1.What is chickenpox? What does it look like? What are the pre-existing symptoms? Chickenpox is an acute infectious disease caused by the initial infection of varicella zoster virus. It mainly occurs in infants, toddlers and preschool children, and the symptoms of adult onset are more serious than those of children. With fever and skin and mucous membranes appear in batches of circumscribed erythema, papules, herpes, scabs as a characteristic, the rash was centripetal distribution, mainly in the chest, abdomen, back, can develop to the limbs, palms and other places. Chickenpox onset is more acute, older children and adults in the rash before the appearance of fever, headache, generalized lethargy, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and other prodromal symptoms, pediatric rash and systemic symptoms appear at the same time. In some patients, there is no special discomfort before the onset of rash. Chickenpox onset, the beginning of a small pink rash, quickly turned into papules, and then into a rice to pea-sized round nervous blisters, surrounded by a clear red halo, the center of the blisters in the umbilical fossa. The blisters can become pustules when they become secondary to bacterial infection. The blisters break open and crust quickly. Rash often appear in batches, so in a region, often can see red spots, papules, blisters, scabs, we say chickenpox has “four generations of the same” typical performance. 2.How to diagnose chickenpox? According to the history and rash characteristics is not difficult to make a diagnosis, if necessary, laboratory tests can be done to clarify the diagnosis. (1) 2~3 weeks before the disease with chickenpox or herpes zoster patients close contact history. (2) Fever and rash (maculopapular rash, herpes) occur at the same time, or rash without fever. The rash is distributed centripetally and is more common on the trunk, head, and waist. Rash appears in batches (four generations: maculopapular rash → papule → herpes → scab, different forms of rash exist at the same time), and no scar is left after the scab comes off. (3) The white blood cell count is normal or slightly low, and the lymphocytes are relatively high. 3.What period of time will a chickenpox patient be infectious? Chickenpox occurs in winter and spring, and it is highly contagious. Chickenpox patients are the only source of infection, and it is contagious from 1~2 days before the onset of the disease until the rash dries up and scabs off. That is to say, once the diagnosis of chickenpox, about 2 weeks after the scabs completely fall off before there is no contagious, during this period of time will need to be isolated from the family treatment, otherwise it will be infected to other students. 4.What are the ways of spreading chickenpox? Chickenpox virus can be infected through direct contact or droplet inhalation, and the incidence rate of susceptible children can reach more than 95%. After the virus infects the human body, it first proliferates and replicates in the local lymph nodes of nasopharynx for 4~6 days, and then invades the blood and spreads to the whole body, causing lesions in various organs. 5.How to prevent chickenpox? (1) Wear a medical mask, don’t be too close to each other, keep a distance and ventilate the classroom. (2) Early rest, do not stay up late. Good sleep is the body to play an effective immune system to ensure. (3) For general people, you can take Xiao Chaihu Granules + Banlangen Granules for prevention. Xiao Chaihu Granules can reconcile the Shaoyang, support the positive qi, and get rid of the evil out of the body. Banlangen now has antiviral effect in pharmacological research. But note that the weaker students are not suitable to add the root of blueberry. 6. Is chickenpox life threatening? Chickenpox is a self-limiting disease, generally 1-2 weeks can be cured, generally not life-threatening, but individual children with very weak physique, if the disease is very serious and not handled in time, there may be some complications and death. 7.Will chickenpox leave scars after healing? Because chickenpox lesions are superficial, usually will not leave a scar, but if the combination of bacterial infection, or scratching and so on lead to deeper lesions, may leave a scar. So tell your child not to scratch! Especially after scabbing, itching is often associated with the repair period, and the scabs should be allowed to fall off on their own! 8. My child has been vaccinated against chickenpox before, why does he still have chickenpox? Should I still take the vaccine? About 95% of the people who received varicella vaccine 2 times can stimulate the body to produce anti-virus immunity, which can last about 20 years and can prevent chickenpox. Individuals who fail immunization and are unable to clear the virus develop the disease, but the symptoms tend to be much milder than those of unvaccinated children. Lifelong immunity can be obtained after chickenpox is cured, and