Neither my husband nor I had chickenpox. Now we are afraid that if the child gets chickenpox, then the three of us will fall down with this disease. Tell me, has anyone had chickenpox as an adult? Have you and your child been sick together? How is it going?
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Neither my husband nor I had chickenpox. Now we are afraid that if the child gets chickenpox, then the three of us will fall down with this disease. Tell me, has anyone had chickenpox as an adult? Have you and your child been sick together? How is it going?
No one in the family was sick. After Instagram, a friend’s daughter was drafted into the army and there he met her with the whole company. In the photo it looked funny - in camouflage, bald heads in brilliant green. He wrote that it was extremely unpleasant, there were sores in both the mouth and the penis.
I had chickenpox as an adult. I was 33 years old at that time. And first I got sick, and then a couple of weeks later my daughter, she was 3 years old. I had a very hard time, the temperature stayed under 40 for 4 days, there were acne all over my body, there was no living space. I looked like Shrek - all green. Baths with potassium permanganate also helped me. I drew a bath, poured potassium permanganate into it, it turned out to be a pretty cool solution and lay in it for half an hour, exactly, every day. This saved me from “combing” the blisters. As a result, I was sick for 3 weeks. But there were no marks left on my body or face. My daughter’s illness was generally mild; she had no fever or blisters. Maybe a total of 3-4 pieces and that’s it.
I wasn’t sick and neither was my mother. There was an epidemic at school in the 10th grade. My best friend got sick. Moreover, the day before she discovered that I was infected, I was at her house, where her sick sister was. My mother used to work in a kindergarten. By the way, my friend is like that and so is her son.
Author, I’ll tell you as a doctor - chickenpox is very difficult for adults to tolerate. With very big complications. There were even deaths. Therefore, if a child gets sick, run away from him. Masks won't save you.
Author, I’ll tell you as a doctor - chickenpox is very difficult for adults to tolerate. With very big complications. There were even deaths. Therefore, if a child gets sick, run away from him. Masks won't save you.
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Aren't there any vaccinations? Our elderly are diagnosed with shingles, the same virus. And drink L-Lysine regularly, the highest dose. I don’t know about chickenpox after childhood, but I had measles in college. It was terrible. Never before or since have I felt so bad.
Author, I’ll tell you as a doctor - chickenpox is very difficult for adults to tolerate. With very big complications. There were even deaths. Therefore, if a child gets sick, run away from him. Masks won't save you.
I was sick when I was 17-19, I don’t remember exactly. It's hard, but you can live. My husband got sick at 25, and it was hell. Temperature 40, blisters everywhere (everywhere!), I was a wholesale buyer of calamine at the pharmacy))) There were no scars left, but it was tough, a month of hell.
You will 100% get over your child’s illness. Only the child will bear it much easier. Get ready for fever and very painful blisters that will itch terribly! An acquaintance saved herself by taking a cool bath with potassium permanganate and drying herself with a cold hairdryer, sleeping standing for the first days. She said that was the only thing that helped.
Get vaccinated. I also didn’t get sick as a child, in the states (here doctors strictly follow the vaccination schedule) I ended up getting it at the age of 31, I got over it normally, but now I’m not afraid.
You will 100% get over your child’s illness. Only the child will bear it much easier. Get ready for fever and very painful blisters that will itch terribly! An acquaintance saved herself by taking a cool bath with potassium permanganate and drying herself with a cold hairdryer, sleeping standing for the first days. She said that was the only thing that helped.
I didn't get sick either. Mom told me that when the little girl went to kindergarten, the whole group got sick, there was a quarantine, but I didn’t.
I got sick at 18, was covered in blisters, elements of the rash were on the mucous membrane of the stomach and in the mouth. There was no itching. I was sick with a very high fever and really thought I was going to die. As a result, there were no scars left on the skin and I did not die from chickenpox. An acquaintance was ill as an adult and was treated with acyclovir. She said that the disease passed easily. Another friend is sick now, he is 32 years old. He is very seriously ill, there is a huge continuous crust on his face. You can get sick at any age.
I was sick at 17 years old. normal in principle, but on the first day, until we bought anti-something, it itched TERRIBLY. there were two spots left on the body that I picked
I was sick as a child, my husband wasn’t sick, and our 2 children haven’t been sick yet either. I think it will be a hundred when all three of them get sick. Invasion of green spotted men! But seriously, I hope that everyone will bear it easily.
