Can babies get chicken pox?

Yeah, but it's rare. Because most babies get antibodies against the virus from their mother while in the womb, it'due south unusual for a baby to come down with chicken pox during the first twelvemonth. Those who practise tend to take a mild case. Nevertheless, the infection can be severe and even life threatening in babies who contract it soon later nascence, or whose moms get chickenpox soon before or after they're born.

What are symptoms of chicken pox in babies?

Chicken pox, besides called varicella, typically causes:

  • An itchy or painful rash that starts out as small-scale red bumps. On darker-skinned children, the bumps may be pink or skin-colored. These bumps quickly change into clear, fluid-filled blisters, which eventually become dry out chocolate-brown crusts. New waves of blisters often spring upward every bit the illness progresses.
  • Blisters that spread. The rash oft appears first on the scalp, face, or trunk. It tin can and so spread over the entire torso. Children normally become between 250 and 500 blisters, although information technology's possible to have just a few.
  • Fatigue and fever. Your baby volition probably be tired and slightly feverish. She may take a loss of appetite and, for a couple of days before the rash appears, a mild coughing or a runny nose.

Chicken pox usually lasts five to 10 days.

skin with pink dots with small raised bumps

© Scott Camazine / Science Source

How did my baby become craven pox?

Chicken pox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which passes from person to person with remarkable ease. If your babe has been exposed to the chicken pox, it normally takes xiv to sixteen days for the pustules to appear, although they tin can show up anytime betwixt ten and 21 days after exposure.

People with chicken pox tin can pass the virus along by touching someone after touching the blisters or coughing or sneezing onto their hand, or by releasing information technology into the air whenever they sneeze, cough, or even breathe. The virus tin also spread from direct contact with the fluid from the blisters before they crust over.

Is chicken pox unsafe?

For healthy babies, chicken pox is usually more of a nuisance than a real threat. However, it can be life threatening for premature newborns, and babies who get chicken pox from their moms around the fourth dimension of birth. On rare occasions, , even healthy older children tin can develop serious complications from chicken pox, like a bacterial skin infection, pneumonia, or encephalitis, a swelling of the brain.

Phone call the doctor if your child:

  • Is less than 1 month old
  • Seems sicker than expected
  • Develops a fever afterwards the first few days
  • If the rash spreads to her eyes, or
  • If the peel around the pox becomes bloated, painful, or very red.

If your infant'southward allowed system is compromised, phone call her dr. at the showtime sign of chicken pox – or even if she'south simply been exposed to someone who's sick – because the infection can cause grave complications. Children'southward immune systems are weakened from chronic illnesses such as leukemia or from taking high-dose oral steroids (for asthma, for example). Some special protective measures, such as an injection of varicella zoster allowed globulin or the varicella vaccine, can only be useful shortly afterwards exposure.

Adults who come downward with chicken pox tin get very sick and are at run a risk for such complications as bacterial pneumonia. If you're meaning and accept never had craven pox, read our article on chicken pox during pregnancy and ask your md what precautions you should take and what to practice if y'all've been exposed.

What are shingles?

The same virus that causes craven pox tin cause a painful rash chosen shingles. When a child has chicken pox, the virus remains in the trunk and tin can reappear as shingles many years subsequently. This happens to most 1 in 10 adults who had chicken pox before in life.

Is there whatever fashion to prevent chicken pox?

Aye, although your baby won't be able to get information technology until she's 1 year old. A vaccine has been available since 1995, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that most children receive the shot at 12 to xv months of age, with a 2d dose at iv to vi years.

The vaccine causes few side effects in healthy children and keeps more than 95 percent from getting a serious case of chicken pox.

The shot isn't recommended if your child has had a astringent allergic reaction to gelatin (aye, the stuff that makes Jell-O agree together), the antibiotic neomycin, or – when she's older – a previous dose of the vaccine.

If your infant has cancer or any illness that affects her immune system, has recently had a blood transfusion, or is taking high doses of oral steroids, her doctor will advisedly evaluate whether receiving the vaccine would be a good idea.

See our article on the chicken pox vaccine for more information on the pros and cons of the shot.

How should I treat my infant'southward chicken pox?

Keep your babe habitation from daycare until all the sores have crusted over to foreclose her from spreading the disease and to give her fourth dimension to recuperate. Unfortunately, children are most contagious the twenty-four hours or two before the rash erupts, usually before parents know their child is ill.

To keep your child comfortable while she'south recuperating:

  • Relieve the itching. Give her a cool bathroom every three to four hours. Sprinkle baking soda or colloidal oatmeal (made specifically for the bath) into the water for added relief. (You can too use uncooked oats. Tie them in a cheesecloth bag and toss it in the tub.) After the bath, put calamine lotion on the itchy spots.
  • Keep her from picking and scratching her sores. This may seem like an impossible job, but sores that aren't allowed to heal can leave scars or lead to skin infections such equally impetigo. Keeping your baby'southward nails short tin can help.
  • Bring down your babe's fever with the proper dose of acetaminophen. Never requite aspirin to your child as it can trigger Reye'southward syndrome, a rare but potentially deadly condition.
  • Inquire doctor for an antihistamine. If your babe seems really uncomfortable, you lot might ask her doctor virtually giving her an over-the-counter children's antihistamine to help reduce the itching.

Doctors can prescribe an antiviral drug called acyclovir to treat chicken pox, only it's not generally recommended for otherwise healthy children. For children with weak immune systems, nonetheless, acyclovir tin be crucial.

Discover out more about mutual childhood illnesses and infections.