Chicken Pox

The Center for Disease Control estimates that there are over 4 million cases of chicken pox each year!

Chicken pox is named after, cicer, the Latin word for chickpeas. People used to think the red bumps looked like chickpeas on the skin!

Why don't doctors predict who will get chicken pox?
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First, chicken pox has nothing to do with chickens that live on farms. Rather, chicken pox (varicella) is a disease in which you develop little red bumps filled with fluid. This disease is most common in late winter and spring. Also, the sores associated with chicken pox are very itchy.

Anyone can get chicken pox if they have not already had it. It is contagious for exactly 7 days. Chicken pox spreads by touching the fluid that comes from the sores. This fluid contains the virus called varicella-zoster, which can be transmitted by droplets from coughing and breathing.

Some symptoms of chicken pox are: low fever, headache, rash, and a feeling of sickness. The rash, which normally covers the face, scalp, and trunk of the body, starts as red bumps and turns into itchy blisters. The time between infection and the beginning of symptoms is about two weeks.

It is important not to scratch the red bumps or blisters. Using cool compresses, and taking baths with baking soda and calamine oil will help stop itching. Also, using a humidifier may help a stuffy nose. Talk to your parents about taking medicine. Avoid aspirin, but acetaminophen, Tylenol, Panadol, and Datril can help aches and fever. Cool liquids and Popsicles can soothe a sore throat.

More than 4 million people get chicken pox every year resulting in one hundred deaths in the U.S. It can be fatal to adults that have never been exposed to chicken pox.

There is a vaccine for chicken pox which is 70% - 90% effective. If you get chicken pox once, you won’t get it again. After having chicken pox, it is possible to get an illness called "shingles." Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus coming up from the nerve roots where it hid ever since you had chicken pox. People with shingles have a patch-like bubbly rash.

When I was younger, I had chicken pox. Fortunately, I was young enough that I never developed the itch reflexes associated with the disease. Chicken pox is still a pesky thing though, and I am glad that I will never get it again.

Joke Answer

They don't like to make rash promises Return

Citations

Online Media

Blacklow, Neil R.. "Chickenpox." World Book Online Reference Center. Feb. 2004. World Book, Inc. 10 Feb. 2004. http://<www.worldbookonline.com/ar?/na/ar/co/ar110270.htm.>

Book

Berenstein, Joanne. Dizzy Doctor Riddles. Niles: Albert Whitman & Company, 1989.