I wasn't sick. I vaccinated myself when my daughter went to kindergarten. I was 30 years old. Why fool around and be afraid?
I was sick when I was 20, I got over it without any problems, I was at home for three weeks, there were no scars left.
My daughter got sick. My husband and I got infected (my husband got sick 2 times). My son didn’t get infected, although he wasn’t sick before. They say the virus is now mutating, and reinfection is possible. We all got sick easily, although from the first day we took acyclovir (that’s what it’s called, I think .)
I got sick as an adult - I got infected from my friends’ children in the apartment, but I didn’t even see them (we were in another room, there was a quarantine in their class). Then I almost killed my parents. Only call a doctor at home, no independent trips to clinics or pharmacies. drink LOTS of cranberry water. The prescribed pills are very heavy, they disrupt the functioning of the liver and kidneys - read all the instructions! I didn’t know about potassium permanganate, but I had to endure the quarantine and went to work for my salary, when one girl, after talking with me for 3 minutes, also fell down and also had chickenpox. I thought it was all over, three weeks have passed. but no. Her husband was shocked and called me asking for recipes. in general, it is unpleasantly painful and also causes complications for the reproductive system of girls in adulthood. boost your immunity! and health to you
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I was sick when I was 25, it was just when I got sick)) it’s okay, it was itching for 1.5 days, I took acyclovir, pills. The temperature was low for several days, once it was only 38, and then 37.5. The only thing was that it was disgusting to look at the pimples ((there are about 3 scars left, even though I tore off all the scabs))
Well, if you fall, it’s a big disaster, you’ll get over the disease and you’ll have immunity! Of course, adults usually suffer from chickenpox more severely than children - but you are not afraid of the flu, and chickenpox can be compared to it in severity. The main thing is that during pregnancy you should not wander around crowds; you will have to sit at home for 9 months and walk in not very crowded places. Chickenpox is dangerous for the embryo. And that's it, nothing more terrible. In general, I heard that there is a vaccination against chickenpox, find out at the clinic whether you can get it or not, and explain it - before planning children, I would like to prevent the danger of this.
If I were you, I would run to get vaccinated. Adults are much more susceptible to chickenpox than children.
I got sick at 33. I was a nursing mother, so I didn’t take acyclovir. Calamine helps relieve itching (honey, it’s an infection!). The children tolerated it easily, I had it relatively easily, but my friend’s son (3 years old) had a fever for a long time and was covered in blisters. I advise everyone who is not sick to get vaccinated. There is no guarantee that it will be easy for you. I wanted it myself, but before pregnancy there was no vaccine in Moscow.
Adults have a hard time with it, really. My husband’s friend got sick at the age of 42. He says it was a hell of a thing. He had huge blisters, everything was oozing, he couldn’t really coat himself, because he lives alone. And the temperatures are high
Author get vaccinated, what can be discussed here.
My husband was sick at the age of 25 and got the infection from his son. My son was easy, but my husband ended up in the hospital with a temperature of over 40 and delirium for 2 weeks!
Nobody got sick here either: neither my parents, nor me, nor my husband, nor my child. We hope not to just get sick. This is not at all necessary. My grandmother, now deceased, did not have chickenpox either.
but you are not afraid of the flu, and chicken pox can be compared to it in severity.
I got chickenpox the other day (I’m 25) and I really regret that I didn’t get around to getting vaccinated. I have a very hard time with it, ulcers in my ears, mouth, throat, an infection in my eye, it’s all red. The temperature is 39 degrees, everything itches - just quiet horror. I’ve already got more than 500 pimples :( I’m whining all day long, my poor husband consoles me and smears calamine on all this abomination. Therefore, it’s better to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
Hard to bear. My friend was on a drip.
My husband and I decided that we would simply vaccinate both our child and ourselves against this scourge. We went to the vaccination office, got vaccinated and now we live peacefully.
My husband and I were both sick as children, and our eldest daughter also got sick at the age of five. But I have already vaccinated my younger children. At first I doubted it, but the doctor convinced me. Nowadays, few people get sick; there are no epidemics in kindergartens since almost all children are vaccinated (we live in Europe) and the chances of getting sick in childhood are very low. But in adulthood this is a dangerous sore. I don’t want to risk my children, I have nothing against vaccinations, or rather even for them, so in any case, my children are protected. Author, think about vaccinations, they are worth it.
