Chicken pox
goodtoknow says: Chicken pox is a very common viral infection. Most children get chickenpox and make a complete recovery within 7-10 days, although the spots may take longer to fade. Your child may have been feeling under the weather for a couple of weeks before the first spots appear, usually on their stomach. This is called the incubation period. Chicken pox spreads quickly and can affect anywhere on the body, even the mouth and eyes. Your child will develop fluid -filled blisters that are extremely itchy and look awful. But don't worry, just cover the spots with calamine lotion.
For a full medical explanation of the causes, symptoms and treatments of chickenpox from patient.co.uk, read on.
Chicken pox causes a rash and can make you feel generally unwell. Symptoms tend to be worse in adults than children. Treatment aims to ease symptoms until the illness goes. Full recovery is usual. Serious complications are rare, but are more common in adults than children and are more likely to occur in people with a poor immune system such as those on chemotherapy.
What is chicken pox?
Chicken pox is an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The immune system makes antibodies during the infection. These fight the virus and then provide lifelong immunity. Therefore, it is rare to have more than one bout of chickenpox.
Most people have chicken pox as a child. About 9 in 10 people have had it by the age of 15. It is uncommon for adults to have chickenpox.
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yasmin, about 1 year
How often does a person get chicken pox in a life time. if you had in in 2006 as a child under 5 is it likely to get it again in 2008?
Report this commentjade, about 1 year
my son is 3 years old and he was playing with my friends kids who had chicken poxs i was not worried at all as i have been told its better for them to get them young so its now been 4 weeks and he has them he went to bed with no spots and woke up with loads i very shocked on how fast they came by the end of the day he was coverd from head to toe
Report this commentkaty, about 1 year
My daughter has, what looks like chicken pox, spots are alll over legs and back, she has one small one on her belly. Looks quite like the picture, but not sure if this is chicken pox or not...can anyone give me some advice. Both my children are poorly.
Report this commentDebbie Glen, about 1 year
Do chicken pox only start on the stomach area first? My son has what looks likes chicken pox on his bottom and tops of legs but not his tummy yet. i am not sure if they r chicken pox because they never started on his stomach.
Report this commentcathy doyle, about 1 year
my daughter has started getting few spots 15th dec we are due to fly to spain for 10 days will she be able to fly if they are chicken pox she has only 6 spots
Report this commentkelly sommers, about 1 year
my daughter started getting chicken pox spots on sat 1 st nov and is now covered in them. i was wondering how long it would take for my son to catch them. thanks.
Report this commentkely sommers, about 1 year
My daughter started getting chicken pox spots on sat 1st nov and is now covered in spots. I was wondering how long it would take before my son caught it?
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Hayley, about 1 year
My son has had chicken pox for 3days he has started to scratch them saying they hurt, is there anything i can get from the docs to make them stop itching?, i dont want him getting any scars x
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