Chickenpox is a skin rash which has associated symptoms that can make your child feel quite unwell. Once the treatment for it begins, it generally alleviates the symptoms until the virus has gone. While there is a risk of serious complications with chickenpox in young children, it is extremely rare and usually only occurs in children who have a poor immune system, such as those on chemotherapy.
Chickenpox is an infection which is caused by a virus known as varicella-zoster and it affects most children at some stage or the other. It is your immune system which makes the antibodies during the infection, and these fight the virus, providing yoy lifelong immunity. For this reason, it’s very rare for people to have chickenpox more than once in their lifetime. Alongside the most common itchy blister-like rash symptoms, you will also feel a fever, aches and a headache, and a dry cough. Because of the fever, most children will feel quite unwell and this can last for a few days. Although the blisters will fade after a few days, they may take a couple of weeks to disappear completely so you should keep an eye on this.
There are various complications which can occur with chickenpox, such as the spots leaving scars if they’ve been badly scratched. Some of the spots may become infected (seen in 1 out of 10 cases), and this leads to them becoming red and sore. Your child may need antibiotics if this is the case. In 1 in 20 cases, ear infections also develop – as with other infections, this too will require treatment. Rarer complications include pneumonia and inflammation of the brain, as well as Reye’s syndrome, appendicitis, kidney inflammation, inflammation of the heart muscle and arthritis. Although these complications are rare, you should be vigilant to check for the symptoms.
If your child develops breathing problems, convulsions, drowsiness, weakness, pains and headaches which worsen even with painkillers, or rashes which bleed or bruise the skin, you should consult your GP as soon as possible. Shingles is caused by the same virus that leads to chickenpox but it occurs in people who have already had chickenpox – it is an infection of the nerves and the area of skin which supplies blood to the nerves. Around 1 in 5 people suffer from shingles, and it causes a rash and pain which develops in a band-like area around the affected nerve. It’s more common in people who are over the age of 50, but it can happen at any age.
In most children, the treatment usually involves easing the itchy symptoms and making the child as comfortable as possible. A soothing cream can be used on the skin to calm the itching and soothe the rash, such as virasoothe gel. It is often overlooked, but keep your child’s fingernails cut short to stop them from causing damage to the skin with scratching. An antihistamine tablet or medication can also help. As with any other fever, you should ensure that your child’s temperature is kept low, by taking paracetemol (check the age restrictions on the medication before administering it to your children) and keeping them well hydrated. You should also make sure that they don’t have a high body temperature, so remove their clothes if they are getting too hot and open the windows a fraction to let cool air circulate. If you think that your child has chickenpox, seek advice from your GP with regards to treatments that can help remove the virus and limit the infection from spreading.