In order to make the itch disappear cool or lukewarm baths are recommended instead of scratching. During the first days of disease baths should be taken every three hours in order to stop the itching. Also, after bathing use some calamine lotions and occasionally an ice cube on the itchy zone. If itching does not stop and does not let you sleep then you should take a nonprescription antihistamine drug.



Another symptom of chickenpox is fever. If your child has fever give him Acetaminophen in appropriate doses for his age. Try to avoid ibuprofen and aspirin because they might cause severe Strep infections and Reye's syndrome.

Chickenpox also affects the mouth and throat and your child might refuse eating. You should give him to drink cold liquids and try to avoid salty foods and citrus fruits.

The genital area could get affected by chickenpox too and could become sore. Use 2.5% Xylocaine over the painful areas every 4 hours and the pain will go away.

An antiviral treatment can also be taken by adults to help reduce the symptoms of chickenpox. Acyclovir (Zovirax) is efficient only if taken within the first 24 hours after exposure. In children and teenagers who have problems with their immune system acyclovir is also recommended.

It is important to cut the nails of the infected person because it can scratch so badly that will cause serious skin infections. Also if your baby has chickenpox, cover his hands with soft cotton socks. Also use antibacterial soap.

It is important to keep your children isolated if they are infected with chickenpox. They are highly contagious to others even before the skin rash appears. Only after the blisters made a crust over the infection will not be contagious any more. It is prohibited to let your child go to school if he has chickenpox. Also ask your doctor to come visit him at home and avoid carrying him out to his office.

It seems that 4% of the adults are exposed to chickenpox because they have not had this disease in childhood or do not have a good immune system.

After the vaccine against varicella was discovered, the number of chickenpox cases started to decrease. This vaccine is applicable to children aged more than12 months, to adults and to pregnant women too. Nowadays most of the babies get such a vaccine at the age of 12 or 15 months. Also, a person who has never had chickenpox and got in close contact to an infected person could ask for this vaccine because it can prevent the disease from occurring.

Do not avoid calling your doctor if your child feels worse, if fever lasts more than 4 days or if the blisters get infected.