Chicken pox

General information about a disease

Chicken pox is a viral disease which has heavy symptoms, numerous complications and quite often comes to an end with the death of the person. Are characteristic of chicken pox: pronounced intoxication, high temperature, formation of bubble rashes on mucous membranes and skin. Even if treatment of smallpox was successful, rash continues to harm the person as after its disappearance on skin there is a set of ugly small and large hems.

Throughout several centuries chicken pox was considered as one of the most dangerous diseases and was the real disaster for all mankind. Detailed descriptions of this viral infection were found in the ancient documents dated 2-3 millennium BC. The real terror to residents of the different countries was struck by devastating epidemics. Smallpox at children and adults led to death of hundreds of thousands of people and forever crippled the few survivors. Essential motions in fight against an infection occurred only at the end of the 18th century when the English scientist E. Jenner published the well-known report in which he told about successful vaccination of smallpox. Since then cases were registered less frequently, however, in Southeast Asia, to South America and Africa separate focuses of the disease remained up to the middle of the 20th century.

In 1967 at the initiative of the Soviet Union the World Health Organization adopted the program which provided mass vaccination of people from the poor countries. Within several next years stable decrease in incidence of chicken pox was noted, and in 1980 WHO representatives declared that smallpox at adults and children does not constitute danger to inhabitants of our planet any more. Since then from once dangerous disease, comparable with plague on scale of epidemics, only several people died. All registered lethal outcomes were connected or with infection of researchers who continue to study a virus, or with complications after an inoculation.

Disease epidemiology

Chicken pox affects only people. In some laboratories experimental programs during which the virus was tried to be imparted an animal were carried out. Practically all similar researches failed as causative agents of smallpox quickly perished, having got on adverse Wednesday.

The incubation interval of chicken pox proceeds from 8 to 14 days. All this time of the patient it is infectious for people around. Contagiums are found in the breaking-off bubbles on skin, in an oral cavity and even in samples a calla and urine. As a result, the healthy person can catch also an airborne way, and at direct skin contact with the patient. Let's notice also that the virus long time keeps viability, being on bed linen and clothes. For this reason in the Middle Ages of a thing of the died people were immediately burned for prevention of epidemics. Unlike many other diseases, the postponed smallpox at children and adults does not develop immunity therefore vaccination remains the only efficient technique of fight against an infection. It is especially important in a case with children up to 4 years as they are most subject to operation of activators.

Clinical picture of a disease

At the initial stages chicken pox is similar to flu. At patients are observed:

• headache;
• bystry rise in temperature to critical marks;
• muscle and waist pains;
• frequent vomiting;
• fever.

All this nonspecific symptoms on which it is extremely difficult to diagnose smallpox. As the result, the correct diagnosis is usually made only after emergence of plentiful rash on extremities and the patient's head. Bubbles at first are filled with transparent liquid, but in several days they are filled with pus and begin to remind small furuncles. Rash disappears in 2-3 weeks, leaving behind lifelong traces – pockmarks.

On degree of manifestation of symptoms chicken pox varies from the hardest to easy forms. At a heavy current smallpox at adults and children leads to emergence the drain, filled with pus and blood of pustules, severe fever, organism intoxication. Varioloidny (easy) forms of chicken pox can proceed without temperature increase, and sometimes and without rash though, of course, such succession of events is improbable and was fixed only at those people who were once imparted from smallpox.

Treatment of smallpox

In spite of the fact that chicken pox is won, specific chemical drugs were not developed for treatment of smallpox. For respect for hygiene to patients also powders foment, wash out the sites of skin affected with rash. Throughout treatment of chicken pox by the patient it is necessary to provide a bed rest, healthy nutrition, and also to take care of the calming medicines and hot-water bottles with ice. For the prevention of consecutive infections penicillin and sulfanamide drugs are used.

Prevention of epidemics

The patient has to be in the isolated room. All people who contacted to it are subjected to quarantine inspection and vaccinated, and disinfection is indoors made. If preventive actions were undertaken in time, the probability that chicken pox at children and adults will be cured even before emergence of the first symptoms is high.