Chicken pox is pretty normal in children and is rarely fatal. However, when adults acquire chicken pox infection, the rashes are generally more severe. The people who are at risk of developing complications from the varicella zoster infection are pregnant women and people with suppressed immune system.

The infectoin has a 10 to 21-day incubation period, during which the lesions start forming and bursting. The chicken pox blisters starts as a tiny red papule that is filled with clear fluid. After 8 to 12 hours, the fluid becomes cloudy and the vescicle breaks. Once the burst blister crusts, it is considered non-contagious. However, this cycle will continue for one week because new papules and vesciles form every day for the first week of the incubation. It is after the last vesicle has burst and crusted that an infection individual is declared safe to wander about in public.

Chicken pox may resurface after decades of the first infection, this time in the form of shingles. This only occurs when the varicella zoster is reactivated long after the first chicken pox attack happened.

Infection can also occur undetected because people who have the varicella zoster activated in their system can already start spreading the disease two days before they even show symptoms of papule/vesicle formation, itching, and soreness. Infected individuals can still infect other people so long as there is still one fresh vescicle in their body.

How is varicella zoster infection treated? More than treatment, there is a vaccine available to prevent having chicken pox infections. A varicella vaccine was made available to the public since 1995 to immunize against this contagious disease. These shots are given to children before they enter elementary school. Booster shots are necessary after 5 years of the initial vaccination because the immunization vaccine does not have life-long effects.

But for children and adults who have already started forming blisters, antiviral medications like Acyclovir is usually prescribed for children and adults who experience chicken pox infections. This medications, when taken within 24 hours of the first outbreak, is said to reduce the number of days that new lesions start forming. With less lesions forming, this means that the infected individual can recover from the infection earlier and resume their normal daily routine.

But not only does it decrease the number of days of lesion formation, it also decreases the pain and speeds up the healing of sores or blisters that have already burst and crusted. It is important to discuss the pros and cons of using this medication because it may bring about undesirable side effects that can be discomforting.

The writer, Abbey Grace Yap, is an active advocate for health consciousness and disease awareness. If you find this article very informative, you can read more articles at Articles of Drugstoretm