sometimes the virus survives in a quiescent state in the ganglia, and years later the infection recurs and shingles develops. When there are multiple cases of chickenpox in a class, the Center for Disease Control will provide emergency free chickenpox vaccinations to students in their classes who do not have the disease. Some parents have asked me if they should get vaccinated. To vaccinate! The reasons are as follows: (1) It is necessary for infectious disease control. (2) Previously administered vaccines may have lost their protective effect and should be supplemented with a booster. After all, the probability of transmission is significantly higher at this time when everyone is studying together. The vaccine has a preventive effect about 4 days after injection. (3) At present, chickenpox vaccination is safe. 9. How to sterilize? How long does the contagiousness of a chickenpox patient last? Chickenpox virus is very weak to survive in the external environment, is not resistant to heat and acid, and can be inactivated by disinfectants such as ether. Humans are the only host of the virus, and patients are the only source of infection. The infectious period usually lasts from 1~2 days before the appearance of the rash to the time when the herpes is completely scabbed over. If a case of chickenpox is detected, indoors can be fumigated with rice vinegar and then ventilated to help reduce the virus. Chickenpox epidemic season, it is best to go out more sunshine can kill the virus, more exercise, improve the body’s ability to resist disease. 10. Some parents ask: there have been no new cases for more than ten days, and I thought it was safe, but it has resurfaced again. Why? Because the incubation period of the disease is about 10 to 21 days, an average of 14 days. That is to say, it may take about 2 weeks after infection with the virus before the onset of the disease. During this time, the virus is being replicated in the body in the lymph nodes, etc., and has not yet been released into the bloodstream to spread to the skin and develop a rash that we cannot see. If more children in the class have a concentration of chickenpox, it is recommended to routinely take Xiao Chai Hu Granules for 1 week. Xiao Chaihu Granules have the effect of relieving surface heat and dispersing heat, evacuating the liver and harmonizing the stomach. It is a classic TCM formula for relieving Shaoyang, and is more suitable for external illnesses in which cold and heat are not obvious. When a child has a feeling of mental depression and poor appetite, early administration of the formula can often stunt the progression of the disease. The formula is relatively calm and can be tried without seeing a doctor. If the child is usually in good health and, during a chickenpox epidemic, develops a sore throat, dry stools, and a red tongue, Lotus Clearing Fever Granules and Xiao Chai Hu Granules can be given together twice a day. But if the child is not good, or has obvious discomfort, it is recommended to ask a professional Chinese medicine practitioner to look at, to develop a formula to prevent or treat, more targeted, it will be better, chickenpox virus has not been obvious proliferation of the body to eliminate to extinguish. 11.How to take care of chickenpox patients at home? (1) pay attention to the disinfection and cleaning of contact with chickenpox herpes fluid clothes, bedding, towels, dressings, toys, tableware, etc., according to the situation were taken to wash, sun, hot, boil, burn disinfection, and do not share with healthy people. At the same time, we should change clothes and blankets to keep the skin clean. (2) Open windows regularly Air circulation also has the effect of killing viruses in the air, but when ventilating the room, attention should be paid to preventing the patient from getting cold. Let the room be exposed to sunlight as much as possible and open the glass windows. (3) Reduce fever If fever is present, it is best to reduce the fever physically by using ice pillows, towels, and drinking plenty of water. Let the child rest, eat a nutritious and easy-to-digest diet, and drink plenty of boiled water and fruit juice. When fever develops, add Chinese medicine to relieve the symptoms, the effect is good, it is recommended to see a Chinese medicine practitioner for treatment. (4) Pay attention to the changes of the condition Pay attention to the changes of the condition, if you find that the rash persists after the high fever does not go down, coughing and wheezing, or vomiting, headache, restlessness or drowsiness, convulsions should be sent to the hospital in time to seek medical treatment. (5) Avoid scratching the herpes with hands Especially pay attention not to scratch the acne rash on the face, so as not to cause pus infection by scratching the herpes, and if the lesion damage is deeper, there is a possibility of leaving a scar. To prevent this from happening, cut the child’s nails short and keep the hands clean.