The vaccinated nephew got sick anyway, they also did it abroad
Nobody got sick here either: neither my parents, nor me, nor my husband, nor my child. We hope not to just get sick. This is not at all necessary. My grandmother, now deceased, did not have chickenpox either.
This vaccination is still quite new - all the side effects have not been studied - this is the second thing - the vaccination will not give a hundred percent result, and the vaccinated person can easily get sick. Therefore, there is little hope for her either. If your immunity is good, then you may not get infected, but you can’t guess, nowadays there is so much stress that immunity needs to be specifically addressed so that it is high. My children recently had chickenpox. That’s good. with a fever and a bunch of rashes - I can exhale - this infection is no longer scary for us. And by the way, from my own experience I can advise everyone to use Pox Clean gel for chickenpox, it relieves itching perfectly. Yes, and it heals well.
I got sick when I was 20; there was nothing at all except these blisters. The chronology is approximately this: blisters came out, at first I mistook them for teenagers and smeared them with alcohol and ichthyol, within 2 days it got worse, I went to the dermatologist, she started yelling that it was a contagious disease, chickenpox, and why am I infecting people.
Yes, our doctors know how to calm you down ((If you have chickenpox, I advise you not to smear it with brilliant green, especially if you get sick at an older age, but buy PoxClean and treat the wounds with it. It’s better and removes the itching
I had chickenpox as a child, but when my children got sick. For some reason I got blisters along with them. out of solidarity, apparently)) Our dad bought us PoxClean instead of brilliant green, I remember how beautiful green I wore as a child long after everything had passed. And it’s such a beauty here. colorless, relieves itching perfectly, heals super. But I was sick without fever at all
Hello, my 5-year-old son has had chickenpox for 3 days. My 2nd son is 3 years old, can he get infected? My husband was not sick as a child; he can also become infected. .. I burned out as a child
I got sick when I was 5 years old. . husband no. will he get infected?
I got sick when I was 5 years old. . husband no. will he get infected?
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Dream Interpretation Husband got chickenpox dreamed of why in a dream the Husband got chickenpox? To select a dream interpretation, enter a keyword from your dream into the search form or click on the initial letter of the image characterizing the dream (if you want to get an online interpretation of dreams by letter for free alphabetically).
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Symptoms (signs) of chickenpox in adult men
During the incubation period, there are no manifestations of the disease. After the prodrome (if any), the initial stage begins.
Chickenpox in adult men usually does not last very long (from 6 to 10 days). The following symptoms occur:
- Rash. At first, pimples are localized in the area of the sides and abdomen, then they move to the groin area, shoulders, chest, scalp, face and mucous membranes.
- Within 3 days, the rashes become pink and then transform into blisters filled with serous contents (vesicles). The blisters dry out, and in their place crusts appear, which fall off after 2 weeks, usually leaving scars behind.
- The formation of a rash is accompanied by intense itching, which occurs not only on the skin, but also on the mucous membranes of the mouth and genitals. Touching the affected areas causes pain.
- Peripheral lymph nodes enlarge and become painful on palpation.
In addition, the following manifestations of chickenpox in men are observed:
- fever up to 40 degrees;
- seizures and/or delusions;
- pain in the joint-muscular system;
- severe fatigue;
- nausea and vomiting;
- severe headaches.
The consequences of HSV type 3 infection in men are manifested both on the skin and the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system, etc.
Treatment of chickenpox in men
Antiviral drugs and symptomatic agents are used to treat the disease. The doctor develops tactics to combat chickenpox. It is important to adhere to the following rules:
- If your body temperature is above 38 degrees, take antipyretics, which include Ibuprofen or Paracetamol. Drinking Acetylsalicylic acid if you have chickenpox is prohibited.
- As recommended by your doctor, use:
- antiviral agents, for example, Acyclovir, because they reduce the amount of rash that forms and reduce the risk of developing negative consequences;
- antihistamines (Suprastin), necessary to relieve itching and accelerate the process of crust formation.
- Apply antiseptics to the skin several times a day, preferably after a shower. Treat the oral cavity and genitals with a solution of furatsilin or potassium permanganate (light pink).
- For mild cases of the disease, use Fenistil-gel. It will relieve severe itching.
- In case of skin bacterial complications, use ointments with antibacterial components as prescribed by your doctor.
