks) can form. Therefore, it is very important not to comb the skin on the spilled areas - this is the only way to avoid the appearance of scars.

So that the disease does not entail many complications, it is necessary to undergo an examination by a specialist who will explain how to properly care for the patient and prescribe the necessary drugs.

How to treat recurrent chickenpox in adults?

After the onset of symptoms, a person should go to an appointment with a specialist who, after examination, will prescribe the necessary treatment. In some cases, examine the fluid inside the bubble or tissue at the site of the lesion.

The treatment of chickenpox consists in the proper treatment of the rash that has arisen, maintaining body hygiene and prescribing antiviral drugs, since there are no cures for the disease itself. The recurrence of chickenpox in adults is basically the same as the first time. Patients are prescribed bed rest, with high rates on the thermometer, antipyretic drugs are prescribed, these can be Paracetamol or Ibuprofen.

During the period of illness, the greatest discomfort is caused by rashes that are very itchy and painful, so it is very important not to comb them, because in addition to the formation of scars, an infection can get into the wounds, as a result of which suppuration appears. To relieve itching and swelling, drugs with an antihistamine effect are prescribed. In addition, the room where the patient is located should be fresh and cool, this will relieve sweating and discomfort.

It is very important to properly treat the rash in order to exclude the attachment of bacteria and the formation of pustules. When the crusting is complete, the treating specialist may refer the patient to ultraviolet irradiation for a speedy recovery.

Acyclovir ointment is also prescribed, which by its action will inhibit the development of infection, and Acyclovir in tablets, which has an antiviral effect. Such drugs are used in people with low immunity, in women during childbearing, infants and in patients on the first day after the onset of rashes.

Aciclovir is most effective in reducing the symptoms of chickenpox if the drug is started immediately after the rash appears. But only a doctor can prescribe the drug, if necessary.

Re-infection with chickenpox in adults also involves the use of brilliant green to indicate a rash that has already appeared and to determine whether new elements continue to appear.

Traditional medicine has proven itself well, with the help of recipes which can accelerate the process of rejection of crusts and healing. For these purposes, the body is washed with decoctions based on medicinal herbs with an anti-inflammatory effect. But we should not forget that these are only auxiliary methods that do not act on the pathogen itself.

If a bacterial infection joins the symptoms of repeated chickenpox in adults, a course of antibiotics is prescribed. In any case, only a doctor can attribute or exclude drug treatment, since it depends on the individual characteristics of the patient's body.

What complications can occur with a recurrence of the disease?

After the question, is it possible to get chickenpox again, the next one arises accordingly - what complications can occur a second time? The most common is the attachment of an infection on the skin, inflammation of the wounds.

The most severe consequences are manifested in the form of blindness or postherpetic neuralgia. This happens due to rashes in the eye area, so the infection can easily penetrate the mucous membrane of the eyeballs, and, accordingly, affect the loss of vision.

Postherpetic neuralgia is a condition when the sensation of soreness and itching throughout the body does not go away after the onset of recovery and after the disappearance of the remnants of the rash. This complication occurs mainly in patients older than 55 years.

Quite severe consequences of repeated chickenpox in adults are inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), loss of coordination while walking, paralysis of the facial nerve.

What is the danger of repeated chickenpox for women during pregnancy?

It is possible to get chickenpox at any stage of pregnancy, but the highest risk for the baby is the early stages and the period before childbirth. In the first trimester of pregnancy, the virus can provoke a miscarriage, and chickenpox is dangerous for the unborn baby with complications such as cataracts, developmental inhibition, organ underdevelopment, mental disability, microphthalmia, and the formation of wounds on the body.

With a congenital virus that enters the child's body before childbirth, there is a severe course of the disease, during which the internal organs suffer, and often inflammatory processes occur in the bronchioles.

Repeated chickenpox in an adult woman, which began 5-7 days before the onset of labor, does not pose a danger to the baby and does not manifest itself in any way, or a mild form of the disease occurs.

Therefore, during the period of bearing a child, a woman with chickenpox should be under the supervision of specialists.

How can you protect yourself from getting chickenpox again?

