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What Causes Chickenpox ?

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is also called the herpes zoster virus. The virus is responsible for causing shingles in some people who have already had chickenpox during their childhood. Chickenpox is an extremely contagious illness and can spread from person to person very easily.

It has been seen that this illness is more rampant toward the end of the winter months and the start of the spring season. Usually kids are more susceptible to this illness and kids between the ages of two and eight are more prone to it. When chickenpox attacks kids, it can easily become an epidemic among them.

As mentioned previously, the illness is highly contagious. The virus is transmitted through airborne particles when the person sneezes or coughs. These airborne droplets are inhaled by a healthy person and the virus enters the body. Initially, the virus does not cause any symptoms, and the rash, blisters and flu-like symptoms only develop and couple of weeks later. Under normal circumstance, the incubation period for the virus is 2 weeks after which the characteristic chickenpox rash appears. However, even before the rash appears on the body, the person is contagious.

The symptoms the illness include fever, rash in the form of red spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters, and itchiness. The person may also suffer from low grade fever, headache and backache. The blisters ultimately break open to form ulcers and these ulcers tend to ooze. Then the lesions crust over and scab formation occurs. Once the scabs form, the person is not considered contagious. However, when the person has the rash and blisters, he or she should be kept away from others to prevent transmitting the illness. Pregnant women should be specifically careful if they have not had chickenpox in their childhood, as chickenpox during pregnancy can cause abnormalities in the fetus.

Once the illness disappears, the virus turns dormant and resides in the nervous system. However, in some people, when they are stressed out, suffer from physical trauma or have a weakened immune system, the virus gets reactivated and begins to move from the nerve cells to the skin. This leads to shingles, which is also a painful condition to have. The shingles rash appears on one side of the body, usually on one side of the face or the torso.

As chickenpox is highly contagious, people suffering from it are not allowed to fly. The illness is also considered dangerous for people with compromised immune systems, like those suffering from AIDS or those who have recently had treatment for cancer.

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