How long does the incubation period of chickenpox in children last?

Chicken pox is a childhood illness that is considered quite common. At the same time, it is worth remembering that you can easily become infected from a sick child. Parents should know not only how the disease manifests, but also carefully study how long the incubation period of chickenpox in children lasts. The disease itself is not dangerous, but requires a certain algorithm of action, especially if a small child is sick.

What is smallpox?

A disease like chickenpox is often associated with a period of isolation from society, it has its own specific time frame. It is considered that the period during which the disease can develop in the body, sometimes without even showing any symptoms, is considered dangerous. By all rules, if smallpox begins, then the period reports on the time when the baby was infected, and lasts until the period when the first symptoms begin to appear.

It is very important for parents to know how long the incubation period of chickenpox lasts in children, in order to then be able to calculate when the first symptoms begin to appear. The doctor, in turn, with the help of such information can accurately calculate the quarantine period.

The main types of chickenpox

There are several types of chickenpox, they should be considered in more detail:

1. If we talk about the mechanism, then the virus can be congenital, but can be acquired from another person.
2. As for the form, the disease can be atypical and typical.
3. Severity can be mild, moderate or severe.
4. The disease can proceed easily, that is, almost no changes will be noticed on the child’s body, or the disease can cause serious complications.

All types of chickenpox are characterized by their symptoms, which means that for their destruction it is necessary to use the appropriate treatment. It is extremely important for adults not to try to independently diagnose chickenpox and, moreover, not to self-medicate the child. To date, the rudimentary form of chickenpox is most often found in children. The most dangerous is hemorrhagic chickenpox. What is the danger of such chickenpox (below in the article photo)? The incubation period in children of chickenpox of this type will not be too different from other species, but the danger is that there may be hemorrhage in the internal organs of a sick person.

How does smallpox infection occur?

To excite chickenpox, a virus such as Varicella Zoster must penetrate the human body. He is a representative of the causative agent of herpes. The peculiarity is that the virus can easily be transmitted from a sick child to a child who has never had smallpox until this moment. It is worth noting that the incidence increases during periods when a person's immunity is more weakened. Most often this happens either in the fall or in the spring. As soon as the virus begins its development in the body of a small child, the incubation period of chickenpox itself begins immediately. In children who have caught this virus, the first symptoms may already appear in a day.

A baby who is sick will be contagious at the time of the rash, and even after a certain time after they stop. As soon as the last blisters appear on the child’s body, and after that at least five days have passed, it will be possible to consider that the incubation period is over.

How can a virus be transmitted to another person?

The main method of transmitting the virus is air. The causative agent can easily penetrate the body of another child through saliva and mucus. If the other baby does not have any immunity, then he will be able to get chickenpox by 92%. There are other methods of infection:

1. In contact with the body of a healthy child with a bursting bubble on the body of a sick baby.
2. In utero. if a chickenpox falls ill with a pregnant woman. It is believed that in the first three months, chickenpox disease can be dangerous for bearing a future baby, pathologies can develop.

Doctors point out that the disease can also be transmitted through various objects, although the virus itself is not resistant. Outside the baby’s body, the virus can die in ten minutes.

Which children are at risk?

Most often, preschool children and schoolchildren begin to get sick. This is justified by the fact that children communicate very closely with each other, so the disease occurs after contact. The incubation period of chickenpox in children in this case begins immediately after the child has a disease, and all other children who are not sick are sent to quarantine. Chicken pox also occurs in children who have reached the age of ten, but it is already more dangerous, since it is severe and there is a risk of complications.

The situation is more complicated when a teenager or an adult becomes ill, as body temperature begins to rise, the disease is accompanied by a profuse rash and intoxication of the whole organism occurs.

What changes are observed during smallpox in the body of the child?

Let us consider in detail what changes are carried out in the body, while chickenpox begins in children. The incubation period, quarantine can be divided into three main stages:

1. The initial stage begins at the very time when the virus enters the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and begins its development, adapting and strengthening in the baby's body.
2. The period of active development is characterized by the accumulation of infection in the cells.
3. The final point is the penetration of the virus into the blood, after which the symptoms of the disease begin to appear, and at the same time the body produces antibodies.

Considering in detail the question of how many days the incubation period of chickenpox in children lasts from beginning to end, it is important to remember that the doctors themselves distinguish three main stages.

Symptoms accompanying chickenpox

A baby who has been infected will act like a catarrhal disease. Initially, he will feel a general malaise. Consider the main symptoms that parents should pay attention to:

1. The child complains of headache, aching in all muscles and general weakness.
2. The child will refuse to eat, the appetite is much worse, and the baby himself begins to be more capricious and anxious in behavior.
3. After some time, adults will be able to notice an increase in body temperature and a small rash throughout the body.
   

