Childhood illness
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CHILDHOOD ILLNESS
Coughs, colds and ear infections in children
It’s normal for a child to have eight or more colds a year. Read this article to find out more about common childhood ailments.
Croup
Croup is very common in children under five years old. Find out how croup is diagnosed and treated here.
Diarrhoea and vomiting in children
These helpful tips can explain some of the causes of diarrhoea and vomiting in children and show you how to alleviate the symptoms.
Fever in children
Does your child have a high temperature? Here’s how to make them more comfortable, and when to seek urgent medical attention.
Food allergies in children
Is there a history of eczema, asthma, hay fever or food allergies in your family? Learn about food allergies in children and how to spot a reaction.
Measles
Anyone can get measles if they haven't been vaccinated or had it before, but it's most common in children. Learn more about this illness.
Mumps
Mumps is an uncommon but contagious viral infection. This article explains what to look out for.
Rubella
Rubella (also known as 'German measles') is best prevented by the MMR vaccination. Learn more about its distinctive rash, other symptoms and treatment ...
Whooping cough
Whooping cough is a highly contagious bacterial infection and most serious in babies. Here’s how to spot symptoms and protect infants.
Healthdirect venChickenpox (varChickenpox is a mild and common childhood illness, but can also occur in adults.
It causes a rash of red, itchy spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters. They then crust over to form scabs, which eventually drop off.
Your child is likely to have a fever at least for the first few days of the illness and the spots can be incredibly itchy, so expect them to feel pretty miserable and irritable while they have chickenpox.
Some children have only a few spots, but in others they can cover the entire body.
The spots are most likely to appear on the face, ears and scalp, under the arms, on the chest and belly and on the arms and legs.
The incubation period for chickenpox is between one and three weeks. The most infectious time is between one and two days before the rash appears, but it continues to be infectious until all the blisters have crusted over.
There is no specific treatment for chickenpox, but there are medicines and pharmacy products which can help alleviate symptoms, such as:
>paracetamol to relieve fever
>Calamine lotion and cooling gels to. ease itching.
In most children, the blisters crust up and fall off naturally within one to two weeks.
Adults who have had chickenpox as a child may also get shingles later in life, as they are both caused by the virus varicella zoster. As an activation of varicella.
What causes chickenpox?
Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus. It can be spread either through person-to-person contact, or through sneezing and coughing just like a cold or flu.
You can also catch the virus by handling items and surfaces that have been contaminated, then transferring the virus to yourself by touching your face.
Children can develop chickenpox after being in contact with someone who has shingles, but elderly people can’t get shingles from chickenpox.
Chickenpox symptoms
Chickenpox starts with feeling unwell, a rash and a slight temperature.
The spots can be anywhere on the body, even inside the ears and mouth, on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and inside the nappy area.
Although the rash starts as small, itchy red spots, after about 12-14 hours the spots develop a blister on top and become intensely itchy.
After a day or two, the fluid in the blisters gets cloudy and they begin to dry out and crust over. After one to two weeks, the crusting skin will fall off naturally.
New spots can keep appearing in waves for three to five days after the rash begins. Therefore different clusters of spots may be at different stages of blistering or drying out.
These scabs don't leave scars unless they're badly infected.
Chickenpox in adults
Chickenpox may be a childhood illness, but adults can get it too. Chickenpox tends to be more severe in adults than children, and adults have a higher risk of developing complications.
Adults with chickenpox should stay off work until all the spots have crusted over. They should seek medical advice if they develop any abnormal symptoms, such as infected blisters.
Adults with chickenpox may benefit from taking antiviral medicine if treatment is started early in the course of the illness.
Unusual symptoms
Most healthy children (and adults) recover from chickenpox with no lasting ill-effects simply by resting, just as with a cold or flu.
But some children and adults are unlucky and have a more severe bout than usual.
Contact your doctor straight away if you or your child develop any abnormal symptoms, for example:
if the skin surrounding the blisters becomes red and painfulif you or your child start to get pain in the chest or have difficulty breathing.
In these cases, prescription medicine, and possibly hospital treatment, may be needed.
The varicella virus that causes chickenpox can reactivate many years after the initial infection and cause shingles (herpes zoster).
Chickenpox treatments
You don't need to go to your doctor or emergency department unless you're not sure that it's chickenpox or your child is very unwell or distressed. There’s no cure or specific treatment for chickenpox. Treatment is geared towards relieving the symptoms:
Give your child plenty of fluids to drink.
Use paracetamol to relieve the fever and discomfort.
Baths, loose comfortable clothes and calamine lotion can all ease the itchiness. Gauze pads soaked in bicarbonate of soda and water that are then placed over the sores can calm the itch for a while.
Try to stop your child scratching or picking at their spots as this will increase the risk of scarring. It's hard for children to do this, so give them plenty of praise and encouragement. Distractions, such as TV, are good for taking their mind off the itching. Crop fingernails short to reduce the abrasion from scratching and risk of bacterial infection. Let your child's day care or school know that they are ill, in case other children are at risk. Keep your child away from day care or school until the last blister has scabbed over.
Keep your child away from anyone who is pregnant or trying to get pregnant. If your child had contact with a pregnant woman just before they became unwell, let the woman know about the chickenpox (and suggest that she sees her doctor or midwife).
In women who've never had chickenpox, catching the illness in pregnancy can cause miscarriage or the baby may be born with chickenpox.
Chickenpox prevention
The best way to avoid chickenpox is to have your child immunised. Chickenpox vaccination is recommended as part of routine childhood immunisation to help prevent the disease.
Chickenpox vaccine is now given free as part of the government immunisation program at 18 months old (unless your child has already had chickenpox) or in year 7 of secondary school (if there's no prior history of chickenpox vaccination or chickenpox disease). If your child is vaccinated and still gets chickenpox, the disease will be much milder.
Chickenpox can sometimes be spread through contact with objects that have been infected with the virus, such as children's toys, bedding or clothing.
If someone in your household has chickenpox, you can help stop the virus spreading by wiping any objects or surfaces with a sterilising solution and making sure that any infected clothing or bedding is washed regularly.
Sources: NHS Choices (Preventing chickenpox), Raising Children Network(Chickenpox)
Posted by
Welfare Jambo
Read more about chickenpox
Chickenpox (varicella)
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Chickenpox and shingles - including symptoms, treatment and prevention
Chickenpox and shingles - including symptoms, treatment and prevention :: SA Health
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Chickenpox
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Shingles - myDr.com.au
Shingles is a painful rash caused by the chickenpox virus. Initial symptoms can be intense pain, burning or tingling on an area of skin on the face or body.
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Chickenpox in adults - myDr.com.au
For those adults who didn't catch chickenpox in childhood, or who haven't been vaccinated, an attack of chickenpox can produce serious, sometimes lethal, complications.
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Chickenpox Varicella
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Shingles treatments
Although there is no cure for shingles, treatments are available to lessen its severity and prevent complications. Learn about the treatment options available.
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