Varicella (Chicken Pox)

Varicella (chickenpox) is an acute, highly infectious disease caused by varicella zoster virus (VZV), a herpes virus.

Transmission

• Person to person contact and airborne spread of respiratory secretions/vesicular fluid.
• Infected individuals infectious 1-2 days before the rash and until all lesions crusted (~4 - 7 days).
• 70 - 90 % rate of infection in non immune household contacts of an index case.
• Zoster/shingles occurs due to reactivation of dormant virus and may produce chickenpox in non immune individuals.
• Exposure to chickenpox (primary varicella) cannot result in a case of zoster.

Vaccine Schedule

Signs and Symptoms

• Chickenpox has an incubation period of 3 weeks. This is the time taken from contracting the infection to developing the symptoms.
• The classic symptom is a rash, which is very itchy and can be widespread affecting the face, chest, arms and legs. Sometimes, the blisters can occur inside the mouth. There is often fever and cold symptoms also. The symptoms tend to improve after 1 week.
• The illness can vary from mild symptoms with a few spots to itchy rash covering the whole body, which can be very distressing, affecting sleep, school and work and causing scarring to the skin.

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