Chicken pox- A Contagious Disease

Chicken pox- A Contagious Disease

The infectious disease known as chickenpox causes fatigue, fever, and itching blisters (Striking feature). It spreads quickly, although it normally goes away in a week or so.

Introduction| Why this disease coined as Chickenpox? How Chicken pox spread? | Sign & symptoms| Diagnosis| Prevention, Management &Treatment| Conclusion

Introduction:

Varicella-zoster virus is a very smart virus, and this virus is the causative organism for Chickenpox disease.

This disease is very rare to have, and most of the time this disease occurs in childhood. The main symptoms of this disease are small rashes with itching, and these rashes become blister.

Why this disease coined as Chickenpox?

This disease derived from the world chickpeas (garbanzo beans) itchy blister rashes resembles like chickpeas. Hence, this disease name as Chickenpox.

The second theory is that, itchy rash of this disease seems like the peck marks caused by Chicken, so it is called Chickenpox.

I want to clear that this disease is not caught and spread by cutting hen and eating Chicken.

Image 1- Chicken Pox

How Chicken pox spread?

Chickenpox is transmitted via respiratory droplet infection. After the entering into respiratory tract, it causes a viraemia and spread through the blood and lymphatic systems to the skin. As a result, due the infection, the virus causes the characteristic vesicular rash. In addition, the bruise of chickenpox also releases infectious virus until they heal completely. The growth period for chickenpox from 10 days to 3 weeks approximately.

As I said in the introduction that this disease caused by Varicella-zoster virus (VZV). This virus is belonging from a family of herpes virus, so Varicella-zoster virus also known as human herpes virus (HHV). HZV is the type 3 human herpes virus.

Sign & symptoms:

Chicken pox disease shows the symptoms in the below given order:

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Anorexia
• Headache
• A stomach ache that lasts for one or two days
• A striking symptom of chickenpox is a rash that turns into itchy, fluid-filled blisters then it turns into scabs. These rashes spread all over the body. Moreover, sometimes these rashes appear inside the mouth, eyelids, or genital area. All the blisters take around one week to become scabs.

Image 2- Chicken Pox Rashes in Female

Image 3- Chicken Pox Rashes in Children

Images 4- Chicken Pox Rashes in Male

• Bumps filled with a liquid and resembles like milky water
• Scabs after the blisters break
• Skin that looks blotchy
• Spots that fade away

Diagnosis:

• It is very easy to diagnose, and doctor made diagnosis on basis of after seeing the rashes.

Images 5- Chicken Pox Rashes turns to Blisters

Prevention, Management, and Treatment:

To prevent this disease is very simple because this disease is easy to manageable but only one thing you need that is awareness.

Images 6- Management of Chicken Pox Rashes

The Vaccine of Chickenpox is the best way to protect this disease. Every age person can get this vaccine, and patient must go for two doses of vaccine. In addition, the vaccine is the safe for all age group. The effectiveness of the vaccine is very good because cases were declined after the vaccine introduced in the market.

Image 7- Vaccine for Chicken Pox

Image 8- Varicella Vaccine for Chicken Pox

Image 9- Varicella Zoster Vaccine for Chicken Pox

There are several ways to prevent & manage it, if someone gets the Chickenpox. Please read the below points:

· Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and fluids.

· Try to use a cold compress, and take cool shower, and after bath do not use towel to dry.

· Try to avoid scratch.

· Cut your fingernails, so cannot scratch.

· Apply a lotion with antihistamines on the rash.

· Consult with physician or Clinical pharmacist before using any medication.

Image 10- Chicken Pox Diet Chart

Note: There is no need to panic for Chicken pox. You will recover within two weeks. Most of the cases of this disease automatically will go away within one or two weeks.

Conclusion: Chickenpox is a dermatological (Skin disease) so need to monitor the rashes closely. The prevention is the best way to treat this disease, and safety measure require as well.