Chickenpox in children - incubation period

Chickenpox, or, as this disease is commonly called, chicken pox, refers to acute and highly contagious viral infections. Children more often are sick of 5-10 years of age, and at teenagers and people are more senior chicken pox is much less often.

The positive thing is that this disease is easy to diagnose, because its main symptoms are a rash, itching, headache, an increase in regional lymph nodes, an increase in temperature.

A characteristic feature of the varicella virus is its low tolerance in the external environment. This infection easily dies from disinfectants, low or, conversely, high temperature. But it should be noted that the virus spreads very quickly over considerable distances (up to 20 m) and even a brief contact with the infected person becomes the cause of infection. Varicella is transmitted by airborne droplets, as well as through the mucous eyes. Because this infection spreads easily through the air, which is why it is called "chickenpox".

Many are interested in: is the incubation period dangerous for others? Therefore, in this article we will answer the following questions: what incubation period is chickenpox and how dangerous it is at this time to contact the infected person.

How many days does the incubation period of chickenpox last?

The incubation period is the time period of the disease, when a person is already infected, but there are no external manifestations of the disease. Chickenpox has a long incubation period: in children - from 7 to 21 days. During this time, the virus, which got into the child's body through the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, is transmitted through the body through the lymph and blood. After that, it penetrates into the mucous membranes, the skin and multiplies there. More often the varicella zoster virus affects the spine-like layer of the skin and epithelial tissue of the mucous membranes.

It is difficult to answer exactly how many days the incubation period of chickenpox lasts. In adults, this time interval of the disease can be more prolonged, but in weakened children, on the contrary, it is short.

The incubation period of chicken pox can be divided into the following stages:

1. Infection and adaptation of the virus in the child's body.
2. Propagation of the pathogen: a foci of infection is formed, which then spreads around the periphery.
3. Expansion of the area of ​​action of the virus throughout the body.

Only the third stage in the body of a sick child at the cellular level produces antibodies to the causative agent of infection. Therefore, chickenpox is considered a very treacherous disease. A long incubation period does not provide an opportunity to determine where, when, under what circumstances the infection has occurred, and who its source is.

At the last, third, stage, the child has the first signs of chickenpox: an increase in temperature to 39-40 degrees and the first rash on the scalp and face. The incubation period of chickenpox is not contagious. A child can infect others 24 hours before the first rashes appear. And it will be contagious until the last crust on his body disappears, i.e. 10-12 days.

In children's institutions, chicken pox usually takes on the scale of spontaneous and small epidemics. Doctors believe that it is better for a person if he has chickenpox in childhood, because adults and teenagers are more difficult to tolerate and with serious complications.

If you suspect that your child is infected with chicken pox, and your other family members have not had it, you should consider prevention. In this case, quarantine is effective, i.e. complete isolation of the sick child from healthy relatives. We remember that this virus is very contagious, so airing an apartment, mask and cleaning when contacting an infected person is useless. As a measure of disease prevention vaccination helps very well . It can be administered to healthy family members when your child does not have an incubation period, which means that those who have been in contact with him have not yet met the virus. If you are late with the vaccination (that is, they were going to get vaccinated, when your baby had a rash), then enter the antiviral drug preferably within 76 hours after contact with the patient. This will help to transfer the painful period of the disease more easily. Vaccinations must be done by everyone, only they are contraindicated to pregnant women.