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Chickenpox is a common childhood disease caused by a virus. The virus is called the varicella-zoster virus.

A highly contagious disease it an be easily spread through air or touch between members of the same family, kids at school and even at your place of job. The most contagious time of chickenpox is up to 5 days (more commonly, 1 to 2 days) before and 5 days after the date that their rash appears. After the crusts on the blisters or sores have fallen off its considered safe.

The majority of us have the disease by the time we are 15 although the most common age is between 5 and 9; this doesn't stop the fact that anyone can have it. Winter and spring are usually the times of year when chickenpox is most likely to strike.

Usually symptoms appear in the pacient after the person has come into contact with another carrier' anywhere from 10 to 21 days, although the most common period is 14 to 16 days from the exposure time. General weakness and rashes are the first signs that the person might have contracted the disease and even mild fever up to 102 degrees F for 1 or 2 days. It is very rare the fact that a person may present different symptoms without the rash, one of the tail-tail signs of the disease. The rash usually starts as small red points appearing on the pacient's skin, points that afterwards progress to blisters filed with a clear fluid. Eventually this fluid will become cloudy turning to pus and even bursting, this way creating open spores before the crusting period begins. Starting from the scalp the course of the blisters follows the chest the abdomen and then the extremities of the body meaning the hands and feet' you can even have blisters on the palm of your hands and feet making the daily life a bit troublesome

Typically very itchy the rash becomes even more aggravated if it comes into contact with different irritants ( by diaper rash, poison ivy, eczema, sunburn, etc.).

Scarring is one of the most typical complications of chickenpox, avoidable if the pacient wouldn't scratch or if it could prevent coming into contact with different bacteria that may cause infection. A disorder of the cerebellar portion of the brain (cerebellar ataxia with wobbliness, dizziness, tremor, and altered speech) is the nest most common complication, mostly in children; it can even lead to encephalitis (inflammation of the brain with headaches, seizures, and decreased consciousness), damaged nerves (nerve palsies) and Reye's syndrome (a potentially fatal combination of liver and brain disease). Suffering already from a different disease is not a god thing complications in this case being even worse. A real tragic fact is if that a pregnant mother develops the disease from 5 days before to 2 days after delivery, the fatality rate for the baby is up to 30%.