Where does chickenpox first appear in a child? What does chickenpox look like in a child and its first signs? Distinctive features of rashes with chickenpox

Is one of the most common childhood diseases, distinguished by its impressive scale of distribution due to its volatility. As a rule, children of preschool age get sick with chickenpox, becoming infected in kindergartens or other preschool institutions.

The main feature of this infection is that already being in the body, it does not immediately make itself felt. Because of it, it is difficult to diagnose in the early stages of development.

Only a doctor diagnoses infection and how this disease begins in children by conducting a blood test. The analysis makes it possible to determine the stage of development of the infection in the child's body. By the way, in babies, the disease begins in the same way as it begins in adults.

Children under 7 years of age are most often attacked by a primary virus, which indicates that the child's body is facing a similar virus for the first time. If the child's immune system is normally developed, then the disease will provoke the development of a mononucleosis-like syndrome.

How does chickenpox begin in children and adults:

• a sharp increase in body temperature;
• swelling of the nasal and laryngeal cavity, sore throat, sore throat symptoms;
• general weakness of the body;
• severe headaches and muscle pain;
• skin rash (rare).

What doctors tell us about this:

The above form of the disease is not dangerous. The doctor will likely prescribe medication to relieve symptoms and bed rest for the next 2-5 weeks.

In the event that the immune system is weakened, the disease often causes complications, such as:

• pneumonia;
• airway inflammation;
• bronchitis;
• renal failure;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• encephalitis (in especially difficult cases);
• upset gastrointestinal tract (in especially difficult cases).

If at least one of the aforementioned symptoms manifests itself, it urgently needs to be shown to a doctor. The doctor diagnoses the infection and determines the stage of its development in order to prescribe the correct treatment.

Symptoms

And so it begins.

• acne rash with fluid;
• general malaise;
• headache;
• aRVI symptoms.

For diagnosis, it does not matter from which part of the body chickenpox begins. The main thing is to notice it in time.

Secondary symptoms of chickenpox are:

• dried vesicles;
• the presence of brown crusts at the site of the rash;
• increased body temperature (in severe cases, the temperature rises to 40 0).

If you experience any symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor. The doctor diagnoses the disease, determines the stage of development, prescribes antiviral and sedative medications.

If the infection is congenital

It starts and after the fight ends in 2 weeks.

A baby can be born with congenital chickenpox syndrome if the mother contracted chickenpox either during pregnancy or during childbirth. Depending on at what stage of pregnancy the infection of the mother's body occurred, the chickenpox virus can provoke both complications of fetal development and miscarriage.

If the baby was born with a congenital infection, there are two ways of development of events:

1. The virus will manifest itself from the first days of life. As a result, complications may occur, such as: brain inflammation, encephalitis, meningitis and other serious diseases.
2. The virus can "doze" for years in the child's body, never showing itself.

In order to avoid women need to be vaccinated against chickenpox before the moment of conception. This will largely protect the future life developing in the womb.

IMPORTANT! Only those women who did not have chickenpox in childhood can be vaccinated against chickenpox.

Diagnostics and treatment

Diagnosed quickly

Even parents can diagnose simple forms and chickenpox on their own. However, more complex forms of the course of the disease should be diagnosed by a specialist. The fact is that the correctness of the prescribed treatment will depend on whether the disease will turn into more severe forms of its course or not, will cause complications of the nervous, peripheral systems or will pass without complications.

Treatment for an infection involves:

• antiviral drug treatment;
• immunity enhancement course;
• use of immunoglobulin.

Treatment takes place on the basis of an inpatient boarding house.

Treatment of chickenpox often takes place at home, where it is important to comply with certain requirements:

• timely processing of vesicles with brilliant green;
• hygienic baths using herbal decoctions;
• constant monitoring of body temperature;
• adherence to a diet;
• bed rest.

Prevention

Exercise and avoid promiscuous relationships

Vaccinating them at an early age will be a good prevention, as well as a set of measures aimed at increasing the child's immunity.

Prevention as such does not exist. However, in order to avoid infection of the fetus, it is better for the expectant mother to be examined by a doctor for the presence of this virus in the blood. If the test is positive, it will be possible to get rid of the infection only by blood transfusion.

It should be noted that viral infections are insidious and dangerous. And letting their treatment take its course is extremely careless. For example, infection during pregnancy can not only significantly harm the health of the unborn baby, but also provoke the birth of a dead fetus.

