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Knots on the skin Important to chickenpox
Chickenpox is one of the most common childhood diseases and is highly contagious. Although you're immune to it all your life when you've had it, you run the risk of getting a shingles later. Paediatricians explain what you should know about chickenpox.
Extremely contagious childhood disease
Chickenpox is one of the most common childhood diseases and is extremely contagious. The most typical symptom that indicates this infectious disease is a red, itchy rash. The red nodules, fluid-filled vesicles and encrustations can then occur at 50 to several 100 spots on the body. In addition, it often comes to fever, headache, fatigue and body aches. Although adults also get ill, most of the patients are children.
Chickenpox is a highly contagious, widespread childhood disease. (Image: loflo / fotolia.com) Call a doctor in the office
As reported by Josef Josef Kahl, pediatrician from Dusseldorf in a message from the news agency dpa, affected children are highly contagious for four to six days. "Until the last vesicle is dry, they should stay at home," said the physician. An exception applies at this time only for a doctor's visit. Before parents go to work with their offspring, who have symptoms of chickenpox, they should definitely call there - because then you can make arrangements so that no one is infected.
Only the symptoms can be treated
Chickenpox can only treat the symptoms. The itching can be alleviated by a special tincture, which is spotted on the affected areas. This helps to dry out the bubbles. "The children should not scratch, because it is very easy to scar formation," warned Kahl, who is also spokesman for the Professional Association of Children and Adolescents (BVKJ). According to the expert, chickenpox has become rarer overall. Since 2004, the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) recommends that children between the ages of eleven and 14 months be vaccinated against chickenpox.
Controversy over vaccination
A second vaccination should therefore follow at least four weeks later. The costs are covered by the health insurance companies. According to Kahl, the vaccine is well tolerated. Although it could come as with any vaccination to fever and redness and swelling at the injection site - but that is rare. After the Stiftung Warentest had advised against the chickenpox vaccine a few years ago, the BVKJ-President Dr. med. Wolfram Hartmann with the words: "The vaccine recommendations of Stiftung Warentest are a good help for parents who want to inform themselves about the subject of vaccination. In one important point, however, the authors of the contribution are mistaken: A vaccination of children against chickenpox is very useful. "One of the criticisms was that the vaccine, according to experts offer no lifelong protection and therefore chickenpox in adulthood could occur more.
Heavier course in adults
Chickenpox in adults often has a more severe course, according to the medical profession than in children. Common complications of adulthood include meningitis, hepatitis, pneumonia or severe gastrointestinal disorders. The typical symptoms such as fever and rash are usually more severe in adults. Kahl advised in the dpa message to those who had no chickenpox in their childhood and are not vaccinated to catch up. People who once had chickenpox are immune for a lifetime. However, viruses can remain in the nerves of the spinal cord or in the brain and become active again when the immune system is weakened - the result is shingles. (Ad)