Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella zoster virus. Symptoms include a low-grade fever, fatigue, headaches, and an itchy rash that turns into blisters. Severe symptoms can occur in pregnant women, newborns, and adults, including pneumonia, shingles, and dehydration.
Chickenpox is an infectious and highly contagious disease most commonly found in children and is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is one of eight herpes viruses known to infect people. There are several chickenpox symptoms to be aware of when someone first becomes infected, as well as several common symptoms that occur as the body goes through the cycles of healing from the infection. In addition to the more common symptoms, there are also rarer symptoms that can occur as a result of chickenpox, depending on the person, and some symptoms can be potentially serious.
Chickenpox can be initially contracted through the air or by physical contact, and symptoms are often present even after someone receives a chickenpox vaccine. The first signs to be aware of are usually a low-grade fever accompanied by fatigue and mild headaches that will start about ten to twenty days after you contract chickenpox. These symptoms don’t always occur before one of the main symptoms occurs, which is an itchy rash that usually starts on the face and scalp. One to five days before this rash occurs, a person becomes contagious and is more likely to transfer the disease to other people.
The rash is followed by the most commonly perceived symptom of chickenpox: several hundred blisters, up to 500, appearing from head to toe. Eventually these blisters will turn into scabs after which a person is usually no longer contagious. New blisters typically continue to appear for about a week.
Sometimes chickenpox symptoms can be more severe, such as when the disease is contracted by a pregnant woman. In this case, the virus can infect the fetus in what’s known as fetal varicella syndrome, a condition that can lead to a wide variety of problems with the fetus’ growth, including birth defects, brain damage, and more. If a newborn gets chickenpox, they are at a high risk of pneumonia and other complications of typical symptoms that can become dangerous and even fatal. Similarly, in an adult who gets chickenpox, symptoms are more likely to become severe, and sometimes the chickenpox virus can reactivate and cause shingles, a painful skin rash. Other more serious chickenpox symptoms that can occur in anyone are high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.
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