What are the preventive measures for chickenpox?

Varicella is a relatively common acute infectious disease with a very strong contagiousness. This disease mainly occurs in infants and young children. The more typical symptoms are systemic red maculopapular rashes, herpes, scabs, etc. The incidence of varicella is very high, and parents are very concerned about the prevention measures of varicella. So, what are the preventive measures for chickenpox? Let’s take a closer look below.

1. Varicella vaccine injection: Doctors generally recommend varicella vaccine injection for infants and children over 1 year old. The disadvantages of this vaccine are that it may cause some side effects, and 10%-30% of children cannot be fully immunized. However, even if children who have been vaccinated with chickenpox are infected with chickenpox, the symptoms are very mild, and some may not even develop a rash. So if your health condition allows, you should get the chickenpox vaccine.

2. Prevention in daily life: (1) Help children develop good hygiene habits and wash their hands frequently to avoid cross-infection of infectious diseases. (2) School classrooms should frequently open windows for ventilation and keep the indoor environment clean. (3) During an epidemic, healthy children should avoid going to public entertainment venues or visiting the homes of sick children to prevent contact transmission.

3. Stay away from sources of infection: If schools or kindergartens find that a child has symptoms of chickenpox, they should immediately notify parents to take the child home to rest and take isolation measures. Vaccinate susceptible people and observe susceptible people who have been in contact with patients for 3 weeks. Children who have had contact with sick children can take Isatis root granules, one packet a day for 3-5 days, which has a certain preventive effect.

(1) To prevent the spread of chickenpox, children with the disease should be isolated until the rash has completely crusted over. Children who have had contact with chickenpox patients should also be isolated and observed for three weeks. Weak children can be injected with immunoglobulin within four days of contact. During the epidemic, try to avoid taking your children to public places.

(2) It is an acute respiratory infectious disease caused mainly by the varicella virus, which is more common in children aged 2 to 6 years old and occasionally in adults and infants. It is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract via airborne droplets. It can also be transmitted through clothing, utensils, and toys due to contact with the blister fluid in the child's herpes. It is highly contagious. The disease can occur throughout the year, but is more common in winter and spring.

(3) As long as there is no secondary serious bacterial infection, the prognosis of common varicella is good, and no scars will be left locally after healing. However, the mortality rate can be as high as 5% to 25% in patients with varicella who have a weakened immune system and develop severe bacterial infections, neonatal varicella, or severe cases such as disseminated varicella pneumonia and varicella encephalitis. Survivors of varicella encephalitis may also suffer from sequelae such as mental abnormalities, mental retardation, and epileptic seizures.

Since chickenpox is a very common disease and is easily contagious, parents must be aware of the preventive measures for chickenpox, strengthen the protection of their children, and get the chickenpox vaccine in time to prevent chickenpox from occurring in their children to the greatest extent possible. And once the child becomes ill, active treatment should be sought to avoid causing lasting harm to the child's health.