Chickenpox most common in under 4s

Most children will get chickenpox. It can be a worrying and distressing time for parents, as chickenpox is a mild yet infectious disease. It is caused by a virus called varicella-zoster and spread through direct contact, from oneperson to another, through broken chickenpox blisters – or when someone with the infection coughs or sneezes.  

It can take 10-21 days for your child to develop symptoms such as feeling sick, raised temperature or fever, loss of appetite and generally feeling unwell. Until the last blister has burst and scabbed over, chickenpox is very contagious and it is advisable to keep your child at home until all of the blisters have fully crusted over.  

You should contact your GP immediately if your child with chicken pox is under 4 weeks old, has breathing difficulties, has chest pains, and has skin blisters which become infected.  Once diagnosed, it is advised to treat chickenpox symptoms by making sure your child drinks plenty of water, ask your pharmacist about giving children’s paracetamol if your child has a fever, keep your child as cool as possible – with cool sponging/bathing and dressing them in light /loose clothing and keeping bedding to minimum, keep your child’s fingernails clean and short to prevent deep scratching.

Care Virasoothe Chickenpox Relief Cooling Gel helps break the itch, scratch, infection cycles that chickenpox causes. Its revolutionary formula for face or bodies of children over 6 months of age, gives rapid cooling and soothing relief to red spots and blisters of chickenpox – reducing the urge to scratch and helping to reduce long term scarring. www.itchi.ie