Is it possible to protect yourself from re-infection with chickenpox, and how to do it? In recent years, not only in children, but also in the adult population, there has been a deterioration in the general state of health, and, accordingly, a decrease in immunity. This is due to many factors, for example, nervous strain, deterioration in the quality of food and living conditions. In addition, over time, viruses mutate and become more resistant to environmental conditions.

Therefore, re-infection with chickenpox in adults, although it occurs quite rarely, but with more pronounced symptoms.

If during the period of lowering the immune properties there was contact with a sick person, there is a 100% chance of catching the varicella-zoster virus. To protect yourself from re-infection with chickenpox is possible only with the help of vaccination, which is not mandatory in clinics. Therefore, if necessary, people are vaccinated on a paid basis. However, in many European countries, vaccination against chickenpox is mandatory.

Important: After vaccination, a strong immunity to the Varicella zoster virus is developed, which has been present in the body for the next 20 years.

Doctors recommend mandatory vaccinations for people who have immunodeficiency or chronic diseases, often exacerbated. And then people will not so often have the question that is relevant today: do adults get chickenpox again?

Chicken pox is an infectious disease with an airborne spread caused by a virus of the Herpesviridae family and is characterized by the obligatory presence of a maculopapular-vesicular rash.

Classification of chickenpox by the nature of the rash

• typical;
• Atypical:
  • pustular;
  • rudimentary;
  • bullous;
  • gangrenous;
  • generalized;
  • hemorrhagic.

The reasons

The varicella-zoster virus infects exclusively human cells, so only humans can be the only carrier of the virus. This viral disease has its own characteristics. In particular, DNA is present in its virus, it is sensitive to the effects of ultraviolet radiation, and it is also easy for it to survive in conditions where the temperature of the environment in which it is located is quite low. Therefore, reusable processes of thawing and freezing in no way affect it.

The virus has an airborne transmission route, that is, it spreads from the patient at the time when he is talking, coughing, sneezing, kissing, etc. Patients with chickenpox are able to infect other people from about 20-24 hours before the rash appears until the 5th day when the last rash was recorded. The varicella-zoster virus quickly dies in the external environment - under the influence of sunlight and ultraviolet radiation. In the open air, the virus lives for about 10 minutes.

How long does chickenpox remain contagious

The number of days that you can get infected - affects not only the degree of infection of the carrier of the infection, but also the immunity of those potentially infected, with weak immunity, you can pick up almost absent particles of the remnants of the infection, with strong immunity, it is possible to overcome a small attack of the virus. Also, with a high degree of immunity protection in a sick person, the disease will leave him sooner, as well as the spread period will decrease significantly.

In average statistics and according to the results of laboratory studies, it was decided that, on average, chickenpox remains contagious for about 10-12 days from the day the virus enters the body. However, it should be remembered that the security measures associated with protection against infection are never superfluous. The incubation period according to scientific medicine is from 10 to 21 days from the day of infection, contagious chickenpox remains after about 5 days, after the appearance of the most recent ulcer and its crusting.

The contagiousness of chickenpox - exceeds many other infectious diseases. At the same time, you can get infected only with very close contact, by airborne droplets, you should not allow the patient to cough or sneeze in the presence of a person who has not yet had chickenpox.

Symptoms

Chickenpox occurs in 4 periods: incubation, prodromal, rash period and the period of crusting.

The incubation period of chickenpox lasts: from 13 to 17 days for patients under the age of 30, and from 11 to 21 days - from 30 years.

The incubation period itself can have a different degree of duration, depending on the preparedness of the organism to fight the infection, of a particular organism. The time and severity of the disease, as well as the period of contagiousness, also differ.

The prodromal period begins about a day before the rash: fever, pain in the lumbar region, and headaches appear. In children, the prodromal period is most often absent, and the disease is expressed by the appearance of a rash.

How does chickenpox start and what are its first signs?

Rashes in most children proceed without any disturbances in the general condition, the manifestations of fever coincide with the appearance of a rash, since the rashes appear in waves, in several stages. In adults, rashes are more often massive, at the same time the temperature rises, severe itching appears.

Initially, the rash appears in the form of small spots, which in just a few hours are converted into a vesicle (vesicle) with redness around. After two or three days, the vesicle bursts and dries up, and gradually becomes covered with a dense crust.