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Chickenpox - an extremely contagious infectious disease. As they say, it spreads with the speed of the wind. A person becomes a carrier of the disease two days before the first symptoms are discovered. It is because of this feature that 90% of the population have time to get sick with chickenpox in childhood. Without acquiring immunity against this disease at the age of 3-12, there is a risk of feeling it on yourself in adulthood. Despite similar symptoms, the causative agent of chickenpox in the body of adults behaves much more aggressively: a longer period of the disease, more profuse rash, intensified, temperature up to 40 ° C, painful swallowing, the formation of pustules, a general breakdown, possible complications.

If you get sick, you will have to establish quarantine and postpone all personal contacts for at least two weeks. Surely in your environment there are those who have not yet acquired lifelong immunity to chickenpox.

The main irrefutable symptom is rashes that appear all over the body (on the chest and abdomen, arms and legs, face, in the hair on the head, tongue, palate, nose and even in the perineum). The rash will turn into blisters with a diameter of 2-3 mm filled with fluid. The bubbles itch unbearably, but a test of endurance awaits you, since it is absolutely impossible to scratch them. This threatens with scars and scars at the site of the blisters, and if this is the area of \u200b\u200bthe eyebrows, beard and mustache, then an ugly bald patch.

What is chickenpox?

Chickenpox is one of the most common acute infectious diseases. It is characterized by rashes on the skin and mucous membranes in the form of small blisters and fever. It is transmitted by airborne droplets. Chickenpox most often affects children and adolescents. It is believed that it is better to have chickenpox in childhood, since with age this disease proceeds in a complicated form: with encephalitis, primary varicella pneumonia.

Chickenpox causes

The disease is caused by a virus of the herpes family. The susceptibility of the population to this virus is very high, therefore 70-90% of people manage to transfer the disease in childhood or adolescence. Typically, a child gets the infection in kindergarten or school. The source of the disease is an infected person in the last 10 days of the incubation period of the virus and the first 5-7 days after the onset of the rash.

After the transferred chickenpox, lifelong immunity is formed, but re-infection also occurs. The virus can "sleep" for years in the body of a person who has had chickenpox and at one point "wake up". The reason may be nervous strain or. In such cases, the adult may develop. Having no obvious signs of a rash, however, such a person is a spread of the disease.

It is also possible infection with the virus through the placenta - from mother to unborn baby.

For pregnant women, it is especially dangerous, as it can cause the development of congenital chickenpox in a child, premature birth or lead to the death of the fetus.

Complications of chickenpox usually occur in connection with a concomitant secondary infection (abscess, pyoderma, sepsis, phlegmon). Sometimes a week after the onset of the rash, viral-allergic meningoencephalitis develops. There are also known cases of focal myocarditis and nephritis.

Chickenpox symptoms

The incubation period lasts 1 to 3 weeks. Children are characterized by general malaise, increased excitability, loss of appetite and tearfulness. In adults during this period, an increase in body temperature, ailments, headache, nausea and vomiting are often diagnosed.

The next stage in the development of the disease is associated with the appearance of a rash on the skin and mucous membranes. The body temperature rises, the level of intoxication of the body increases. The rash appears earlier in children than in adults. In adults, intoxication is more pronounced, and the fever lasts much longer.

The next stage of the disease is the formation of bubbles filled with liquid. They burst, and ulcers appear in their place. Convalescence lasts two to five weeks as the sores heal and crusted. The disease reminds of itself for a long time with painful sensations along the course of the affected nerve.

Shingles is dangerous with complications: rheumatism, arthritis, pneumonia, myocarditis, neuralgia. To prevent them, antiherpetic drugs are taken.

Other forms of chickenpox

Along with the typical forms of chickenpox, there are also erased forms that can occur without clinical manifestations. These forms of the disease are considered severe. These include:

The bullous form is a concomitant serious illness that develops only in adult patients. It is characterized by the formation of large, flabby blisters on the skin, turning into sluggishly healing ulcers.

Hemorrhagic form - observed in patients with hemorrhagic diathesis. Typical for her is the appearance of vesicles with bloody contents, the development of hematuria, nosebleeds. Patients have hemorrhages on the skin.

Gangrenous form - occurs in debilitated patients, proceeds against the background of a rapid increase in vesicles in size and the transformation of their contents into a hemorrhagic form. After the ulcers dry out, black crusts are formed with an inflammatory rim.

