Chicken Pox

Chicken Pox in Adults

Chicken pox is caused by a virus called the varicella zoster virus that transmits through the droplet infections from the upper respiratory tract like mouth, throat, and nose. As the disease is air borne, chicken pox is highly communicable and it can spread from an infected person through personal contact, sneezing, coughing and also from the soiled articles of the patient. Chicken pox is usually a childhood disease.

Very few are exempted from the disease until they are adults. Chicken pox has a world wide distribution. Over 3 million of people are affected in the United States every year. Over crowding helps the spread of the disease faster.

Chicken pox generally occurs in the first six months especially from late winter to early spring. In the temperate climates seasonal trend is less evident. The incubation period of chicken pox is usually 14 to 16 days. But extremes are also found ranging from 7 to 21 days.

The clinical symptoms of chicken pox vary with every individual. Some may suffer from severe fever with plenty of rash while others may have scanty rash with minor illness. Generally there is sudden onset of fever ranging from 1010F to 1050F. Body ache, malaise, sore throat, shivering can be accompanied with fever. This stage is known as the pre-eruptive stage and may stay for 2-3 days before the rash appears. The rash is red colored and it looks like pimples. Usually itching is present. Soon it changes into fluid filled blisters with an inflamed surrounding. The blisters are abundant in the trunk region and it spreads to other areas like face, scalp, throat, mouth, genitals, arms and legs where the spots appear less. The blisters break within a few days and the sore gets dried to form hard brown colored crusts called scabs.

Chicken Pox in Adults

Chicken pox can be severe in adults with several complications. It can be fatal in some situations and hospitalization may be required. But with the advent of vaccine in 1995, the hospitalization cases have been declined by 90%.

Usually, one episode of chicken pox results in a lifelong immunity against a second attack. But the virus remains dormant in the nerve ganglia and may result in shingles later in 20% of the older adults.

The complications of chicken pox are rare and are mostly found in adult patients having suppressed immunity due to drugs or who are suffering from AIDS. The bacteria like streptococcus and staphylococcus cause secondary infections in throat causing sore throat, in the bones and joints causing rheumatic fever and in the skin causing pus and permanent scarring. But the complications can be severe if they occur in the lungs causing pneumonia and in the brain causing encephalitis and meningitis.

Chicken Pox in Pregnancy

Chicken pox in pregnancy is a serious health condition. There may be birth defects in the fetus like limb abnormalities, neurological damage and scarring of the organs, if the mother contracts the infection in the first 20 weeks of her pregnancy. If the mother gets chicken pox immediately before or after the delivery, the baby may be placed at serious health complications including the chance of getting the infection itself. Also the mother may suffer from secondary complications like pneumonia. However, if she had chicken pox before her pregnancy, she can protect her baby in its first few months of life by her immunity through breast milk and placenta.