Chicken pox in a child under 10 years of age is more common than in adults, and is much easier to carry. The disease is infectious, characterized by fever and the appearance of a rash on the skin and on the mucous membrane .
Chickenpox in a child
: epidemiologyFrom the moment the rash appeared on the body, and another five days after the appearance of its last elements, the patient serves as a source of infection. When crusts begin to form and fall off, it is already not contagious. Some researchers believe that chickenpox virus can stay in the human body for a very long time. After a disease, a latent infection can persist and continue for years. Under the influence of adverse factors, it is activated and manifests itself as shingles. Infection occurs directly through the air: when coughing, runny nose, sneezing, the virus, along with drops of liquid, enters the body. The causative agent is not very stable, so its transmission through things is not observed.
Chicken pox in a child : symptoms
On average, two weeks pass from the moment a pathogen enters a weakened body until the first signs of this disease appear.
Sometimes this period can be shortened to 11 days or lengthened to 21. During the day, the general condition worsens slightly, the temperature rises slightly. Immediately after it rises to 38-40 °, or after a short time, the first bubbles appear. The rash occurs in no particular order on the head, face, limbs and trunk. It is a small shiny vesicles filled with transparent contents that leak out during a puncture. After a couple of days, they dry out. After another week or three, brown crusts disappear. Some papules manage to dry before reaching the stage of the bubble. A person is worried about itching. The rash does not occur immediately, but in jerks. In this regard, the fever can drag on for up to 8 days. Sometimes rashes are also observed on the mucous membranes.
Chickenpox in a child : clinical forms
Classification depends on the abundance of the rash and the severity of the general manifestations.
1. Pustular form. In this case, the vesicles are filled with pus. After exfoliating the crusts, scars may remain.
2. Bullous form. With it, in addition to the characteristic rash, large flabby blisters with opaque contents still appear. When they burst, a wet surface appears in their place. After healing, brownish spots often remain.
3. Gangrenous form. Some bubbles are filled with blood. In their place, dying scabs form. After they fall away, deep sores with a dirty bottom and steep edges remain. With the progression of the disease, they can increase.
4. Hemorrhagic form. It manifests itself in weak children. A day or two after the rash appears, hemorrhages in the mucous membranes and skin occur, vomiting with blood is possible.
Chickenpox in children: prevention
Its basis is the implementation of sanitary measures. The patient should be completely isolated for 9 days (it is possible at home), starting from the time of the rash. Then the room is well ventilated. Disinfection can not be carried out, since the virus is already unstable. In order to prevent chickenpox vaccination, children are given to those who are already a year old. There is evidence that the Okavax vaccine creates immunity for 20 years. Its formation begins on the first day of vaccination and ends in six weeks.