Chickenpox in children - answers to all common questions

Chickenpox in children is common, and you can rest assured - it looks worse than it is! There is nothing you need to seek care for, and the problems usually go away on their own. However, it can of course be difficult for a child to have itchy rashes all over the body. Is there anything you as a parent can do? How is it contagious? How long is it contagious? And when can the child go back to preschool? Here you will find the answers!

What are chickenpox in children?

Chickenpox are small red itchy rashes that, once they appear, become more and more common. It is a common infectious disease in children caused by a virus. The infection is airborne, and often spreads to the greatest extent during the winter months when we are more indoors. You can only get chickenpox once, so once you have had it, you can not get it again. The reason for becoming immune is because the virus that causes the disease does not have a great ability to mutate, and therefore is unable to penetrate the immune system again.The most common is that you get chickenpox at some point when you are between 1-6 years old, and you then rarely need to seek care without the problems go away on their own after a couple of weeks. If, on the other hand, you get chickenpox in adulthood, or are pregnant, you should seek care. Should your infant show symptoms of chickenpox, contact a doctor immediately. This is unusual, but can affect infants who have not been vaccinated or whose mother has not had chickenpox herself. Chickenpox in infants, adults, and pregnant women can be read more about below.You can read more information about what chickenpox is Vattkoppor.se.

Symptoms of chickenpox in children

• Fever
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Red small rashes which then turn into fluid-filled blisters

The disease begins with fever, fatigue and often even headaches. The fever stays around 38-39 degrees, and eventually the red small rashes that first appear on the chest, abdomen and back, and then spread to the face, ears, scalp and arms and legs. How many rashes you get is very individual. Some children get many rashes spread throughout the body, other children get fewer rashes and only in certain areas.The red, itchy, rashes turn into fluid-filled blisters after a few days. The blisters then dry and become scabs that after 1-2 weeks finally fall off. It is common for the smallpox to come in waves, which means that the infected person can have blisters in all different stages of maturation at the same time - red dots, fluid-filled blisters, and crusts.It is important to try to make sure that the child does not itch on the rash, which of course is not so easy. A little further down you will find tips on various remedies that can relieve the discomfort.You can read more about symptoms and treatment Trygg Hansa.

Infection & incubation period

The infection for chickenpox is airborne and spreads when the patient coughs or sneezes, but also via direct contact. The incubation period varies from 10-26 days, but the most common is 14-16 days. The patient is contagious already 1-2 days before the rash comes, and it is therefore virtually impossible to stop the spread. He then continues to be contagious for up to 7 days after the first rashes appear. Only when all the blisters have dried and become crusts is the child no longer contagious.

To think of!

Take the temperature of your child as soon as he shows symptoms such as fatigue and headaches. You do not always notice the fever at first glance. Keep your child home from preschool and all other activities if he has a fever. It is easy to think that the child is just a little tired and lethargic, but take it seriously and you may help to limit the infection!

My child has chickenpox, what do I do?

There is not much you can do as a parent if your child has had chickenpox other than waiting for it to pass. However, there are some things you can think of a little extra for the smallpox to heal at its own pace:

• Keep the skin clean to prevent further infection of the smallpox.
• Cut your nails to avoid lacerations.
• Relieve the itching with alsol solution, zinc powder liquid, cool water or cooling conditioner. There are also prescription drugs.

You can read more tips at 1177.In addition to this, it is important to keep the child at home and avoid contact with other children to prevent them from becoming infected. However, there is no point in trying to keep the baby in bed if it is alert enough to be up. Play and chores at home are not dangerous, as long as the child feels healthy enough for it.

Seeking care for chickenpox in children?

It is rare to seek care when it is a child who has had chickenpox, but if you are very worried about your child, you should in the first instance contact a doctor by phone. In this way, you do not risk passing the infection on to waiting rooms or the like. Nowadays, you can easily get in direct contact with healthcare via, for example Kry or 1177.

Chickenpox in infants

As I said, it is unusual for infants to get chickenpox, and it rarely becomes problematic as long as the mother of the child herself has had the disease, which most women have. During pregnancy, the mother's antibodies are transferred to the fetus via the placenta. This protection lasts until the baby is about 6 months old. Vaccination can then take place from the time the child is 9 months old, but the vaccine is primarily available to those who belong to any medical risk group. It is important to remember that breastfeeding does not provide any protection in this case, but only through the placenta.

Severe symptoms

If, on the other hand, the mother has not had the disease, the child will not receive any antibodies. If the child is not vaccinated either, he or she may suffer from a much more severe variant of the disease with troublesome symptoms such as:

• High fever
• Rash in the eyes and other mucous membranes (eg in the mouth)
• Cough
• Higher heart rate
• Vomiting
• Muscle twitching

You should seek medical attention immediately if your baby shows symptoms.

Chickenpox during pregnancy

The risk of passing on chickenpox to a fetus during a pregnancy depends entirely on when the infection occurred. If you become ill early in pregnancy, it does not affect the fetus because the body has then had time to create sufficient protection. If, on the other hand, you fall ill at week 35 or later, the body has not had time to produce enough antibodies to protect the almost finished baby.If you get chickenpox when you are pregnant, you should seek care regardless of when the infection occurs. You can primarily contact your midwife for more information.Here you will find more information about

chickenpox in infants and during pregnancy.

Chickenpox as an adult

If you get chickenpox in adulthood, the problems are more severe and the complications significantly more. It also takes longer for an adult to heal. The symptoms are the same as for children, with fever, rash and fatigue, but these can thus lead to more serious things such as infections of the skin, lungs, joints and brain, as well as skin infections and in some cases also organ failure if you do not receive care.You can find more about chickenpox in adults, as well as which risk groups there are Vattkoppor.se. On our blog we have collected a lot of texts that have to do with children. You can read about, among other things eye inflammation, constipation and other childhood diseases.You will also find recipes for good cakes and fancy dress you can easily do it yourself! And a short guide to the best the chair of children.