Treatment
Treatment of chickenpox in its standard course occurs at home after consulting a doctor. It is aimed at improving the general well-being of the patient: drugs whose active ingredient is paracetamol are used to reduce elevated body temperature.
In the vast majority of cases, patients suffer from unbearable itching of the skin. To alleviate the condition, special ointments and solutions are prescribed based on zinc and potassium permanganate, with the addition of tea tree oil. Antihistamines may be recommended. Often, a specialist will prescribe ointments whose action is aimed at destroying the viral pathogen.
In more serious cases (especially if there is concomitant shingles), the doctor will prescribe analgesics. In case of extremely reduced immunity, the patient is given immunoglobulins, and in case of intense intoxication of the body, detoxification solutions are administered.
Complications of the disease
Chickenpox in an adult man, the negative consequences of which are described below, is often severe.
Bullous streptoderma
The cause of the development of the pathology is the penetration of streptococcus into the chickenpox vesicle. At the site of the affected areas, pustules with a diameter of a pea (“phlyctens”) form. They are protected by thin skin and filled with colorless exudate.
The blisters grow rapidly, reaching a diameter of 1-2 cm, after which they burst, and in their place ulcers form. The wounds dry out and become covered with yellowish crusts. The development of pathology is accompanied by intense itching.
Sometimes the bubbles merge with each other, transforming into large foci. This causes cosmetic discomfort. In place of conflicts, ulcerated surfaces and crusts form over time.
After the pathology, there are no scars or cicatrices, but sometimes depigmentation is observed. Often, due to chickenpox, a man develops boils, abscesses and phlegmons, after opening which scars remain.
Respiratory diseases of chickenpox etiology
Pneumonia occurs in 16% of patients and at the same time as chickenpox. In this case, HSV type 3 enters deep into the respiratory system. Signs of respiratory disease are often observed before pimples or vesicles form.
In severe torpid form, characteristic symptoms are: severe shortness of breath, cough with bloody sputum. The skin of the face becomes bluish in color. There is a feeling of lack of air and pain in the chest. Fever up to 38-39 degrees is observed.
Sometimes chickenpox in men affects other organs of the respiratory tract and the oral cavity. In this case, laryngitis, tracheitis and stomatitis occur.
Encephalitis
The pathology is an inflammation of the brain. The most dangerous development of encephalitis is before and at the very beginning of chickenpox, since this can lead to cerebral edema.
It is impossible to miss the disease. Delusional ideas, confusion, seizures and other symptoms occur.
Reactive arthritis
Chickenpox after the age of 30 in men can provoke joint disease, accompanied by inflammation (temporary arthritis). Symptoms include soreness in the joints and muscles, making it difficult to walk. The discomfort intensifies at night, and swelling of the joints is observed in the morning.
Damage to the visual apparatus
In rare cases, chickenpox in adult men, the consequences of which are unpredictable, leads to loss of vision. The virus causes chickenpox keratitis (inflammation of the eye cornea).
The disease develops when a pathogen penetrates from the chickenpox vesicle into the eye. To prevent keratitis, you should wash your hands with soap after handling the skin. As a result of the disease, vision may deteriorate or disappear altogether.
How to prevent chickenpox
Prevention of chickenpox is extremely necessary when a child is sick, and his parents cannot say with certainty whether they have immunity to this virus or not. Those who have already encountered chickenpox do not need to do anything to avoid becoming infected with chickenpox, but it’s a different matter when the parents were not sick. They should know the precautions to minimize contact with the sick person.
The main way to avoid contracting chickenpox is to isolate the infected person. Smallpox spreads only through airborne droplets. You can also become infected through contact with a sick person - by touching the vials (they contain the virus in the highest concentration). The herpes virus is volatile, it is able to penetrate along with air currents into neighboring apartments. You can become infected with chickenpox even at the entrance, without communicating with a sick person.
But it happens that it is impossible to isolate a sick person. Prevention of chickenpox, in this case, consists of treating the room with a quartz lamp.
However, it should be understood that no disinfection for chickenpox, ventilation of the room or wet cleaning will help if contact of healthy children with an infected person is not excluded.
The virus multiplies in the lymph nodes, then it spreads through the bloodstream throughout the body. After about three weeks after infection, symptoms of chickenpox begin to appear:
- skin rashes, itching;
- temperature increase;
- ailments;
- loss of appetite;
- dyspeptic disorders;
- insomnia.
