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DISEASES AND INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN: CHICKEN POX
Chicken pox is caused by a herpes-like virus and is easily transmitted from person to person. It is most common in children and epidemics readily occur in schools and child care centers. Like the herpes virus, the chicken pox virus never completely disappears but remains in the spinal cord indefinitely. It may appear in later life as shingles. As yet there is no vaccine for chicken pox as there is for other common childhood infections such as measles, German measles (rubella) and mumps.
The incubation period for chicken pox is two to three weeks, and the illness begins with a slight temperature, a runny nose and the child being \'off colour\'. The rash produces itchy blisters which occur in crops all over the body. Generally speaking, very young children tend to have a mild illness with few spots, whereas older children and adults often have a severe illness with many lesions. Although chicken pox is self-limited, it can produce scarring, especially in the latter two groups.
Treating chicken pox
Treatments for chicken pox include taking prescribed Acyclovir (Zovirax) tablets, which lessen the severity of the illness and increase the rate at which it resolves. This will often result in less scarring and so should be considered an option for any child or adult with a severe outbreak of the disease. To be effective Acyclovir must be commenced in the early stages. It rarely produces side effects, but is quite expensive.
Symptomatic treatment of the itchy lesions is also useful. Children can be bathed in tepid baths containing Pinetarsal and cooling creams can be applied to the lesions whenever they are itchy. If itching is severe, a topical cortisone cream may need to be applied, and if infection due to scratching occurs, antibiotics will be needed.
Chicken pox scars can be removed by surgical excision or dermabrasion, or they can be filled with collagen or silicone with good cosmetic results.
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GENERAL HEALTH
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