Beating chicken pox just gets easier
The incubation period is 14-16 days and communicability is probable from 10-21 days after exposure.
When the final lesions have crusted, the patient can no longer transmit the disease. Isolation for six days after the first vesicles appear is usually sufficient to control cross-infection.
The prodrome occurs 24-36 hours before the first series of lesions appears.
The lesions begin as macular eruptions (slightly raised pink lesions) which quickly develop into itchy, tear drop vesicles which contain clear fluid. Then crusting develops within 6-8 hours.
Excessive crops of vesicles typify the illness. These are usually found in the upper body and extremities. When the mouth, conjunctiva and genital areas are involved, there is added pain and discomfort.
Complications are infrequent, but the most common are bacterial infections of the skin lesions. Far less commonly encountered are pneumonia and myocarditis. Encephalitis occurs in less than one in every 1,000 cases.
Rui said that mild cases require only symptomatic treatment such as wet compresses to suppress itching, which would otherwise cause scratching and facilitate infection.
In severe cases, antihistamines and antibiotics are required.
Given the commonly benign nature of the disease, anti-viral agents are not given to healthy children with uncomplicated chicken pox.