Many of the pregnant women can be at a certain moment exposed to a person infected with chicken-pox. Although the thought of the bad consequences it might have on the child is frightening, the actual problems do not seem to be so serious at all. About 80-90 % of the pregnant ladies are protected from the virus due to an earlier infection or due to a subclinical unapparent form of the disease.
The condition known as chicken-pox is an infecto-contagious viral disease with a high ability to spread through droplets in the air or by direct contact. The most common signs and symptoms of chicken-pox are fever, general weakness and an itchy rash consisting out of red small vesicles filled with fluid that crust in a few days.
The average incubation period before the disease becomes clinically obvious varies from 10-14 days while the infected person can spread the virus to healthy subjects without knowing it. The ill person remains infectious and able to transmit the condition until all crusted vesicles disappear from the skin surface.
The most important complication in these cases is the potential harm the viral infection can do to the unborn child. If the pregnant woman recalls having had the disease earlier, the risk for the baby is practically zero. If she cannot remember having had the condition, it is still possible that she has the antibodies due to a silent and asymptomatic infection with the virus. In order to make sure of the potential damages the virus could cause to the unborn child, all mothers contacting the disease during pregnancy should see a doctor. They will undergo some blood tests and verify if the woman is or not immune to the viral infection.
The risk of possible complications during pregnancy for women infected with the varicella-zoster virus differs by the age of the concept as it is variable sensitive to illnesses according to the development stage. Before 20 weeks of pregnancy there is a very small risk of developing the chicken-pox syndrome; it is however very rare as the probability of developing the syndrome is 0.4 until 14 weeks and about 2% between 14 and 20 weeks. Women treated with the immune globulin anti varicella-zoster have a minimal risk of getting the viral infection.
Another potential risk is when the mother's rash develops only a week before giving birth or a week or month after delivery as she cannot transmit the antibodies to the child yet and he is susceptible to an overwhelming infection.
After 20 weeks of pregnancy and the 9 month term the risk for the child is practically zero; still, the mother is more exposed during the time and might develop chicken-pox pneumonia with sometimes very severe complications.
However, there are some important things that should be known about chicken pox, so your child will not suffer from any complications. Here is a list of what to do or not to do in when your child is suffering from chicken pox: 1. Do not give your child aspirin when he/ she is suffering from chicken pox. Children should not receive aspirin because the risk of developing reye? s syndrome is highly increased by this drug use. So when your child suffers from fever, because of chicken pox or any other reason, use acetaminophen. 2. Chicken pox is very contagious, so there is no point in trying to keep your family members in other places of the house. Almost two to three weeks after one of your children has been infected with chicken pox, your other kids will have this disease as well, if they have not had it before. 3. If you hear that other children that are close to your child have chicken pox, make sure that you look for signs of this disease in your child for about three weeks. This is the incubation period of chicken pox. 4. Do not send your child to daycare or school if he/ she is suffering from chicken pox. 5. You can send your child to school or daycare, if he/ she is suffering from a mild chicken pox. However, be sure to do that only after your child is well enough and can take part in all activities. 6. Watch your child very carefully and keep a strict hygiene if your child has chicken pox lesions that are open. He/ she could develop infections because of this condition. 7. If your child has chicken pox, you must tell the people in charge at school or daycare, so they can take proper measures. 8. Go with your child to the doctor and give him/ her the vaccine against chicken pox. This is a very safe vaccine. Children that are more than one year old can receive this vaccine.
So, here are some of the most important things to know about what to do when your child has chicken pox. Follow them and everything will be all right.