Varicella Chicken Pox
Varicella chicken pox is a childhood disease. The disease is common among school age children before the age of ten and is usually mild. It can be serious in very young children and adults. To prevent chicken pox the vaccine known as Varivax is recommended. Chicken pox after varicella vaccine the virus lies dormant in the body before reoccurring into the viral infection known as shingles. Only about twenty five percent of adults that have had chicken pox will be affected by shingles.
Chicken pox causes a rash, itching, fevers and tiredness. It leads to more severe symptoms like scars, pneumonia and sometimes brain damage however these events are rare. The virus can be spread by human contact through the rash, sneezing, coughing or breathing. The contagious period is from two days before the rash appears and until the last lesion has crusted over. In the United States before the vaccine in 1994, about eleven thousand people per year were hospitalized and about one hundred people died. About twenty five percent of those who get chicken pox will also get shingles. After having chicken pox the virus lies dormant in the adult’s body’s nerves near the spine then wakes up.
The varicella zoster chicken pox vaccine, Varivax, can prevent chicken pox. Most people who get the vaccine will probably not get chicken pox. In the off chance that a person who receives the Varivax vaccine gets chicken pox usually has a mild case. They will recover faster; have fewer blisters and little or no fever. The vaccine is given to children over the age of one. If the child receives the vaccine before the age of thirteen, only one dose is needed. If the vaccine is given to someone over the age of thirteen then another dose is needed, one to two months after the first dose. If you have never had the varicella zoster vaccine nor had chicken pox you will need to avoid contact with anyone that has the virus. Anyone with the chicken pox should avoid going to out until all the blisters have scabbed over.
There are some people who should not get the vaccine. People who should avoid the vaccine are ones with allergic life threatening reactions to gelatin or antibiotic neomycin, not feeling well, pregnant women and those suffering from diseases affecting the immune systems, people who have received a transfusion, cancer or taking steroids. Some of the mild reactions from the vaccine are soreness or swelling at the site of where the shot was given, fever and rash also chicken pox after varicella vaccine. More severe reactions are pneumonia and seizures, weakness and behavioral changes. The risk of this vaccine causing serious harm or death is extremely small. The varicella zoster chicken pox vaccine is the best hope for guarding against varicella chicken pox and the good news is that this vaccine is highly tolerated by most of the population.