Chickenpox can lead to severe complications associated with exposure to the virus and the body's response to it, for example, chickenpox laryngitis, tracheitis, encephalitis,. Deep lesions of the skin epidermis with the formation of noticeable scars are also possible. With the spread of chickenpox flora, complications of the disease such as nephritis, myocarditis, arthritis can be observed. Secondary attachment of bacterial flora and purulent inflammation is also possible.

Chickenpox in pregnant women

Chickenpox in pregnant women deserves a separate discussion. In addition to the risk for the expectant mother, there is a danger for the fetus. As a result of chickenpox, the course of pregnancy can be disrupted and even interrupted spontaneously. That is why the treatment of chickenpox for pregnant women should be carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor. Do not worry too much, because anomalies in such a newborn are diagnosed in only one case out of a hundred. With chickenpox without complications, premature birth and spontaneous abortions in women were not noted.

However, deviations are sometimes possible, since the virus can penetrate the fetus from the mother through the placenta. Cases of congenital defects, pathologies of the visual apparatus, mental and physical retardation, paralysis are described.

It is noticed that the disease of chickenpox in the expectant mother in the early stages (up to 3.5 months) is practically not dangerous for the fetus. With the development of chickenpox for up to 5 months, the risk for the unborn baby slightly increases, and from 5 to 9 months it is almost reduced to zero. The last days of gestation are an exception. They constitute the main danger. If a pregnant woman falls ill a few days before giving birth, then in 15% of cases the virus infects the internal organs of the baby. To prevent this situation, serum with antibodies is administered to the mother and newborn as soon as possible. The baby is isolated from the mother until the danger of infection has passed.

Chickenpox treatment

Chickenpox is treated at home and only in severe cases - in the hospital. The decision on hospitalization is made by the attending physician.

As a rule, no special therapy is required. The patient should be isolated until the rash stops. A child and an adult with chickenpox is recommended to bed rest for up to 8 days. It is advisable to change bed linen as often as possible, and underwear - every day. Clothes made from soft natural fabrics are suitable.

The patient needs to drink more fluids and follow a lacto-vegetable diet (puree from mashed fruits and vegetables, milk porridge). It is better to dilute juices with water in a 1: 1 ratio. Sour, spicy and salty foods should be excluded from the patient's diet.

At home, red spots and bubbles are treated with brilliant green or 1-2% potassium permanganate solution. If rashes appear in the mouth, you should rinse your mouth with antimicrobial agents (for example, furacilin solution).

Throughout the entire period of the illness, the patient is worried about constant itching (). However, scratching can introduce infection into the wound. If this happens, the spots on the skin take longer to heal and may even remain as scars. It is best to cut the nails short, and the baby should put cotton gloves on the handles. In addition, itching worsens with the appearance of sweat, so doctors do not advise wrapping the patient in warm blankets. It should be noted that warm indoor air also aggravates itching. It is best to give the patient a damp, cold napkin - let it apply to the places that you want to scratch.

Medicines containing ibuprofen or paracetamol are used to reduce fever. With chickenpox, aspirin is contraindicated, which increases the susceptibility to the development of Reye's syndrome.

Antiviral medications are sometimes prescribed to reduce the severity of the illness. These can be antibiotics or immunoglobulin.

Chickenpox vaccine for adults

The disease transferred in childhood usually gives persistent lifelong immunity. But for people who did not get sick in childhood, and for those who are at risk of developing severe forms of the disease, there is the possibility of vaccination. Vaccines "Varilrix" and "Okavax" are officially registered in Russia.

The chickenpox vaccine forms a stable and long-term immunity in the human body. Suitable for both routine and emergency vaccinations. If the vaccine is administered within the first 72 hours after the first contact with the patient, then protection against infection is almost 100% guaranteed.

No side effects or serious complications of vaccination have been reported, so these drugs can be used in people with weakened immunity or with severe chronic diseases.

Expert editor: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist

Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".

Chickenpox is the most common and diagnosed infectious disease among children. Quite often, the first symptoms of chickenpox can be confused with a common viral disease. In this article, we'll show you how chickenpox starts. What are the symptoms and manifestations of the disease.

Chickenpox stages

Chickenpox has a peculiarity - characteristic rashes on the skin, as a rule, the rash is pink and itches a lot. How to identify chickenpox in a child? Experts recommend studying the first signs of an infectious disease. Let us consider in more detail how pathology manifests itself.

initial stage

The initial signs of chickenpox in children appear after a long incubation period that lasts 2 weeks. With chickenpox in adults, the initial stage can last up to 21 days. The incubation period itself becomes active after airborne contact with a sick person. The process of the disease begins with a catarrhal phenomenon, the symptoms of which are similar to those of respiratory infections. The photo shows the first signs of chickenpox.

