CHICKENPOX

Chickenpox Treatment in Jumeirah, Dubai

Overview

• Chickenpox is a common childhood illness caused by Varicella zoster virus.

Symptoms of Chicken Pox

• Fever and cold symptoms are often the rest signs of illness and are followed by the appearance of the typical rash. The rash starts as small pink bumps, often around the neck, ears, back and stomach. These develop a little water blister, which in turn becomes yellow and oozy and ultimately crusty as it dries. The rash spreads outwards to involve the whole body involving the lower arms and legs. People may have only a few spots or may be virtually covered with them. In children, it is usually a relatively mild illness however occasionally complications develop.
• If your child is normally healthy, chickenpox is likely to be a relatively mild illness and no specific precautions are necessary. Symptoms usually develop 10 to 21 days after exposure. The infected person can spread infection for up to three days before the rash appears and until the last pox is crusted and dry.
• Many children with chickenpox are too sick to attend school and are more comfortable at home. Children can spread the infection to others as long as there are any spots, which are not crusted and dried. Children with chickenpox should be excluded from school until scabs are dry; this is usually five to seven days after the appearance of the rash. Children with spots that are crusted and dried can safely attend school.

Transmission

it occurs in susceptible hosts via contact with aerosolized droplets from nasopharyngeal secretions of an infected individual or by direct cutaneous contact with vesicle fluid from skin lesions

Treatment for Chicken Pox

The treatment of chickenpox for kids includes symptomatic measures and the consideration of antiviral therapy.

The following general measures can be used in the patient with significant disease:

• Antihistamines are helpful in the symptomatic treatment of pruritus.
• Fingernails should be closely cropped to avoid significant excoriation and secondary bacterial infection.
• Acetaminophen should be used to treat fever, particularly in children, since the administration of aspirin has been associated with the onset of Reye syndrome in the setting of viral infection
• Antiviral therapy: Acyclovir , a synthetic nucleoside analog that inhibits replication of human herpesviruses, is effective therapy for primary varicella in both healthy and immunosuppressed hosts; it is also well-tolerated

Learn more about the various chickenpox treatment options available for children, contact the specialist doctors at SHAMMA Clinic