Inside each pimple there is a colorless liquid filled with a huge amount of pathogen. The probability of contracting chickenpox after contact with a sick person is more than 95%. You can not become infected only if you have acquired immunity, after vaccination or a previous illness.
Prevention of chickenpox in children consists of observing quarantine. Following these steps will help prevent chickenpox:
- patient isolation;
- providing the patient with personal hygiene products and utensils;
- healthy relatives wearing gauze bandages;
- washing your hands with soap and water after contact with someone with chickenpox;
- washing the patient's underwear, bed linen and clothing separately.
Compliance with these recommendations does not provide a 100% guarantee that you will be able to avoid infection with chickenpox, but it will significantly reduce the risk of infection.
Vaccination as a method to prevent infection
Another way to avoid getting chickenpox is to get vaccinated. It consists of introducing a weakened virus into the body. As a result, the pathology does not occur or proceeds easily, and then the formation of lifelong immune protection is noted.
Vaccination is mandatory to prevent chickenpox after contact with sick people with weakened immune systems, those suffering from HIV, undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy. For these groups of people, this virus is extremely dangerous, as it can be fatal. Specific prevention of chickenpox is also carried out for those who have not previously encountered the disease.
The disease in newborns is extremely severe, and complications often develop. Pathology can lead not only to damage to internal organs, but also to the brain.
Vaccination will help children protect themselves from chickenpox. It is carried out at the age of 1-13 years, once.
Many parents are interested in whether it is possible not to become infected with chickenpox if the vaccine was administered, but the baby had contact with a sick person. If the vaccine was administered three days after contact with a carrier of infection, then there is a possibility that the pathology will not develop or will proceed very mildly.
Using the vaccine after three or more days is also a kind of protection against chickenpox; the baby will get sick, but the disease will have a mild course. This prevention of chickenpox is especially suitable for young children, as well as for those for whom it is undesirable to suffer from the disease due to the individual characteristics of the body.
Another way to protect a child from chickenpox is the use of medications with antiviral properties, in particular Acyclovir. This remedy has a detrimental effect on the herpes virus and helps prevent its reproduction. You need to take it for two weeks. The likelihood of contracting chickenpox after taking Acyclovir remains, however, the disease will occur in a milder form, and painful symptoms will be significantly reduced.
Recommendations during chickenpox
- If possible, isolate the sick man from interaction with healthy family members who have not had chickenpox and have not been vaccinated against it. Otherwise, the probability that they will become infected is 100%.
- During the illness, stay in bed, drink enough fluids, adhere to a diet based on eating foods that are easy for the gastrointestinal tract, and avoid physical activity.
- If you feel well, take a shower every day, without using a washcloth or a hard towel. After the procedure, lightly blot the skin without damaging the resulting crusts.
The risk of developing complications from chickenpox in men can be reduced if you follow your doctor's recommendations and the correct regimen.
source
What is chickenpox and where does it come from?
Chickenpox (also known as chickenpox) is an infectious disease of Chickenpox (Varicella). It is caused by the varicella zoster virus. By the way, a close relative of the herpes familiar to many.
All herpes are contagious, but varicella is the coolest. Chickenpox spreads through airborne droplets, and does so very actively. To catch an infection, sometimes it’s enough to look into the patient’s room for a second.
It always seemed to people that the disease was literally carried through the air, by the wind. Hence the first part of the name - wind. It was named smallpox because of the numerous rashes in the form of fluid-filled vesicles (papules), similar to those that form in smallpox.
Fortunately, chickenpox is not as deadly.
Everyone should know this
- To protect your child from chickenpox and prevent him from infecting others, you need to know how the pathology spreads. The only way of transmitting infection is through airborne droplets (during conversation, coughing).
- The carrier is the sick person. Contact of a healthy person who has not had chickenpox with a sick person is almost always accompanied by infection.
- The patient remains contagious until the crusts completely dry out, and ideally after five days after the last eruptive element appears.
- Prevention of chickenpox in contact with a patient involves the use of a vaccine (no later than three days later).
- The main way to prevent chickenpox is to isolate the patient from other people who do not have acquired immunity to the third type of herpes virus.
You can find out how to protect yourself from chickenpox from a specialist. He will give practical advice and recommendations that will help prevent infection. The main method of protection is vaccination.
