How to recognize chickenpox in children?

Chickenpox is one of the most common childhood illnesses. Very contagious, it spreads at high speed between children: almost 90% of children catch chickenpox before the age of 8. Which is not necessarily a tragedy … Indeed, chickenpox in young children is, except in exceptional circumstances, much less serious than that of adults. It is nonetheless essential to recognize it as early as possible in babies and to treat it! To help you do that, here’s the basics of what you need to know about baby chickenpox.

Chickenpox: how it gets caught in babies

With an estimated “attack rate” of nearly 90%, the chickenpox virus, herpes zoster, spreads very quickly. How? ‘Or’ What ? It is present not only in the characteristic pimples of the disease, but also in the saliva droplets from the onset of infection, on average 14 days before the actual rash. The virus is most often spread via small drops of saliva or mucus released into the air when sneezing. Carried by the air, the virus can spread from room to room. It suffices for a single child to be affected to contaminate an entire nursery or several classes in a school … More rarely, contagion can be due to the consumption of contaminated food or to direct contact with a child’s pimples. contagious.

The incubation period can vary from 10 to 20 days during which the infection remains “silent”. Chickenpox is however very contagious, two days before the appearance of the first button until the complete disappearance of the scabs. That is almost 20 days!

Pimples, fever… What are the symptoms and first signs of chickenpox?

Symptoms of chickenpox take about two weeks to appear after infection. A more or less high fever precedes and often accompanies the rash. Also, Baby can be very tired and have a runny nose.

The first button looks like a mosquito bite, then very quickly the small lesion fills with fluid (which contains a lot of virus) and eventually forms a scab. Others appear, in successive waves, for 24 to 48 hours on the face, chest, stomach, back then on the whole body, the scalp. They form red papillae with an area of ​​whitish pus In the center.

The older the child, the more itchy the pimples. In a few days, the vesicles dry out and form a scab. It is especially this crust that causes severe itching. If your child doesn’t scratch them, the pimples dry out in a few days (between 6 and 10 days) and leave the skin intact. Otherwise, when falling, the crust will leave a small hollow scar.

Chickenpox: contamination in utero

Have you ever had chickenpox? So you are immune. If not, and you catch it, the fetus may be infected with the virus crossing the placental barrier. The severity and risk to the baby depends on the gestational age. Between 12 and 20 weeks (up to 5 months) of amenorrhea, the danger is at its maximum. The consequences of the combination “pregnancy and chickenpox” can be heavy for the child (spontaneous abortion, hypotrophy of the baby, various malformations). Fortunately, this is very rare: 9 out of 10 mothers having had chickenpox during childhood, they are immune to the virus.

Contagion of chickenpox in adults: what reflexes for pregnant women?

If you have never had chickenpox and have been in contact with a sick person, tell your doctor if you are less than 5 months pregnant, when the baby’s organs are forming. This will prescribe a blood test to check whether or not you are immune and decide on a possible preventive treatment. Your doctor will inject you with specific antibodies in order to block the virus and will set up more stringent monitoring – including ultrasound -. If necessary, he will perform a fetal puncture (amniocentesis) to find out whether the fetus is affected or not. After this first sensitive phase and until the end of pregnancy, the virus is harmless to the fetus. At the time of childbirtht, the risk is that of chickenpox of the newborn, if there is contamination from mother to child by the placenta. When childbirth occurs in the midst of infection mothers, babies with weak lungs may have acute respiratory distress.

Chickenpox in children: what is the diagnosis?

The diagnosis of chickenpox in young children is usually made in the office of a pediatrician or general practitioner. The doctor will start with analyze clinical symptoms: taking the temperature, looking for buttons… It is not always easy: some children have only one button of chickenpox. Others, less fortunate, have it everywhere: between the toes, on the scalp and even in the mouth!

Usually the simple button examination – and the fact that there is an epidemic of chickenpox in the area – allows the doctor to make his diagnosis. In case of doubt, he takes a sample of the liquid contained in the buttons for analysis. If the child is also prone to severe stomach or head pain, the doctor looks for a possible (and rare) complication of chickenpox such as encephalitis. These complications only affect babies with a weakened immune system.

How to prevent chickenpox?

Treatment: how to treat chickenpox?

If your baby already has chickenpox, the main thing is to treat the symptoms.

Bring down the fever. If it is over 38 °, give your child paracetamol, respecting the dosages related to his weight. On the other hand, ban aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs, in particular ibuprofen, which are formally discouraged in cases of chickenpox.

To relieve the itching, you can optionally give it a antiprurigineux syrup the evening. The use of an antihistamine for severe itching may also be necessary.

In any case, cut your child’s nails cleanly and file them down to prevent them from scratching and infecting the pimples. Locally, it is very important to disinfect the blisters that have burst, the scabs that form and reduce the itching so as not to leave nasty scars. Throughout the rash, take a shower rather than a bath, with a disinfectant liquid soap to be rinsed off thoroughly. Wipe off carefully, but dabbing without rubbing. Then apply with a cotton swab a antiseptic solution (Diaseptyl or Hexomedine type).

S’il ya surinfection despite everything, the doctor will put the baby on antibiotics.It is also important to keep the baby as far away as possible from other children during his contagious period. Baby is contagious on average 2 days before the buttons come out. It stays that way until the pimples are gone, which usually requires a good ten days.

To discover in video: Can a child with chickenpox attend school?

Complications of chickenpox

Chickenpox, a disease apparently not serious, is complicated in 3 to 5% of cases, or 20 to 30 people each year, especially very young children. In half of the cases, it is bacterial skin infections (due to scratching). One in three, they are neurological: encephalitis, febrile convulsions, meningitis or behavioral disorders. They can also be pulmonary, with acute respiratory distress. And three times out of four, they occur in so far healthy children who are not immunocompromised. The little patients are then hospitalized, monitored and treated.

Among aggravating factors of chickenpox, we find immunosuppression, asthma, the taking of corticosteroids in the days preceding the contamination or even the very young age of the child. We now know that the massive use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) to lower fever during the incubation phase is undoubtedly the cause of a large proportion of hospitalizations for chickenpox in recent years. Hence the need not to use ibuprofen as a first-line treatment for to lower the fever and to prefer paracetamol.