The vast majority of chickenpox affects children and adolescents. The disease proceeds quite easily and does not require any complex treatment. Adults, on the contrary, carry the symptoms extremely hard, often severe complications arise. Even deaths were recorded.
How many chickenpox do adults suffer, what are the symptoms of the disease, and how to treat it? These and other issues are considered in the article.
Features of chickenpox in adults
The main route of infection with the virus is airborne. This infection is volatile, therefore it can be enough to infect even a very slight contact with the carrier. Moreover, the symptoms do not appear immediately, but only some time after contact with the patient, so a person, as a rule, does not even suspect that he was infected.
The life expectancy of the pathogen varicella-zoster is quite low. He dies very quickly under the influence of ultraviolet radiation and in the fresh air. That is why it is much easier to get chickenpox indoors than on the street. The largest foci of this infection are recorded in kindergartens and school institutions, where many healthy children become infected in a few days.
How many times do children and adults get chickenpox?
Having overcome chickenpox in childhood, a person acquires a stable immunity to infection. And lifelong. It follows: how many times do adults get chickenpox? As a rule, once. But there are times when the disease manifests itself again, since the virus itself in the body remains forever, only becomes inactive. The main reason for re-infection is a strong weakening of the immune system.
How many days do adults get chickenpox?
A person carries a danger to others for several days before the rash appears, which appears approximately 10-20 days after the virus enters the body. Therefore, sick with chickenpox becomes contagious already at the end of the incubation period.
Before you find out how much chickenpox affects adults in time, consider what stages the incubation period includes.
Stages of the disease
In adult patients, the incubation period does not have any symptoms, does not require treatment and, as a rule, includes three main stages:
- Initial period. This stage includes the time when a healthy person had contact with the patient, plus three days for the time required to adapt this infection.
- The course of the incubation period. The causative agent of the virus at this time begins to actively multiply in the body of an infected person. Initially, it affects the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, then other cells.
- The end of the incubation period. At this time, the infection develops as much as possible, enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body. The virus begins to affect skin cells, as a result of which the main symptom of the disease manifests itself - a massive rash. Elevated body temperature indicates that the immune system actively resists infection.
How many days does an adult have chickenpox? As a rule, the incubation period lasts 7-25 days. In this case, rashes last from 3 to 10 days. Recovery - about 5 days (during this period, the bubbles burst and become crusty).
How much chickenpox an adult has depends on various reasons. Of considerable importance is the amount of virus that has entered the body and the site of infection. As you know, in enclosed spaces it is much more than in the open air.
Medical studies have shown that the incubation period of chickenpox in adults in three stages does not always occur. Often the disease begins to appear already on the first or second of them.
The insidiousness of this disease is that its latent course is possible. Sometimes in adults, chickenpox is asymptomatic, there is only a slight rash, which can be taken even for a normal allergic reaction.
The incubation period is considered to be over with the onset of symptoms: rash, fever, general deterioration.
Factors that affect the duration of symptoms
As already mentioned, in adults, the incubation period lasts an average of one and a half to three weeks. Its more accurate duration depends on:
- Age. The older the person, the earlier symptoms appear. In case of infection during pregnancy, the symptoms begin to manifest quickly enough, because when a child is born, the immunity weakens greatly.
- The general condition of the immune system. Strong immunity can hold back this virus and its manifestation for a long time.
- The presence of chronic diseases. If any, chickenpox appears faster and lasts longer.
- Places of infection and the amount of virus ingested. In enclosed spaces, much more virus enters the respiratory tract than in the street.
The main symptoms of the disease
With the development of infection and the defeat by the virus of the body, a person begins to complain of poor health, poor sleep, rapid fatigue. A day before the rash, the condition can deteriorate sharply: body temperature rises (often up to 40 degrees), chills appear, sweating increases.
The first signs of infection are a characteristic rash on the skin, which is accompanied by itching. The virus infects mucous membranes and epithelial cells, resulting in swelling and a red-pink rash. These symptoms indicate the end of the incubation period. Emergency treatment is required during this period.
Standard symptoms
Regardless of how much an adult has chickenpox, the following symptoms are standard symptoms:
- Headache.
- A significant increase in temperature (sometimes up to 40 degrees).
- General malaise, weakness.
- Pain in muscle tissue.
- Nausea, vomiting.
- Cramps are possible.
Features of rashes
With the development of infection, rashes in adults have some differences:
- In 99% of cases, the rash appears on the mucous membranes and genitals.
- The patient’s body temperature can reach 40 degrees.
- In adult patients, purulent processes often develop at the site of the rash, so wounds may not heal for a long time. In severe cases, tissue necrosis may occur.
When is chickenpox contagious?
Considering how much an adult has chickenpox, it is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on exactly when the infection is contagious.
Whether it is possible to get infected from a sick person during the incubation period depends on many factors. From what? Generally, a virus carrier is infectious at the end of incubation. That is, a few days before the first symptoms appear. And it continues to be unsafe for about five days after the appearance of the first vesicles on the skin. Sometimes it is possible to infect another person in the middle of the incubation period. The exact duration of chickenpox infection can be determined by the date of contact with the virus carrier. If a person was in close contact with ailing chickenpox, there is every reason to assume the possibility of infection. But since the virus can be transmitted at a distance of several meters, the disease often becomes known only after symptoms appear. Since people already transmit the virus during incubation, chickenpox spreads very quickly.
Therapies
If the disease occurs in an uncomplicated form in an adult patient, he is prescribed antiviral drugs and symptomatic treatment. In exceptional cases, therapy is carried out in a hospital setting.
Key recommendations:
- the patient needs to allocate a separate room, which should be ventilated at least twice a day;
- completely exclude physical activity, psycho-emotional stress;
- increase fluid intake to 3 liters per day;
- exclude fried, sour, smoked from the diet;
- eat fermented milk products;
- monitor clean skin, take a warm shower (do not use a washcloth);
- take antiviral and antiallergic drugs, and, if necessary, antipyretic drugs;
- treat rashes with antiseptic solutions (fucorcin, brilliant green, potassium permanganate, and rashes in the oral cavity with a weak solution of furacilin).
It is quite difficult to accurately determine how much an adult has chickenpox, what is the duration of the incubation period and infectiousness. With a mild form, the disease lasts about two weeks, and with a complex one, it can last up to one month (and even more).
The main goal in the treatment is not only to stop the development of this virus and eliminate the symptoms, but also to prevent the possibility of any complications.