Emergency prevention of chickenpox after contact with an infected person involves administering the vaccine within three days. This method will help either prevent the development of the disease or minimize its manifestations.
Universal prevention of chickenpox in children, as well as other diseases, is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Doctors strongly recommend eating right, walking outside more, and giving your child vitamins. All this helps to increase the protective properties of the baby’s body. If there has been contact with a patient with chickenpox, the child should be taken to a pediatrician.
Why is chickenpox dangerous for children and adults?
First of all, volatility. The contagiousness of varicella is so high that chickenpox has long been considered a purely childhood disease: a child had practically no chance to grow up without encountering an infection. Fortunately, most people aged 1–12 years survive chickenpox easily, and once they have had it, they become immune for life.
But sometimes the disease can cause serious complications Chickenpox:
- Bacterial infection of the skin, soft tissues, bones, joints, even blood poisoning. This happens when a child or adult scratches an itchy rash and accidentally introduces germs into the wound.
- Dehydration. This dangerous condition is associated with the high temperature that occurs with chickenpox.
- Pneumonia.
- Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).
- Toxic shock syndrome.
But before you fear complications, you should make sure that you are talking about chickenpox.
Possible complications
As a rule, the disease goes away without serious consequences, especially if you do not scratch the papules. However, in rare cases, complications after chickenpox can still occur.
Among them:
- bacterial infection caused by streptococcus;
- viral pneumonia, which is more common in children of the first year of life and manifests itself in the form of high body temperature, excessive paleness of the skin, dry cough and severe shortness of breath even at rest;
- temporary disruption of the central nervous system;
- encephalitis;
- chickenpox meningitis.
To avoid such consequences, monitoring of the development of the disease and treatment must be carried out under the supervision of a physician - therapist, pediatrician or infectious disease specialist.
What are the symptoms of chickenpox in children and adults?
At the initial stage, it is almost impossible to recognize the disease. Chickenpox has a long incubation period: 2-3 weeks after infection the virus does not make itself felt. Its first manifestations are similar to the flu:
- fever: temperature 38 °C and above;
- headache;
- general malaise;
- aching muscles;
- loss of appetite;
- sometimes nausea.
However, these symptoms are not necessary. Quite often, small red dots immediately appear on the skin. At first they resemble mosquito bites, but within a few hours they turn into blisters filled with a cloudy liquid.
mayoclinic.org
The rash spreads throughout the body, sometimes even affecting the mucous membranes of the mouth and genitals.
After a day or two, the bubbles burst and their contents flow out. The pockmarks dry out and soon fall off, leaving no traces. But new ones appear next to those that have disappeared.
The rash lasts 4–8 days. All this time, the person remains infectious, although he already feels well: the temperature and malaise disappear on a maximum of the fourth day after the onset of the active stage of the disease.
This happens with mild or normal chickenpox. But there are other situations.
How to treat chickenpox
Chickenpox is a virus. And, like most viruses, there is no specific treatment for it. Helping a sick person comes down to alleviating the main symptoms.
Fever and headache
Remember: paracetamol and nothing else! Popular painkillers and antipyretics based on ibuprofen should not be taken. According to some data, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use and the risk of severe skin and soft tissue complications in patients with varicella or zoster disease, ibuprofen in chickenpox increases the incidence of complications in the form of skin infections.
Aspirin is completely contraindicated. In conjunction with the varicella-zoster virus, it has a powerful toxic effect on the liver and brain (the so-called Reye's syndrome).
To relieve itching, your doctor may recommend an antihistamine. Considering the insidiousness of the virus, under no circumstances prescribe it to yourself!
You can also treat your skin with calamine lotion according to the instructions.
Scratches and wounds
To avoid scratching the skin and causing infection in the wounds:
- Trim your nails as short as possible. If your baby is sick, put on thin protective gloves.
- Wear clean, loose clothing.
- Change your underwear and bed linen more often.
It is not necessary to smear the rashes with brilliant green: brilliant green will not speed up the maturation of the blisters. The color only helps to mark pimples in order to track the moment when new ones stop appearing.
Soreness in the mouth
If there are rashes on the oral mucosa, doctors recommend eating sugar-free popsicles. The cold will help relieve discomfort. Also try not to eat salty and spicy foods.