A distinctive feature of chickenpox is the presence of specific acne on the skin.

For information! After a person has had smallpox, the pathogen of the virus remains in an inactive form in his nerve ganglia. With a weakened immune system, the virus can become active and cause re-infection.

Light form

A mild form of the disease is manifested by the presence of a rash, and in which part of the body it will appear is difficult to predict. As a rule, rashes can be scattered throughout the body and even on the mucous membrane. The incubation period lasts about 2 weeks, the patient suffers from high fever, but the main symptoms are absent. The photo shows chickenpox in a mild form.

The nature of the rash

The presence of acne on the skin characterizes the onset of chickenpox, and the nature of the rash passes through certain stages. The main causative agent of the pathology is the herpes virus, the bacteria of which penetrate the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. As a rule, chickenpox begins in children imperceptibly, because at first, the multiplication and accumulation of pathogenic bacteria occurs inside the body. When the virus completely penetrates and affects the circulatory system and lymph nodes, then the initial stage of pathology begins. The photo shows an initial rash.

Experts say that the disease is disguised as an ordinary viral respiratory disease, and at the end of the incubation period, the patient begins to feel severe malaise, headache and temperature up to 40C degrees.

How does the disease begin in adults?

According to statistics, people who have had smallpox at the age of 18 and 50 have the same risk of complications. However, in the older generation, complications may occur more often, due to the presence of any acquired chronic diseases. How does chickenpox start in adults? The symptoms of chickenpox in adults are as follows:

• malaise, general weakness;
• loss of appetite;
• pain and aches in muscles and joints;
• an increase in body temperature up to 37.5C \u200b\u200bdegrees.

For information! In medical practice, cases have been recorded when in adults chickenpox began with cerebral edema, disorders of the nervous system. This form of pathology is accompanied by attacks of severe vomiting, nausea and impaired coordination of movements.

When the first spots appear on the skin, there is a strong intoxication of the body, which is accompanied by:

• high temperature up to 40C degrees;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• the rash is wavy in nature;
• the immune system is significantly weakened;
• the bubbles burst and form crusts.

It is worth noting that after the crusts fall off, scars or scars may form on the skin. It is important not to scratch the rash. an open wound is prone to infection and necrosis.

How does the disease begin in children?

Children under the age of 5 are most often affected by the chickenpox virus, while the symptoms are the same as in adults. Chickenpox begins in children with the following symptoms:

• a sharply increased temperature up to 38C degrees;
• general weakness is observed;
• loss of appetite;
• periodic headache attacks;
• profuse rash all over the body.

For information! In children, itching is stronger than in adults, the main location of acne: the trunk, genitals, face, oral cavity. With a severe form of the disease, internal organs are affected.

The first signs of smallpox appear in reddening of the skin, up to one centimeter in size, then acne with a clear liquid inside forms in their place, which subsequently turn into crusts. The infectious disease is wavy in nature, due to which the rash can appear several times. How to distinguish chickenpox from a respiratory viral disease can be found in the video

Experts say that a person who has been ill receives immunity for life, however, there are cases of re-infection with chickenpox. It is important at the beginning of the disease to monitor the state of health, and at the first signs to take the necessary measures to eliminate and alleviate the disease.

Chickenpox is an acute infectious disease caused by viruses of the herpes family. A distinctive feature is a rash on the skin in the form of small blisters. It is very important not to let the person scratch the blisters that have formed, as this may leave scars.

Children, as a rule, tolerate the disease much easier than adults, in whom it can provoke various complications. The typical category of people who are affected by the virus are children from 1 year to 10 years old, but the peak of the disease in the human population occurs at the age of 4 years.

A person can get chickenpox only once, and in the future, he develops strong immunity for the rest of his life. With chickenpox in children, the first symptoms begin 1-3 weeks after infection, the temperature begins to rise on the first day, after which specific rashes appear on the body - this is the initial stage of chickenpox, the treatment of which must be started in a timely manner.

How does the disease begin?

Chickenpox is called so because it can be carried by the wind, that is, by airborne droplets. Let's see how it manifests itself in children. Someone sneezes next to you infectious, you will already forget about this insignificant episode in your life. And after 1-3 weeks the temperature will suddenly rise. This is the initial stage of chickenpox in children (see photo).

