What Is It?

Chickenpox is an infection that causes an itchy, blistering rash and is very contagious, meaning it is spread easily from one person to another. It is caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which enters the body through the mouth and nose after contact with an infected person.

A person with chickenpox can spread the disease to someone else from one day before the rash appears until all chickenpox blisters have crusted over. Once someone has had a chickenpox infection, he or she almost always develops a lifelong immunity, meaning that person usually does not get chickenpox a second time. The exception is a child who is infected at a very young age. Young children usually have milder cases, and may not build up enough protection against the disease. Therefore, these children may develop the disease again later in life.

Because chickenpox is so contagious, 90 percent of a patient’s family also will develop the illness if they live in the same house and are not already immune. In the past, chickenpox cases often occurred in groups (epidemics), usually during the late winter and early spring. However, the number of cases of chickenpox has dropped dramatically because of the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine, which was licensed in 1995 and is recommended for all children.

Chickenpox is an uncomfortable infection which, in most cases, goes away by itself. However, chickenpox also has been associated with serious complications, including death. About one of every 100 children infected with chickenpox will develop a severe lung infection (pneumonia), an infection of the brain (encephalitis) or a problem with the liver. Dangerous skin infections also can occur. Before the introduction of the vaccine, about 100,000 people were hospitalized and 100 people in the United States died each year from chickenpox, most of them previously healthy children. Adolescents and adults who develop chickenpox are also at high risk for developing serious complications.

After a person has chickenpox, the virus (VZV) typically lives silently in the nervous system of the body for the rest of a person’s life. It may reactivate (come to life again) at any time when the body’s immune defenses are weakened by stress or illness (such as cancer, HIV infection) or by medications that weaken the immune system. The most common reason for the virus to reactivate is advancing age. Reactivation of the virus causes a condition called shingles, a painful blistering skin rash that typically occurs on the face, chest or back, in the same area where one or two of the body’s sensory nerves travel.

Symptoms of chickenpox begin between 10 and 21 days after a person is exposed. The illness typically includes fever, a generally sick feeling. This is followed quickly by itchy, red bumps that quickly become fluid-filled bumps, easily recognized as chickenpox. These skin blisters are round, about 5 millimeters to 10 millimeters across, with a red base. Sometimes, they are described as a “dew drop on a rose petal.” They appear in various stages over the next few days and eventually crust over. These blisters may appear anywhere there is skin, even inside the mouth, throat or vagina. Some patients have only 50 blisters or fewer, while others have too many to count.

Your doctor usually can tell whether someone has chickenpox over the phone, particularly if that person has not had the chickenpox vaccine or the chickenpox disease before. If your doctor is not sure, he or she may want to look at the skin rash. Although it also may help to know whether the patient has been exposed to someone with chickenpox, this is not necessary to make the diagnosis. Special blood tests, such as the FAMA test (fluorescent antibody to membrane antigen) and the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), are also available, but they do not need to be done in most patients. Sometimes your physician may scrape a chickenpox blister to examine under the microscope.

Chickenpox blisters form over a period of three to five days, and then crust over during the next seven to 10 days.

Chickenpox once was considered to be an unavoidable childhood illness, meaning everyone would get it. However, since the varicella vaccine was licensed, this disease can be prevented easily. This vaccine is approved for use in most children aged 12 months or older, and it also can be given to adolescents and adults who have no history of chickenpox. Most pediatricians and family physicians now recommend that all children be vaccinated against chickenpox at 12 to 15 months of age. The vaccine also is recommended when someone who has never had the disease or vaccine before has been exposed to someone with active chickenpox. This may help to prevent that person from getting the disease.

Some people are at high risk of serious complications from chickenpox, including people who have problems with their immune system, certain pregnant women and premature infants. If a person at high risk is exposed to someone with chickenpox, an injection of varicella zoster immune globulin (VZIG) also may help to prevent chickenpox. VZIG contains protective antibodies against chickenpox that are taken from the blood of healthy people who have high levels of protection against the chickenpox virus. However, VZIG rarely is given unless a person at risk of serious complications has been exposed to someone with chickenpox for more than one hour.

Doctors can use the antiviral medication acyclovir (Zovirax) to help minimize the symptoms of chickenpox in adults, but it is only effective if it is started within the first 24 hours after exposure. Any parent without a personal history of chickenpox whose child develops chickenpox should call his or her own doctor right away to see whether treatment is recommended. Healthy children who get chickenpox do not need acyclovir because the medicine is expensive and appears not to help much.

Most of the treatment for chickenpox focuses on relieving the annoying itch of chickenpox blisters and preventing broken blisters from getting infected with scratching. Oatmeal baths and calamine lotion can help to reduce the itchiness. Trim fingernails to decrease the risk of infection from scratching. If itchiness cannot be controlled with baths and lotion, oral (taken by mouth) antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl and other brand names), may give some relief. Use a non-aspirin medication such as acetaminophen (Tylenol and other brand names) to lower your child’s fever. Never give aspirin to a child with chickenpox because it can cause Reye’s syndrome, a potentially fatal illness. Sometimes, chickenpox blisters can become infected with bacteria, and require antibiotic treatment.

Most cases of chickenpox do not require a visit to the doctor. Call your doctor if any child or adult in your family develops symptoms of chickenpox and:

• You are unsure of the diagnosis
• Someone in the household cannot fight infection well (for example has cancer and is on chemotherapy or takes steroids regularly)
• Someone in the household, especially an adult, has not had chickenpox or the vaccine
• Someone in the household is pregnant

Call your doctor for his or her recommendations if you or your child has been exposed to chickenpox and neither of you has had the disease or the vaccine before.

In people with confirmed chickenpox, call your doctor if any of the following symptoms develops:

• Fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit or above
• Itching that is not relieved by medication and baths
• Blisters that are inflamed, painful, swollen, or filled with pus
• Blisters near the eyes
• Signs of brain infection (encephalitis), including severe headache, sleepiness, and vomiting
• Signs of lung infection (pneumonia), including cough and difficulty breathing.

To decrease the spread of chickenpox, the person with chickenpox should avoid exposing people who have not had the disease, especially those who cannot fight infection well.

If you or your children (age 1 and older) have never had chickenpox, ask your doctor about the chickenpox vaccine. If you are a woman who has never had chickenpox and you are considering becoming pregnant, speak with your doctor immediately about reducing your risk of chickenpox and other preventable infections before you become pregnant.

In otherwise healthy children, chickenpox is usually a mild infection, with the skin returning to normal within two to four weeks. Sometimes, a few mild scars remain where some of the chickenpox rash had been. Remember that in a small number of cases, chickenpox causes more serious infections that require hospitalization and sometimes cause long-term disability and death.

Diseases and Conditions Center

All ArmMed Media material is provided for information only and is neither advice nor a substitute for proper medical care. Consult a qualified healthcare professional who understands your particular history for individual concerns.