Possible complications
If chickenpox could be dangerous for you, your doctor will prescribe medications that will help shorten the duration of the disease and reduce the risk of complications. This may be an antiviral agent, such as acyclovir, or intravenous immunoglobulin. However, they will only be effective if used in the first 24 hours after the rash appears.
When it comes to complications, serious means are used. Depending on which organ is affected, the doctor will prescribe you antibiotics and more powerful antiviral drugs. You may have to go to hospital.
How to avoid getting chickenpox and complications
A person becomes contagious 48 hours before the rash appears and remains so until all the burst blisters have crusted over.
If contact with a sick person has occurred, and you have never had chickenpox, the only thing that can theoretically save you from infection is vaccination. Try to do it within the first 3-5 days of Varilrix after exposure. Then the vaccine will have time to act and either prevent chickenpox or make its course easier.
Everyone should get vaccinated against chickenpox. And not only because the vaccine is tolerated more easily by the body than the real disease. The point is the insidious property of the varicella-zoster virus.
If you once encounter chickenpox, it will forever remain in your body, “hidden” in the nerve cells. As long as the immune system is strong, the virus behaves decently. But with age or in stressful situations, when the body's defenses weaken, varicella zoster can become active again and cause extremely painful inflammation of some nerves. It is accompanied by rashes similar to chickenpox.
Since the nerve endings run perpendicular to the spine, the rash also takes the form of horizontal stripes. This consequence of an encounter with chickenpox is called herpes Shingles (Herpes Zoster).
In addition to pain, shingles is fraught with numerous complications:
- prolonged postherpetic neuralgia, when severe constant pain continues at the site of the rash even after its disappearance;
- eye lesions with dangerous consequences for vision in general;
- cranial and peripheral nerve palsy;
- damage to internal organs - pneumonia, hepatitis, meningoencephalitis...
How does infection occur?
The probability of getting chickenpox after contact with a sick person is 95-100%. The virus spreads through airborne droplets - when talking, coughing, sneezing. Therefore, if one of your loved ones has become infected, in order to avoid getting chickenpox, you must try to minimize or completely eliminate contact with the patient.
The pathology is insidious because it does not appear immediately. The infected person may not even realize that he is sick, and thereby spread the infection. Symptoms of the disease begin to appear after an incubation period, its duration is on average two weeks. Therefore, every person should know how to protect themselves from chickenpox.
Those who have recovered from the disease develop lifelong immunity. You cannot get smallpox a second time, but this is only with a strong immune system. People with weakened defenses and those undergoing chemotherapy may become ill again. Therefore, prevention of chickenpox is especially important for such children, and parents should take measures.
For whom is it dangerous?
Adults who have not had chickenpox (Varicella-Zoster Virus) can easily become infected from the sneeze or cough of an infected person because airborne droplets quickly spread the virus (a member of the herpes family).
People who are at greater risk of infection are:
- live with a child not vaccinated against chickenpox;
- come into contact with a patient who has chickenpox blisters on their body;
- sharing items with someone who has the virus (eg, towel, bed linen);
- work with a large number of children (school, kindergarten);
- travel frequently;
- military personnel.
In adults, the symptoms of the virus are similar to those in children, but are usually more severe. There is also a higher chance of developing complications:
- pneumonia (inflammation of lung tissue);
- inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), but this occurs extremely rarely;
- partial or complete loss of vision;
- renal failure;
- toxic liver damage;
- bacterial infections of the skin, soft tissue, bones, joints or bloodstream (sepsis);
- after 50 years of age, the infection causes herpes zoster.
Complications after chickenpox
Complications after chickenpox in an adult manifest themselves in the form of scars on the skin. The risk group includes the following category of people:
- Smoking
- Pregnant
- People with weakened immune systems
- Patients who have chronic lung pathologies
It is most dangerous for pregnant women, because chickenpox in the first months of pregnancy can lead to pathology or antenatal death of the fetus. And chicken pox suffered in the last stages of pregnancy is fraught with premature birth and complications for the child such as:
- Hepatitis
- Encephalitis
- Kidney pathologies
- Pneumonia
- Skin pathologies
- Blood poisoning
Try to take care of yourself as much as possible during pregnancy, this period is one of the most vulnerable for a woman.
How to avoid getting infected and what to do if you become infected
If a child gets chickenpox, but the mother is not sick, then the probability that she will become infected reaches 90%.