Considering that rashes appear at intervals of one or two days, a rash can be observed on the skin at the same time in different stages of development (spot, nodule, vesicle, crust).

There are various forms of this disease. Chickenpox in form can be typical and atypical. The typical form of chickenpox is also divided into several types, such as mild, moderate and severe form of the course of the disease.

When a person is sick with a mild form of chickenpox, in general, he does not feel so bad. His body temperature does not exceed 38 °. A relatively small amount of rash is observed on the skin, and a very small amount of rash is present on the mucous membranes. Rashes occur in only 2 to 4 days.

If the patient has a moderate form of this infectious disease, then he has a slight intoxication in his body. The onset of chickenpox is also characterized by elevated temperature, but there are much more rashes on the body than in the first case. They occur over a longer period of time, from 4 to 5 days approximately. Also, the rash is itchy. When the bubbles on the skin begin to dry up, the general condition of the patient becomes more satisfactory, and his body temperature also returns to normal.

In the event that the patient has a severe form of chickenpox, the rash is present in copious amounts, and not only on the skin, but also on the mucous membranes of the eyes, mouth, nose and genitals. Rashes will appear on the patient's body for a week, or even more. The temperature will be quite high. The patient will feel so bad that he may experience such negative reactions of the body as vomiting, sleep problems and lack of appetite.

Atypical forms of such an infectious disease as chicken pox can be of several types. These are rudimentary forms, as well as forms with non-standard symptoms and complications.

Most often, the rudimentary form of chickenpox occurs in children when they are only a few months old. It is characterized by the fact that they have a small rash on their skin. At the same time, chickenpox in this form practically in no way affects the deterioration of the child's well-being. The temperature may not rise above normal levels.

Forms of the disease with severe symptoms, that is, aggravated, are observed rather infrequently. Usually those children who are weakened and have altered immunity are susceptible to them. For example, these may be children who have leukemia, or who have been treated with steroid hormones for a long period of time. Such chickenpox can end fatally.

Another form of atypical chickenpox is generalized. She is accompanied by fever and an increased degree of intoxication, a large amount of rash, which is located not only on the skin and mucous membranes, but also on the internal organs.

If the patient has a hemorrhagic form, hemorrhages begin in the skin and mucous membranes, there are frequent cases of nosebleeds, as well as hemorrhages in the internal organs.

The gangrenous form means the presence of such a symptom as the appearance of dry gangrene simultaneously with the appearance of rashes, after which a deep ulcer remains.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of chickenpox most often does not present any difficulties. The diagnosis is established on the basis of clinical manifestations, taking into account the epidemiology.

Treatment

During the entire febrile period, bed rest is mandatory. In the treatment of chicken pox, antipyretic drugs, detoxification therapy are prescribed, if skin itching is present, antihistamines are indicated.

Suprastin: used for skin itching, urticaria, eczema, allergies, conjunctivitis. Available in the form of tablets, solution for intravenous and intramuscular administration. In the form of tablets, it should be taken three times a day, adults 75 milligrams per day, children 6.5 ml per day or half a tablet 2 times a day. The solution is made 1-2 ampoules per muscle for adults, children for half an ampoule. With caution, suprastin should be used by the elderly, people with impaired kidney or liver function, and underweight.

Tavegil - exists in the form of syrup, injections and tablets. It is used for skin itching, urticaria, eczema. It is taken orally 2 times a day, 1 mg for persons over 12 years of age. Up to 12 years, 0.5 mg 2 times a day. Injections are carried out intravenously or intramuscularly, 2 ml once a day.

Many people think that it is wrong to smear chickenpox with brilliant green, as it is an alcohol antiseptic that dries the skin very much. Another disadvantage is that it stains bed linen, and it is quite difficult to wash it off. The pluses include the fact that brilliant green is clearly visible on the child, thanks to which you can control the number of newly appeared spots. In addition to brilliant green, there are a lot of other means, both in traditional medicine and among medicines. Many of them are much more effective than brilliant green solution.

