Other Names:
Varicella Zoster
Symptoms:
Small, round pimples on the face and body, filled with fluid and appearing like water blisters. As the fluid leaks, it forms a crust.
Cause:
Chickenpox is a viral disease, which first manifests itself as a fever and headache, 7-21 days after exposure. The eruptions continue in cycles from 3-7 days, and the disease generally runs its course in 14 days. It is communicable 1-2 days before the rash develops, until all the blister-like lesions have crusted (averaging 5-6 days).
Chickenpox mainly occurs between 2 and 8 years of age, and is much more severe if not contracted until one is an adult. If a pregnant mother has it in the first four months of pregnancy, birth defects are possible in the infant. Once you have had it, you generally have lifetime immunity. This is why chickenpox vaccines are dangerous. It is better to get the disease as a child when it is relatively harmless than to wait till adulthood to contract it.
Oddly enough, the same virus that causes chickenpox in children (varicella zoster) is the one which causes shingles (which see) in adults.
Chickenpox is transmitted by contact and by airborne droplets. Epidemics tend to occur in the winter and spring.
Treatment:
• Drink freshly made juices, with added protein powder and brewer's yeast. Drink vegetable broth.
• When the fever drops and appetite returns, give mashed bananas and fresh raw applesauce. Use a light fat-free, sugar-free, diet. You can give vitamin C to bowel tolerance.
• Catnip tea, with a little molasses, is good during the fever. If the child is over two, catnip tea enemas will help reduce the fever.
• The only real concern with childhood chickenpox is pock scarring. This may be minimized by several simple baths and applications. And, of course, do not scratch.
• To avoid scratching the pocks, keep the child's nails short, to minimize spreading of the infection. Have the child wear mittens or gloves, to avoid scratching—especially at night. Instead of scratching, apply pressure to the area. Bathe him often.
• Relieve itching with calamine lotion, moist baking soda, or starch baths. Vitamin E oil can be applied directly to each papule.
• A deep, warm, 15-minute bath at the onset of the disease will help the pox develop more rapidly. Keep the head cool. Do not let him become chilled.
• Each day, give a tepid bath, followed by a change of clothes and linens. Protect against chilling while bathing and other times. Chickenpox pneumonia can develop!
• Oatmeal baths are soothing, because they are alkaline. Put 1 pound of uncooked oatmeal (or 1 heaping cup of uncooked rolled oats, ground fine, in a blender) in a bag made of 2 thicknesses of old sheeting. Soften it with hot water and then float it in the bathtub or hang it, so the faucet will flow through it. You can use the bag to gently sponge the body. Pat dry when finished; do not rub.
• If needed, mix 1 level teaspoon of salt with 1 pint (2 cups) of water, and gargle with it.
• Avoid constipation.
• If you contract chickenpox as an adult, go on a fasting program of fruit and vegetable juices, interspersed with light meals.
• Keep the infected child away from newborn infants, elderly people, and pregnant women. They may not have had chickenpox before.
• Do not send the child back to school until all lesions have finished being crusted.
• Antibiotics and corticosteroids do not help in any way, and should not be given.
• Do not give aspirin! About 10% of Reye's syndrome (which see) cases occur after chickenpox, as a result of aspirin dosages. Reye's can cause irreversible coma or death.