Varicella
Mason Janak
What is Varicella Disease
Varicella aka. Chicken Pox is A highly contagious viral infection that causes an red- itchy rash
20 facts about Varicella
- Varicella is very contagious
- Approximately 90% of people who have not had Varicella will get it if exposed to an infected family member.
- Every year there are approximately 7,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths from Varicella in the United States.
- Some of the symptoms for Varicella include fever, tiredness, headache, and loss of appetite, a few days later a rash will start to appear
- Varicella is the most contagious the day before the rash appears
- There ia a vaccine for Varicella
- If you've had Varicella before you will most likely never have again
- If a pregnant lady has Varicella she can pass it down to the offspring
- It usually takes 2-3 weeks within contact with an infected person to get Varicella
- If treated properly it takes 10 days to be cured from Varicella
- If a pregnant women has Varicella, it may cause birth defects for the offspring
- Varicella is severe to infants, adults, pregnant people, and people with weak immune systems
- The best way to prevent getting Varicella is getting the vaccinated
- You should not give the Varicellla vaccine to a pregnant women
- Having Varicella can also cause another disease called shingles
- Don't give an infected person any medication involving aspirin which may cause Reye's Syndrome
- Varicella is one of the eight herpes virus known for infecting humans
- In most cases people that get Varicella get it before 10 years of age
- Calamine lotion and Aveeno baths may help relive some itching and clipping nails can help prevent scratching
- If you have Varicella and don't have any fluid filled blisters you should stay home until you don't see anymore spots for a 24-hour period
Online Testimony
Primary infection results in varicella (chickenpox), manifesting in unvaccinated people as a generalized, pruritic, vesicular rash typically consisting of 250 to 500 lesions in varying stages of development (papules, vesicles) and resolution (crusting), low-grade fever, and othersystemic symptoms. Complications include bacterial superinfection ofskin lesions with or without bacterial sepsis, pneumonia, central nervous system involvement (acute cerebellar ataxia, encephalitis, stroke/vasculopathy), thrombocytopenia, and other rare complications, such as glomerulonephritis, arthritis, and hepatitis. Primary viral pneumonia is not common among immunocompetent children but is the most common complication in adults. Varicella tends to be more severe in infants, adolescents, and adults than in children. Before the introduction of routine immunization against varicella, an average of 100 to 125 people died of chickenpox in the United States each year. Breakthrough varicella cases can occur in immunized children, as described later in Active Immunization (p 855), and usually are mild and clinically modified. Reye syndrome may follow cases of varicella, although this outcome has become rare since the recommendation not to use salicylate-containing compounds (eg,aspirin, bismuth-subsalicylate) for children during varicella illness. In immunocompromised children, progressive, severe varicella may occur with continuing eruption of lesions and high fever, persisting into the second week of illness, and visceral dissemination (ie, encephalitis, hepatitis, and pneumonia) can develop. Hemorrhagic varicella is more common among immunocompromised patients than among immunocompetent hosts. In children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, recurrent varicella or disseminated herpes zoster can develop. Severe and even fatal varicella has been reported in otherwise healthy children receiving courses of high-dose corticosteroids (greater than 2 mg/kg/day ofprednisone or equivalent) for treatment of asthma and other illnesses. The risk especially is high when corticosteroids are given during the incubation period for varicella.
Sources
- http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7466
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722564/
- http://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthfiles/hfile44a.stm
- http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/communicable/diseases/chickenpox/English.aspx
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/122716-chickenpox/
- http://ic.steadyhealth.com/facts-about-varicella-zoster-virus
- http://www.who.int/ith/diseases/varicella/en/
- http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/varicella/chknpxfacts.html
- http://redbook.solutions.aap.org/chapter.aspx?sectionid=88187270&bookid=1484