How to smear chickenpox (except brilliant green)

• The most common and inexpensive tool that helps better brilliant green is a five percent solution of potassium permanganate. It dries the pimples and relieves itching, you can apply an unlimited number of times a day.
• Fukortsin - consists of boric acid, resorcinol, basic fuchsin, pure phenol, ethyl alcohol and distilled water. A small amount of the drug is taken with a cotton swab and applied to the "pimples" 4 times a day. After the product dries, you can apply ointment on top of it. The tool does not have a color that is very different from the skin of the sores, so it is not particularly noticeable.
• Methylene blue - has a blue color, is well washed off the skin and things. For treatment, a 0.5-3 percent solution is used, which lubricates the rashes.
• Salicylic alcohol - acts much more effectively than brilliant green. It is used to treat skin diseases, skin lesions. This remedy is applied to the affected area with a cotton swab or cotton swab 3 times a day.
• "Tsindol" - contains zinc oxide, it is he who acts as a drying and anti-inflammatory agent. It looks like a suspension, from which you can independently make an ointment from chickenpox. To do this, put the bottle in a dark place and leave for several days, until a thick substance appears at the bottom. After that, the upper part should be drained, leaving only a thickened sediment. This ointment can also be applied to affected areas of the skin. Lubricate the skin with this remedy about 6 times a day.

How to smear chickenpox in adults in the mouth. Chickenpox in the oral cavity is accompanied by heaviness when swallowing and the possibility of spreading the infection through the respiratory tract. To prevent this from happening, you should protect yourself with the help of drugs.

The oral cavity should be rinsed four times a day and always after meals. This will help a solution of soda, which must be poured into a glass of water in the amount of two hundred grams. You can also add a weak solution of potassium permanganate, a decoction of herbs to the water: chamomile, yarrow, dandelion, sage; sodium sulfate, furatsilin, calendula or propolis tincture.

As an anesthetic, anesthetic gels are used, these include Kalgel or Kamistad. Calgel in an amount of 7 mm is applied to a cotton swab and smeared on the affected areas of the mouth no more than 6 times a day before meals. Kamistad, has components of lidocaine and chamomile flower extract. On the affected areas of the mouth, the agent is applied in the form of a strip of 0.5 cm and rubbed. The procedure should be carried out three times a day.

A solution of boric acid can be smeared with chickenpox in the mouth three times a day. With the help of sea buckthorn oil or dental paste, a protective layer is formed on the affected areas, which will accelerate healing and protect the oral cavity for four hours.

The better to smear chickenpox. It is best to smear with means that will quickly dry the sores and disinfect them. In addition to the above funds, there are also various balms, creams, gels, lotions and ointments for chickenpox. All of them help to eliminate itching. Lotions have soothing and cooling agents, prevent the rash from spreading over the skin. Ointments act as an antiviral, antipruritic and anti-inflammatory agent. Gels are anti-edematous, antipruritic and local anesthetics. The gel has a cooling effect.

If a premature baby or a patient with a weakened immune system gets sick with chickenpox, then antiviral drugs are prescribed. Be sure to carefully observe hygiene: taking baths with a weak solution of manganese, wearing ironed linen. To prevent scratching of the blisters and infection - cutting the nails.

Chickenpox lesions are treated with a disinfectant solution. If abscesses appear, antibiotics are prescribed. In order to accelerate the falling off of the crusts, ultraviolet irradiation is indicated.

A specific method of preventing chickenpox is vaccination, which provides strong immunity to the disease for many years.

What does chickenpox look like in children during recovery

When the time comes for recovery, the rash begins to crust and fall off without anyone's help. This situation indicates the correct treatment, usually after the crusts fall off, not a trace of the disease remains on the body.

Chickenpox is usually treated on an outpatient basis. It should be ensured that the child does not comb the spots, try in every possible way to distract him from this, small children can wear special soft gloves on their hands. If the rash begins to fester, which usually occurs when scratching, then the doctor prescribes antibiotics. Be sure to give the child peace and bed rest. During illness, the baby should not be washed, as this can complicate the course of the disease, bed linen should be changed as often as possible. Bathing can only be done in a potassium permanganate bath for a few minutes, you can also take a shower, but not for long. A large amount of liquid will help in the treatment.