Therefore, adults who did not have chickenpox as children should get vaccinated. To be fully vaccinated, people over 20 years of age will need 2 doses of Varicella-Zoster vaccine, given at least 4 to 8 weeks apart. If this advice came too late, then you need to give the disease a chance to go away quickly and painlessly. Required:
- to drink a lot of water;
- use antiviral drugs (Acyclovir) to weaken the infection;
- for fever and itching, take Ibuprofen;
- use calamine lotion to soothe the rash.
Is everyone allowed to get vaccinated?
If a person is at risk of infection in adulthood but is not sure whether they have had the infection, the patient can take a chickenpox immunity blood test to find out for sure.
There are several categories of people who should avoid the vaccine:
- HIV positive;
- those with cancer;
- pregnant women;
- people taking steroids.
Other protection options are available for them. For example, pregnant women are offered a vaccine containing immunoglobulin.
How to avoid getting chickenpox from a child to an adult
The biggest problem when a child has chickenpox is the risk of an adult becoming infected. But how long does a child suffer from chickenpox? This problem is that children tolerate chickenpox much better than teenagers or adults. If an adult had this disease as a child, then he develops lifelong immunity to this disease.
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In this case, it becomes problematic to care for the child, but at the same time protect yourself from the possibility of infection. To do this, there are several ways to reduce the risk of infection. The methods are quite strict, so parents themselves decide whether to follow these recommendations or not. But if you decide to use such means, for some reason, you first need to have a conversation with the child to explain why certain things cannot be done.
- Isolate the child in a separate room.
- If possible, make the child wear a protective mask, or the parents themselves wear this mask.
- Do daily wet cleaning of the premises.
- If possible, limit contact with the child (hugs, kisses, etc.).
- Calmly explain why you shouldn’t scratch pimples. Talk to your doctor about what products you can use to relieve your baby's itching.
Who never gets chickenpox
There are cases when people live their entire lives without becoming infected with chickenpox.
Even though they were never given a vaccine, they lived with sick brothers and sisters. So why do some people not get chickenpox at all, while others suffer from it with complications? Typically, they too have been exposed to the virus, and their immune systems have become resistant to chickenpox. That is why the full picture of the disease did not develop in the body. The person may have already been born with a natural immune response to antigens. But most likely, these people did not have clinically significant exposure to the virus. Living in close proximity to children with VZV or even touching a burst blister does not guarantee true exposure at the microbial level. Having touched the source of infection with a finger, a person should place it on the mucous membrane of the mouth, nose or optic nerve. Introduce a sufficient amount of active viral load and leave it for a long time so that the virus enters the bloodstream, multiplies and infects the body.
Prevention of chickenpox
It’s quite simple to understand how to avoid getting chickenpox as an adult. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that the sick family member is in an isolated room. He must also be given separate dishes, a towel and sleeping linen. This will prevent the spread of viruses, and the risk of chickenpox infection will be extremely low. You must also adhere to the following rules:
- Do not forget to regularly ventilate and carry out wet cleaning throughout your home.
- Avoid walking during an acute period of illness.
- Avoid close contact with the infected person, do not use his manicure and bath accessories.
- If you have a quartz lamp, clean the air regularly.
- Until the patient has fully recovered, wear a gauze bandage.
- Wash the patient's clothes separately from others.
To prevent infection with chickenpox, it is enough to lead a healthy and correct lifestyle. If the pathogen enters the body of a person with good immunity, it will not be able to provoke the development of the disease. Try to give up all your bad habits, take vitamin supplements regularly and exercise. If you do catch chickenpox, contact your doctor immediately.
Prevention
The best way to prevent chickenpox is to get vaccinated. The effectiveness of vaccines in preventing disease of any severity ranged from 80% to 85%. Peak age-specific incidence has shifted from children aged 3–6 years in the pre-vaccine era to children aged 9–11 years in the post-vaccine era (breakthrough varicella) for both immunized and non-immunized cases.
Under the current 1-dose immunization strategy, chickenpox outbreaks will continue. After 2 doses of chickenpox vaccine, the immune response is markedly enhanced: >99% of people achieve the required antibody concentration. The effectiveness of the vaccine is expected to last for 10 years and is 98%.
The vaccination may cause side effects such as redness around the injection site and mild fever, but these will subside within a few days. But in case of infection, such people will endure the disease much easier, and the risk of complications will be negligible.
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