And if it were not for the almost simultaneous appearance of a rash, then this ailment could be mistaken for, besides, the symptoms of chickenpox include headache and a feeling of weakness. Now you know how the disease begins.

How can you get infected?

The source of infection is only chickenpox patients, and only they, since this type of virus is not adapted to the external environment and dies literally in a few minutes after it leaves the body.

It should also be noted that the source of infection is only the person in whom chickenpox is in active form. This stage begins 2 days before the first rashes appear on the body.

Chickenpox photo: the initial stage of rashes

To determine what the initial stage looks like, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the photo. It shows the nature of the rash.

Incubation period

The incubation period of chickenpox lasts from one to three weeks. At this time, the ailment does not manifest itself in any way and people do not even suspect that they themselves are sick, but a child or an adult becomes infectious to others from the time the virus enters it and until the last skin rash occurs. At this point, you already need to know how to treat chickenpox at home.

Symptoms of chickenpox in children

In the case of chickenpox, the symptoms in children cannot be confused with any other disease, since they appear in all their glory in a very short time. The main symptoms of chickenpox are:

1. Chickenpox usually begins with fever, tremors, fever, and general malaise.
2. Flat rashes all over the body (except for the palms and feet), which rapidly cover the body (in 1-2 hours). Pea or millet specks, pink in color. At this stage, the rash does not bring discomfort to the child or adult.
3. After a few hours, a small bubble appears in the center of the specks, inside which there is a transparent content. The most unpleasant thing is that when bubbles appear, the child begins to experience itching and strive to comb them. Here, it is important to ensure that the person stops combing the affected skin, as it is possible to infect.
4. After 1-2 days, the bubbles dry up and are covered with a brown crust. However, at the same time, for another 7-10 days, with an interval of 1-2 days, new rashes appear, which are again accompanied by a rise in temperature.
5. In adults, the pustules of the rashes become wet for a long time, ulcers are formed, which heal for a long time, forming scars.
6. At the end of the rash, the crusts disappear within 1-2 weeks, after which a slight pigmentation remains, which disappears over time. If during the disease there were complications, for example, a pyogenic infection was brought in, then small scars remain on the skin.

All these signs are characteristic of chickenpox and occur in most children (no matter how old they are). It is extremely important in the early days of the development of the disease to recognize its symptoms in order to see a doctor as soon as possible and begin treatment.

It is important not to confuse a sore with a common cold, which is quite common in children and has similar symptoms (fever, weakness, headache). As soon as you notice the first rashes on the body and other symptoms of chickenpox in a child, you should immediately contact a specialist. The doctor will conduct differential diagnostics and advise on how to treat chickenpox at home.

In children, the disease proceeds in a simpler form than that, which may suffer in the future from complications.

Chickenpox treatment

With chickenpox, treatment in children is mainly symptomatic - treatment of skin rashes and associated symptoms is carried out: external agents are used to relieve pain and disinfect the rash, antipyretic and anesthetic are used. Accompanying treatment to relieve swelling and pain.

In a severe general condition and severe skin manifestations, hospitalization may be required, especially if symptoms from the nervous system appear (pain in the legs, severe headache) or if the patient becomes difficult to breathe.

An approximate treatment regimen for chickenpox is as follows:

1. Bubbles of liquid must be lubricated several times a day with greenery or colorless medicinal liquid Kasteliani. This promotes the quickest drying of the bubbles and the further formation of crusts prior to healing. It also prevents the spread of infection throughout the body (see).
2. Relief of symptoms, including itching. For this, antihistamines of systemic action are used, which, however, are becoming less popular today, since inhibition of the immune response, according to assumptions, can lead to complications. With general symptoms of inflammation, they also seek to alleviate the patient's condition - relieve pain and temperature, for which they recommend: paracetamol or ibuprofen.
3. To lower the temperature, you should take some antipyretic drugs, for example: Panadol (Paracetamol), Nurofen, Efferalgan. It is not recommended to take aspirin, especially for children under 10 years of age.
4. Also, in order to quickly cure chickenpox, you should adhere to bed rest during the period of intoxication and high temperature.

In developed countries, instead of aniline dyes, Calamine lotion is used in combination with antihistamines, which helps to soothe the skin. The lotion is a mild antiseptic, dries up new bubbles and promotes faster healing, and also protects the skin from irritants. It cools and soothes scratching areas, reducing the risk of scars and scars. It is clinically tested and certified in the Russian Federation.

