Diana Rossetti, Copley News Service
"We recommend giving the vaccine to kids after they've been exposed," said Fernandez.
SPRING HAS sprung, and with it, mini-outbreaks of chickenpox.
Caused by varicella zoster, a virus of the herpes family, chickenpox's most obvious symptom is a blisterlike rash that causes severe itching.
"Until 1995, there was no vaccine to protect against chickenpox," said Lynn Fernandez, a registered nurse and immunisation coordinator for the Canton (Ohio) Health Department. "Many people don't know that 100 people in the U.S. died each year from chickenpox before the vaccine became available."
Those who dealt with chickenpox years earlier were more aware that complications from the disease are possible. Viral pneumonia, skin infections, even encephalitis could occur.
Today, chickenpox vaccine is administered to children when they reach their first birthday. It does not provide complete protection, Fernandez stressed. It is 80 per cent to 90 per cent effective against getting the infection and 85 per cent to 95 per cent effective against a severe case of chickenpox.
MILD OCCURRENCE
"What that means is you can have a mild case," Fernandez said. "What we're seeing with kids getting mild cases, it's more of a rash, not the fluid-filled blisters. Usually, there is no fever, but it is still contagious."
Citing a review of school attendance records, Stark County (Ohio) Health Department epidemiologist Matt Tillapaw said he has noticed no major spikes that would indicate widespread outbreaks.
The incubation period here is 10 to 14 days, but as long as 20 days in Europe, some studies have revealed. Symptoms include low-grade fever, listlessness, loss of appetite and itching.
EARLY VACCINATION
"We recommend giving the vaccine to kids after they've been exposed," said Fernandez. "It could make a difference on whether they get the disease or, if they do, how severe it is."
Dr. Ashraf Ahmed of Premier Health Associates in Alliance warned that adults who had chickenpox in childhood could contract it a second time. And adults who fall victim to chickenpox have a considerably rougher time of it than children.
"There is significant evidence we can get it twice. We had one case this year already of chickenpox (that turned into) pneumonia here in an adult and another case of the dermatological chickenpox in an adult woman who had contracted it in Asia," said Ahmed, an internal medicine specialist. "Usually the season is early spring, but we saw these about a month ago. The virulence of the virus becomes more prominent in mildly warmer weather when it's slightly damp."
The virus is spread by contact and enters through the respiratory system. Infants, people with immune deficiencies and pregnant women are at increased risk.
"Pregnancy is a great strain on the body. The mother can pass the infection to the baby in utero. That could result in low birth weight or even miscarriage," Ahmed said, "and the contagion rates in the same household are very high."
Today, the disease kills two children in every 100,000 cases, Ahmed said, but the mortality rate is 15 times that for adults.
"Give Tylenol for the fever. Do not use aspirin in children," he stressed. "Everyone should know by now it predisposes them to Reye's syndrome."
Reye's syndrome is an acute and frequently fatal childhood syndrome that
follows a viral infection, such as influenza or varicella.
Prescription antiviral medications are available. Closely cropped fingernails, he said, can help avoid introducing bacteria into the lesions. Use calamine lotion to calm the urge to itch.
"Good old common sense is what is best," said Ahmed. "Use discretion in the household; clean your linens and keep hygiene a priority to safeguard you and your children. It's still around. It's not eradicated."
Adults who had childhood chickenpox have a 15 per cent chance of getting shingles before age 80.
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is caused by the chickenpox virus that lies dormant in the nerve roots after a person has had chickenpox. When the chickenpox virus re-awakens for reasons yet unknown, the result is shingles, a skin infection that causes a painful rash.
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