If the child's body temperature is more than 38 degrees, antipyretic drugs based on paracetamol should be given. Antihistamines can help reduce itching. To disinfect the rash, the bubbles can be burned with brilliant green, and new spots can be calculated in this way.

Complications with chickenpox

Rarely enough, in about 5% of cases, complications are observed after chickenpox. As a rule, the disease is severe in adults with primary infection, in people with a weakened immune system, as well as in infants. The most common complication is various skin infections - they develop if the wounds have nevertheless been combed and bacteria have penetrated into them, and can be quite serious and require long-term treatment. Pneumonia, transient arthritis, hepatitis, and encephalitis may develop. The latter is one of the most dangerous complication options - inflammation of the brain, or encephalitis, can be caused by the addition of a bacterial infection, or by the entry of a virus into the central nervous system. In the future, encephalitis can cause paralysis, visual and sensory disturbances, and some other neurological disorders.

Chickenpox is of little danger to pregnant women - the risk of complications is quite small when infected up to 20 weeks, after which there is practically no risk to the child. However, in the event that infection occurs in the last week before childbirth, there is a risk of congenital chickenpox in a child, which is always quite difficult.

Chickenpox prevention

Prevention of chickenpox, however, is still a controversial issue in medicine. Some doctors do not consider it necessary, but it is still better to be prepared and know how to protect yourself from chickenpox.

The only way to help protect yourself from chickenpox, and working 100%, is complete isolation from the source of the disease. However, this is practically impossible, because the patient is contagious already at the moment when no external manifestations can be noticed; but you need to remember that from the moment the crusts dry out, the risk of infection is reduced to zero.

In the event that there is a patient in the family, one must not forget that the disease is easily transmitted by airborne droplets, which means that even in the absence of direct contact, one can become infected. Gauze masks and respirators can reduce the risk. The patient must be in a separate room, all hygiene products, as well as cups, plates and other utensils must be individual. It is possible to use a quartz home lamp, but you must carefully follow the instructions.

Due to the fact that children of primary school age tolerate the disease quite easily, parents sometimes seek to provoke contact of their child with the patient.

Since the seventies of the last century, the chickenpox vaccine has been successfully and very effectively used - now the main prevention of chickenpox in children and adults is precisely this. Vaccination is especially recommended for pregnant women, patients after chemotherapy and people with a weakened immune system. Vaccination can also be done in the first three days after contact with the patient. In the event that an adult does not remember whether he had chickenpox, and there is no way to find out, it is better to play it safe and also get vaccinated.

No matter how frivolous the chickenpox may seem, prevention must be carried out. It is worth remembering that the main prevention of chickenpox in adults and children is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Proper balanced nutrition, regular exercise and the absence of bad habits will help keep the immune system in order, because it is she who is responsible for how susceptible our body is to viruses and infections.

Can you get chickenpox again?

"Lifelong immunity" after the disease is due to the fact that the virus itself Varicella zoster- forever remains in the body in an amount not sufficient to cause an infection or infect other people, but it is its presence that causes the body to produce antibodies on an ongoing basis to fight chickenpox, which is why it is believed that the body of a person who has already been ill once - has antibodies always ready to fight, which means it is untouchable for this virus. There is an assumption that it is these particles of virus remnants that can serve as the development of such an infection as herpes zoster (which is commonly considered to be the second chickenpox), such an assumption was put forward due to the fact that these two infections are based on the same virus Varicella zoster and can be related to each other, in addition, a person suffering from shingles can infect another person with chickenpox, which proves the close family ties of these two infectious diseases. Shingles, unlike chicken pox itself, tends to appear many times, from two, three or more, it can even become chronic, with improper treatment and neglect of safety measures.

There is an opinion that chickenpox is a "childhood" disease, but shingles is a problem for the older generation, but this opinion is erroneous. Both diseases can strike at any age. The disease is considered childish, since this infection constantly walks around various institutions intended for children, and besides, it is even useful to transfer chickenpox in childhood, since there is a "lifelong" immunity to this kind of virus, but at a more mature age - no doubt there are cases of diseases, but they are much more difficult to tolerate and have more consequences for the general condition of the body, as well as its appearance. Of course, if we consider cases of herpes zoster separately, older people are more likely to get sick, but the disease is much more difficult than chickenpox in any of the age periods.