Prevention of chickenpox

There is currently a vaccine against chickenpox.

Usually the patient is isolated at home. The isolation ends 5 days after the last breakout. For children attending organized children's groups, there is a procedure for admission to children's institutions provided for by the instructions. Due to the instability of the virus, disinfection is not carried out; frequent airing and wet cleaning of the room is sufficient.

Can I get sick a second time?

The varicella-zoster virus belongs to the group of herpes viruses. And in fact, after suffering a disease (usually in early childhood), he does not disappear from the body, but "falls asleep" in the secret parts of the spinal cord - the nerve ganglia.

The virus can wake up with a general decrease in immunity. Sometimes it gives the same symptoms as with classic chickenpox, sometimes it provokes the so-called (when the rash protrudes along the ribs - along the nerves).

How many days is contagious?

You are unlikely to be able to determine the first day when chickenpox is contagious. 1-2 days before the onset of the rash, an infected person is already a carrier of this infection. He will infect other people all the time while vesicles mature on his body.

The carrier is considered safe only after the last crust has disappeared. The contagious (infectious) period lasts approximately 10-14 days, during which the infection of others occurs.

Graft

The vaccine provides sufficient protection against chickenpox and its complications. It is recommended for children aged 12 months and older, as well as adolescents and adults who have not previously had chickenpox and have not received vaccinations. The vaccine protects against disease for 10 years or more. In rare cases, people who have received the chickenpox vaccine can get chickenpox, but the disease is mild.

Currently, in the United States, Japan and some other countries, this vaccine is mandatory for admission to a child preschool. But in Russia vaccination of children against chickenpox has not yet become widespread, and this remains the choice of parents.

It is worth noting that some people with a weakened immune system (as a result of illness or taking medications that affect immunity) should not be vaccinated, since they may develop complications. Therefore, before receiving the vaccine for a patient with a weakened immune system, you should consult your doctor.

When a baby appears in the family, all parents experience happiness. It is not unfounded, since “new love” has appeared in life. But when a baby gets sick, we can experience different emotions and they, as a rule, are not positive. However, if your child has contracted the chickenpox virus, then you should rejoice rather than grieve. How to recognize chickenpox, the first signs, how chickenpox begins in children, how to identify chickenpox in a child, the signs of which are not entirely typical for this disease, and much more, you will learn from this useful article.

After infection, the disease proceeds secretly in the child's body and does not manifest itself in any way. The time span of the latent form of chickenpox in children is on average 7-21 days. It directly depends on the immune system: the faster the immune system detects the virus in the body, the faster the reaction will be.

And so, your baby is sick. The very first signs of infection in a one-year-old baby or at 2 years old, as well as in children 4 years old, 5 years old or 10 years old, are approximately the same. The only difference is that a baby at 3 years old or at 4 years old will certainly tell you about his bad health.

A photo of how chickenpox begins in children. Typically, the disease begins with fever, chills, headache, swollen lymph nodes (often behind the ears), and general weakness. If you look closely, the main symptom of infection is fever. The appearance of a temperature with chickenpox indicates an intoxication of the body with a virus and this is a natural reaction of the immune system to the pathogen. The rest of the manifestations - chills, fever, weakness, etc. - are a consequence of an increase in temperature. It can be argued that the symptoms of chickenpox in children are rather blurred, and it is practically impossible to diagnose this disease, only by the symptomatic manifestations of the infection. And only some time after the first symptoms appear (2-5 days), a characteristic rash appears on the patient's body, which is the main symptom of the disease.

Where does chickenpox begin in children?

Where the rash begins to spread is difficult to say. Most often, the spread of the rash begins on the head and face, but there are times when the rash initially affects the arms or stomach ... the virus is not important. How does the rash start? First, small reddish spots appear, no more than 1 centimeter in diameter, in a small amount, which, after a few hours, change and turn into bubbles with a clear liquid, affecting most of the patient's skin. The rash with chickenpox is accompanied by severe itching, which gives the child serious discomfort. Signs of the initial stage of chickenpox in children with a photo.

There are times when the temperature appears as a result of rashes on the body, although this is not typical. However, with profuse rashes on the child's skin, the temperature often rises.

Acne or papules after about 1-2 days begin to dry out and crust over on their own, new ones appear after a day or two. Within 7-14 days, the crusts peel off and fall off, leaving pinkish spots, which disappear after a while, leaving no traces.

