Chickenpox PDF  | Print |  E-mail
Chickenpox is a very common and highly contagious disease that is often called one of the classic children’s diseases, because so many people are afflicted with it during their childhood. However, chickenpox is not simply a child’s disease. Adults are able to contract chickenpox if they did not have the disease as children. According to one book on the history of medicine, the first description of varicella, commonly called chicken pox, was given by Giovanni Filippo (1510 - 80) of Palermo. In the 1600s, an English doctor by the name of Richard Morton described what he believed to be a mild form of smallpox as chicken pox. It was an English physician named William Heberden who, in 1767, demonstrated that chicken pox, in fact, differed from smallpox. The origin for the name chickenpox has many possible explanations. One explanation is that the blisters on the skin made it appear as though the skin had been pecked by chickens. However, Samuel Johnson offers the simplest explanation. He said that since the disease was "no very great danger" and thus it was a "chicken" version of the pox.

Chickenpox sufferers generally experience mild flu-like symptoms. These include fever, headache, stomach ache, and loss of appetite. These symptoms are accompanied by many itchy, fluid-filled blisters that burst and form a crust. These blisters primarily affect the scalp, face, torso, legs, and arms. The cause of chicken pox is the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Another name for this virus is human herpes virus 3 (HHV-3), a member of the herpes family that causes herpes zoster, also known as shingles, in adults.

Chickenpox is generally a fairly mild disease. However, in rare cases a range of serious and uncommon complications can result. Examples of such complications are Reye's syndrome, encephalitis, myocarditis, pneumonia, and transient arthritis. At any sign of the aforementioned complications, medical treatment should be immediately obtained. Additionally, if exposed, chickenpox can also cause serious complications for babies during gestation.

In most cases, the best course of treatment is to keep the chickenpox sufferer comfortable while allowing their natural defenses fend off the illness. Calamine lotion, oatmeal baths in lukewarm water, antihistamine lotions, and topical lotions can help alleviate some of the itching.

Chickenpox virus is an airborne virus, which means that it is transmitted through the air. Chickenpox can also be transmitted by direct contact. It is highly contagious especially before signs of the rash become visable. Because of this, it is very common for people to spread the disease prior to being aware that they have it. The best method for avoiding the chickenpox is receive an immunization against the disease. Since the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine, its frequency of contraction has decreased.
 
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