From the very beginning, the rash resembles pink spots, which very quickly begin to turn into papules, they can be compared with the site of a mosquito bite. Gradually, these bubbles will burst, and crusts form in their place. It is not worth the child to allow combing rashes, they will spread further.

Stages of the course of chickenpox

As mentioned above, the incubation period of chickenpox in children begins with the period of infection and until the moment when the rashes on the body stopped. The fact is that this period may be different. While some rashes heal, others may appear. The first rashes immediately begin to appear on the skin of the body, after which they gradually become covered with rashes and limbs. Many children suffer from the fact that the rash covers not only the body, but there are rashes in the mouth, on the eyeballs and mucous membranes. How much everything will be serious depends largely on the immunity of the child.

Incubation period

The incubation period of chickenpox in children can be completely different. In some children, this period can end in 13 days, and someone needs to be quarantined up to 17 days. Most often, such a period can be only two weeks, but this is if there are no prerequisites for complications. It is worth noting that in some cases, the symptoms of chickenpox begin to appear much earlier. This happens if the child has weak immunity, therefore, chicken pox can be recognized in infants much faster than in older children.

Studying carefully the question of how long the incubation period of chickenpox in children lasts, it will definitely not be possible to answer, since in some children it can be as little as a week. In cases with adolescents, it was repeatedly noted that the disease itself begins to appear on the 21st day after contact with the patient. Very rarely, but it still happens that the incubation period is increased to 24 days.

What should be the treatment during the incubation period

I must say that there is no specific treatment for chickenpox, but there is such a thing as an incubation period in children. Chickenpox, its infectivity for other children - all this can be avoided if quarantine and the patient are isolated from society. Of course, it is possible to alleviate the general condition of the child; for this, many drugs are used that can alleviate itching, lower the temperature and reduce the baby's irritability. Doctors recommend providing the baby with bed rest, and if there is an increased temperature, then it can be brought down with the help of special antipyretic drugs.

Do not panic if a child begins to develop smallpox. It is enough to provide the baby with bed rest and monitor his condition. This is the fight against a disease such as chickenpox in children. The incubation period, Komarovsky considers it not so dangerous for the baby, it is enough to give him more to drink and cook special food that will not take away excess forces from the small organism. At the pharmacy, caring parents will be able to purchase special medications that can help reduce itching.

How contagious is the child during the illness?

Each child can transfer the disease in different ways, and the incubation period itself can take place not in three stages, but in one or two. There are several factors that can affect the duration of the disease:

1. What primarily affects the duration of chickenpox? Infections during the incubation period in children in this case will depend on the number of pathogens of this disease that have entered the body.
2. It is important to consider the immunity of the child. If he is weak, then there is every chance of getting chickenpox.
3. The site of infection is also taken into account. If the baby was indoors, where there is a pathogen, then the chance increases to almost 100%.

It is unlikely to be insured against the disease, since it is quite common.

Dangerous period

When wondering how many days the incubation period of chickenpox in children lasts, we can safely answer that it takes mainly 13 days. There are such cases when the disease proceeds in a latent form, several redness may appear on the skin at this time, which may not even be paid due attention to, and all other symptoms do not manifest themselves.

For others, such a baby can be dangerous, since it is a carrier of a virus that can be transmitted. Due to the fact that it is not immediately possible to identify the symptoms of chickenpox in a child, the baby may not be isolated from society.

If there is a likelihood that the baby has contracted smallpox, you can get tested by a specialist. When cases of chickenpox in the team become common, quarantine is often announced for two weeks. It lasts exactly as long as the incubation period of chickenpox in children.

Prevention of chickenpox in children

To prevent chickenpox from spreading in society, the population is vaccinated. To date, there are several groups that should be vaccinated in the first place:

1. People who do not have strong immunity, or it is weakened by other diseases.
2. People who travel a lot.
3. People who experience a severe course of the disease due to the genetic characteristics of their body.
4. Women who are about to become pregnant.
   

As for children, no one has the right to force a child to vaccinate. This is a voluntary decision by parents, but it is worth remembering that vaccination can help a child to transfer the disease in a mild form and without serious complications. Carefully studying a disease such as chickenpox in children, symptoms, the incubation period, photos of sick children, parents should clearly understand that you should not expose your baby to such tests, and vaccination in many cases can greatly help. Given the fact that it is small children who suffer from chickenpox most of all, having vaccinated their child, adults have every chance not to become infected with this disease themselves. As you can see, the disease may not be too dangerous, but it can bring a lot of trouble, especially for young children who do not tolerate some symptoms.