It should be added that rashes with chickenpox in a child can appear not only on the body, but also on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose and throat. In this case, the child experiences pain in the area affected by the rash and discomfort. As a result, refusal to eat is possible.

The infectiousness of the patient does not appear immediately. It is generally accepted that a child becomes infectious a day or two before the first signs of a rash appear and continues to be contagious until the last papules appear on the body. 5-7 days after the appearance of the last elements of the rash, the baby is no longer considered infectious.

Signs of chickenpox in children, as well as symptoms, can vary in severity. In some children, rashes may be minor and at the same time they practically do not itch, and the temperature does not rise above 37.5 degrees. In other cases, the rash is widespread and profuse, there are many foci of the rash, the temperature can reach 39-40 degrees. The rash is very itchy, sleep, appetite disappears. What is the reason for this? The fact is that chickenpox can take 3 forms of flow:

• With a mild form of the disease, the temperature does not exceed 38 degrees, rashes appear in relatively small quantities, itching is present, but does not create much discomfort. The rash lasts no more than 5 days;
• The moderate form of chickenpox is characterized by an increase in temperature over 38 degrees, chills, weakness, muscle and joint pain, profuse rashes, accompanied by severe itching. In childhood, this form of viral infection is rare;
• The severe form of chickenpox is characterized by a high temperature (39-40 degrees), profuse rashes all over the body and on the mucous membrane. Nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms and spontaneous twitching of the limbs, severe malaise, delirium, lack of coordination, etc. Unfortunately, a severe form of chickenpox is most often observed in children under one year old. This is due to the weak immune system of babies, since at this age the child's body may no longer have the mother's immunity obtained with milk, and its own has not yet been developed;

Chickenpox at the age of 3 or 10 years is often mild and not difficult to treat.

Rudimentary or atypical chickenpox

Medical practice shows that chickenpox can be asymptomatic, that is, there is no actual manifestation of the infection. With this course of the disease, there is a very weak manifestation of symptoms and signs of infection, or their complete absence. As a rule, this phenomenon predominates in children under the age of 1 year, due to the receipt of mother's antibodies (if the mother has had chickenpox before) along with milk. Also, a similar course of infection is observed in newborn babies after the injection of immunoglobulin.

In addition to such a favorable form, atypical chickenpox is characterized by more severe manifestations:

• Gangrenous form. With this feature of the course of the disease, the transformation of the rash is characteristic (the rash slightly increases in size, the liquid in the bubbles becomes cloudy). This is due to infectious inflammation in the skin epithelium when pathogenic bacteria enter the wound. Most often, the cause of the gangrenous form of chickenpox is scratching or squeezing out the rash;
• Hemorrhagic form of atypical chickenpox. It is characterized by a massive virus infection of the body. The fluid in the bubbles is turbid with an admixture of blood, a very high temperature, it is extremely difficult to get off, skin hemorrhages, nosebleeds, urine with blood, etc. The development of the hemorrhagic form is very intensive, which is often fatal. The risk group includes children under one year old or children with congenital immunodeficiency;
• The generalized form of atypical chickenpox is a complete defeat of organs by the virus, which leads to the cessation of important vital functions;

Note that these forms of atypical chickenpox in children are very rare, in the case of timely diagnosis and treatment.

Perhaps every parent is familiar with the name of this famous pediatrician in our country. Evgeny Olegovich Komarovsky, regarding the symptomatic picture of chickenpox, notes the similarity of its manifestation with acute respiratory diseases. An important criterion in the fight against chickenpox, Dr. Komarovsky considers timely diagnosis of the disease.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, it would be prudent to infect your child with chickenpox deliberately before the age of 12, since children tolerate this disease much more easily than adults. However, today, there is an alternative to this "barbaric" method - vaccination against chickenpox. From the point of view of Evgeny Olegovich, this method of providing immunity against the chickenpox virus is more effective and safer than direct contact of a child with a healthy virus.

Diagnostics

To date, it is not difficult to identify this disease, given the specificity of the signs of its manifestation. Therefore, any doctor will do it without any problems. However, as we said above, there are atypical cases of chickenpox. In such situations, laboratory methods for diagnosing the disease are used, namely, blood tests for specific antibodies of the IgG and IgM classes. This diagnostic method is highly accurate, but at the initial stage of chickenpox, the results may be erroneous.