Be wary of chickenpox during the season

4,000 cases of chickenpox are recognized by the health sector in the first 3 months of the year, but in fact this figure may be higher due to benign infectious diseases so people often treat themselves at home.

Dr. Tran Dac Phu, Director of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health) said that provinces with high number of chickenpox patients are Nghe An, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Yen Bai, Lam Dong, Da Nang . It is predicted that the number of cases will continue to rise.

As a benign disease, chickenpox can be dangerous to the fetus when a pregnant mother becomes ill, which can cause miscarriage or birth defects. Infants with chickenpox transmitted from the mother are also very serious due to virus attacks.

Both adults and young children can get chickenpox.(Photo: NP)

Chickenpox is an acute systemic infection caused by varicella zoster virus . Once infected, people will have long-term immunity for life and rarely get a second re-infection. However, there are still cases of re-infection with or without clinical manifestations. The disease usually occurs in the late winter and early spring, extending into the summer .

At first, the child showed signs of fatigue, anorexia, 24-48 hours after the fever started. On the third day of the disease began to appear skin rash, usually full body, concentrated in the head face, initially red rash , after a few hours of burns on the skin. In 24-48 hours these nodules are converted into water-based , stretched, usually clear, 3-10 mm sizes.

Many parents mistakenly believe that a child with chickenpox must absolutely abstain from water, abstain from the wind so do not bathe or wash children. Many children with more severe infections of superinfection may lead to septicemia because they do not maintain good hygiene. Instead, parents bathe their children with warm water, taking care not to take long baths as if they are healthy. Avoid scratching because it is easy to cause burn marks to break, resulting in bacterial superinfection.

The disease spreads very quickly, the virus is in saliva when the sick person coughs, saying to shoot the virus around. Even during the incubation period, it is possible to spread the disease to others before it appears. The disease is most contagious at 4 days before fever and 4 days after fever. Therefore, it is necessary to isolate children from other people who are not immune. It is best to let children leave school until they are completely removed to avoid spreading. Parents also need to pay attention to take care of their children to avoid getting infected. Items such as clothes, patient's face towels should be soaked in soap, sun-dried, ironed. Adults can spread the disease of the child or become an intermediary.

If you see a note that looks like cloudy water, it doesn't mean there's a bacterial infection; or the child coughs, the fever rises again, headache, vomiting, slower than . should be taken to the hospital. It is possible that the child has one of the most common complications such as dermatitis, pneumonia, encephalitis - meningitis.

Vaccination of chickenpox vaccine is the most effective way to prevent disease. Vaccine is given at age one or older.