Because I have been in contact with her, does that make me a carrier? Answer The answer is no: if you have had chickenpox yourself when young, you will have been carrying the varicella-zoster virus responsible for it ever since. It is possible to get chickenpox twice, but this is very rare.
I'm worried about catching infections at work Relief from chickenpox itching Would chickenpox harm my baby? This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses.
You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano. Advertisement - Continue Reading Below. Short-term immunisation with varicella-zoster immunoglobulin VZIG - which is made from antibodies in donated blood - can prevent illness in people at high risk of complications.
This needs to be given within 96 hours of exposure to the virus to be effective. People at high risk of complications following exposure include pregnant women who have not had chickenpox and who have not been immunised, newborn babies, and some people with immunosuppression due to illness or treatments. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Skip to content Contact us Emergency information.
Last updated: 06 November What is Chickenpox? What are the symptoms Chickenpox begins with a sudden onset of slight fever, runny nose, feeling generally unwell and a skin rash.
Symptoms usually occur two weeks after exposure to the virus. How is it spread? Early in the illness, the virus is spread by coughing. Later in the illness, the virus is spread by direct contact with the fluid in the blisters. People are infectious from one or two days before the rash appears that is, during the runny nose phase and up to five days after when the blisters have formed crusts or scabs Chickenpox infection triggers an immune response and people rarely get chickenpox twice.
Who is at risk? Anyone who has not had chickenpox or been vaccinated in the past can get chickenpox. How is it prevented? How is it diagnosed? What is Shingles? Shingles develops more commonly in people who are immunosuppressed. How is Shingles prevented? How are Shingles and Chickenpox treated? Chickenpox infection usually resolves without treatment.
What is the public health response? You can catch chickenpox at any time of the year, but the infection is most common in the spring months.
Adults are also more likely to have a severe infection and develop complications, and it can be serious for newborn babies too. See our Complications section for more information. But sometimes the virus reactivates wakes up , later in life. This can trigger shingles, which causes a rash and nerve pain.
Some people start to feel unwell before the rash begins. You might have symptoms such as a raised temperature fever , headache, sore throat and loss of appetite. This is more likely in teenagers and adults. The rash you get with chickenpox has flat or slightly raised red spots, which rapidly progress to fluid-filled blisters.
You may also get them in your mouth, nose and genitals. The blisters can be extremely itchy and will usually crust over within a few days, forming scabs. They can take around two weeks to heal completely. Chickenpox symptoms vary from person to person and tend to be worse in adults. Some children may have only a few blistered spots, but others will have spots all over their body. Adults are more likely to have worse symptoms than children. There are certain other circumstances when you should also contact your GP, if you think you have chickenpox or may have been exposed to it.
These include if you're pregnant, have a newborn baby, or you have a weakened immune system. There are treatments you may be able to take that can help to make your symptoms less severe.
See Treatment section for more information. If you do need to see a doctor, let your GP surgery know that you may have chickenpox when you contact them. If you need to be seen, they may want to keep you away from other patients.
For instance, they may ask you to wait in a different room to their usual waiting room. Chickenpox is highly contagious. You remain infectious until all your spots crust over usually about five days after the rash appears. If you think you have chickenpox, keep away from young babies, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system.
This might include people having cancer treatment or taking steroids. If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school or nursery for at least five days from when the rash first appears, and until the spots have all crusted over. There are some simple things you can do at home though to ease your symptoms. These include the following. If your skin is very itchy in places, you can try using cool or wet compresses to ease the itch.
Some people find that an oatmeal or cornflour bath helps. You may also find that calamine lotion soothes the itching, but be careful as it can dry out your skin.
It also stops working once the lotion dries on your skin. You may find that moisturising emollient creams and ointments can ease the itching too.
You can buy this medicine over the counter from a pharmacy. Children older than two months can take junior paracetamol such as Calpol.
Always read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine, and if you have any questions, ask your pharmacist for advice. This includes if you're pregnant, have a newborn baby, or have a weakened immune system. There are two main types of treatment your doctor may be able to give you.
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