About chickenpox

Chickenpox is a very contagious disease that’s caused by varicella zoster virus.

Chickenpox can spread when you touch or breathe in droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze or when you touch their chickenpox rash.

After someone has had chickenpox, the virus ‘sleeps’ in the nerve cells going to the skin. The virus can ‘wake up’ up at a later stage and cause shingles. People with shingles can also spread the virus and cause chickenpox.

Symptoms of chickenpox

Symptoms usually start appearing 1-3 weeks after infection with chickenpox virus.

In children, the first symptoms are usually:

• a general feeling of tiredness
• fever
• loss of appetite
• swollen lymph nodes.

Over the next 1-2 days, an itchy rash breaks out. At first, this rash appears as spots that look brown, purple or grey on dark skin and red on light skin.

The spots develop into groups of small blisters over the chest, back, tummy or face. After this, the blisters spread to the rest of the body. The blisters are extremely itchy, and new ones form as older ones scab over.

Most blisters take about a week to scab over. It can take several weeks for scabs to fall off.

Scarring can happen if children scratch the blisters or scabs or the sores get infected.

Chickenpox symptoms tend to be much milder in children than in adults.

Chickenpox is contagious from 2 days before the rash appears until all blisters have formed scabs and are completely dry. This usually takes around a week.

Chickenpox complications and risks

If your child is otherwise healthy, they’re most likely to have an itchy rash but no other complications.

Rarely, chickenpox sores can get infected with bacteria. The bacteria can cause other diseases like pneumonia and encephalitis.

There are some children and teenagers who are at high risk if they get chickenpox. The virus can affect them severely. These children include:

• new babies
• children and teenagers who have low immunity
• children and teenagers with cancer
• children and teenagers who are taking immunosuppressant medicine like high-dose corticosteroids.

These children need to be kept away from people with chickenpox or people who might have been infected with chickenpox but aren’t yet showing symptoms.

Medical help for chickenpox symptoms or contact with chickenpox

You should take your child to the GP if you think your child might have chickenpox.

You should also talk with your GP if your child is in one of the high-risk groups above and has been in contact with someone who could have chickenpox.

You should take your child to your nearest hospital emergency department or call 000 for an ambulance straight away if your child has chickenpox and:

• becomes drowsy
• has a severe headache or difficulty looking at bright lights
• has difficulty breathing
• has a fever and looks very unwell.

Pregnant women are also at risk and should see a GP.

You know your child best. If your child seems unwell, seek medical attention.

Diagnosing chickenpox

Your GP will look at your child’s rash and other symptoms to diagnose chickenpox. They might also take a swab from one of the blisters to confirm your child has chickenpox.

Treatment for chickenpox

If your child has chickenpox, you can help them feel better by treating symptoms like itch and fever.

To help with the itch, you could try creams like calamine lotion. If your child really can’t stand the itching, your doctor might also prescribe an antihistamine medicine.

Give paracetamol or ibuprofen according to directions if your child is uncomfortable with a fever.

Make sure your child gets plenty of fluids and rest.

If your child has chickenpox, it can help to keep their nails short. If your child scratches their sores, the sores are less likely to get infected. You could also put mittens on younger children.

Children who have very severe chickenpox and who need to be hospitalised might be given anti-viral medicine.

Don’t give aspirin to children under 12 years unless it’s prescribed by a doctor. Aspirin can increase the risk of Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially deadly condition. If you’re giving your child any over-the-counter medicines, check with your pharmacist or doctor to make sure these have no aspirin.

Chickenpox prevention

The best way to avoid chickenpox is to have your child immunised and keep up with immunisation in the teenage years.

As part of the Australian National Immunisation Program (NIP), your child will get free immunisation against chickenpox at 18 months old. The NIP also funds ‘catch-up’ immunisations if your child wasn’t immunised when they were younger.

Immunisation for chickenpox is very effective. Rarely, some children and teenagers still catch chickenpox even if they’ve been immunised. But the illness tends to be shorter in immunised children and teenagers. Immunised children and teenagers also get fewer spots and their spots might not turn into blisters.

People with shingles should keep their rash covered to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

Keep your child away from child care, preschool or school until the last blister has scabbed over. Also keep your child away from people with weakened immune systems.