Caution advised after outbreak

A spike in Palmerston North people catching chickenpox is being described as an ‘‘outbreak’’ by one pharmacist, who urges people to be vigilant.

Cook St pharmacist Anthony Roberts said he had seen about half-a-dozen people, mostly children, infected by chickenpox recently.

He was certain there would be more kids out there with chickenpox, but who were treated at home.

Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella zoster virus. It spreads by being airborne through the coughs and sneezes of those affected.

The outbreak comes after about 12 chickenpox cases were seen by pharmacists at Unichem Pharmacy in Awapuni, in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Pharmacist Fiona Bradley said most of those infected were children, whose parents had come in to pick up cremes and bath wash to relieve itching.

‘‘I think it was quite stressful for their parents as they thought that [their kids] would be at school for the week.’’

Roberts cautioned people to be on the lookout for symptoms, especially as there was a delay between infection and the arrival of the first symptoms, which can be up to three weeks.

If people had children or knew of people infected, it was wise to keep them away from others who were susceptible to falling sick, including those who were frail or undergoing chemotherapy or cancer treatments.

He said it was lucky school had finished, so the outbreak was less likely to infect groups of children.

A person usually had chickenpox

once in their life after catching it, but it was possible to catch it twice. Once infected, the virus stayed in the body, but became dormant.

Bradley said when people were often tired, rundown, and sick, there was also a chance they could catch shingles.

Chickenpox was more dangerous for adults who had not caught the chickenpox virus as a child.

She advised people to take paracetamol and use a solution like Pinetarsol to soothe itching.

She also advised parents not to have ‘‘chickenpox parties’’.

Purposely placing children with others infected by chickenpox in the hope they would catch the virus early was not something she recommended.

Children could sometimes get a fever, tiredness and aches and pains alongside the usual itching of pox, she said.

‘‘We don’t recommend chickenpox parties, because you don’t know how your child is going to react.

‘‘Lots of parents think if they expose their kids to it, then they won’t get it again. But what we are seeing is that kids are getting it again.’’