It should be noted that cases of re-infection with chickenpox in the same form as it was originally found in medical practice. Such re-infections are the exception rather than the rule. However, a person who has been ill once in childhood can still be re-infected. All symptoms, as well as the number of days of the incubation period and the course of the disease, will coincide, however, in most cases, the infection proceeds in a milder and weakened form, and does not carry serious consequences, and even more so complications.

Chickenpox during pregnancy

Cases of morbidity during pregnancy are quite rare: 0.005-0.007 as a percentage. Fertilized women get sick no more often and no more severely than non-pregnant adults, however, with a complication of pneumonia (9-22%), mortality can reach 14-30-42%.

In the event that a woman has caught chicken pox while in a state of pregnancy, it is necessary to know about the consequences. The virus enters the fetus through the placenta. How dangerous it is for a child depends on the period at which the disease overtook:

The first weeks - a high probability of miscarriage. Just at this time, all important organs begin to form, and any disease can harm. The virus affects the development of the cerebral cortex, can provoke cataracts, and there is also a possibility of developing limb hypoplasia. The probability of fetal underdevelopment is about 2 percent.

In general, the second trimester can be characterized by the fact that the risk for the woman and the fetus is quite high, but somewhat reduced, relative to the first trimester (1.5 percent), the child may get congenital chickenpox syndrome.

If the disease overtook in the period from the thirteenth to the twentieth week - the possibility of getting a child with this congenital chickenpox syndrome - increases to 3-5 percent. In more detail about this syndrome: there are birth defects in the newborn, such as scarred skin, deformity of the limbs, a head that is smaller than the norm, and congenital visual defects. Incomplete development of unfortunate children entails lifelong consequences, in the future the kids suffer from convulsions, receive the makings of all kinds of mental and physical abnormalities at different stages of development. In the second trimester of pregnancy, the death of the embryo in the womb, as well as miscarriage, is still not excluded.

After 20 weeks, chickenpox does not have such a terrible effect on the fetus. Nevertheless, control over the course of the process is necessary - a specialist, namely a doctor. If a woman has chickenpox at the beginning of the third trimester, it is more likely that the child will not receive any consequences. After about five days from the moment of infection, the body begins to produce antibodies to viral particles, and also, through the placenta, encloses the fetus with them, which preserves the safe development of the child (since the fetus itself does not have a sufficiently developed immunity to protect itself).

The most risky period during fruiting, for the chickenpox disease, is the last five days before the onset of labor and the first couple of days after the birth of the baby. Since in this case the newborn is exposed to a viral introduction, however, it does not have enough time to receive and protect itself with maternal T-lymphocytes (antibodies to fight the virus). In the last week before childbirth, chickenpox becomes the most dangerous for the health and safety of the child, as the newborn gets the disease, which is a huge risk.

According to statistics, in 30 cases out of a hundred, the child gets neonatal chicken pox, which is dangerous for the health of the newborn and even his life, if the disease is not cured in time. This infection is fatal. For pregnant women with chickenpox, in addition to the danger to the fetus, there are also unhappy prospects for herself, pneumonia can form against the background of chickenpox, which is not quite comforting statistics, in 15 cases out of a hundred the disease gives rise to pneumonia, which poses a terrible threat to the female body (up to death before, after, and also probably during childbirth). We do not disregard the risk - preterm delivery. A significant tendency to easily get pneumonia in this state falls on the third trimester of gestation. Of course, smokers are more likely to get complications than non-smokers-to-be.

Treatment of chickenpox in pregnant women

As soon as you notice the first signs of chickenpox, consult a doctor immediately. Most likely, you will be prescribed immunoglobulin, it helps the body cope with the virus on its own, weakening the force of the latter. If you do not want to get complications in a purulent form - do not try to allow yourself to comb the rashes! If you are suffering from severe, unbearable itching, the doctor should prescribe you antihistamines. Rashes should be treated with greenery. An excellent adjuvant in the treatment of chickenpox in pregnant women, Acyclovir has proven itself, it makes it easier for women to endure this infection with the least discomfort and itching. At high temperatures - you can use drugs based on paracetamol (Before use, you must study the instructions in detail).