What does chickenpox look like?

Generally speaking, we all develop a disease called chickenpox when we are very young. Especially in spring and winter, these two seasons are the peak seasons for chickenpox. For some parents who have just started taking care of their children, they actually don’t know much about the disease called chickenpox. It was only when I took my child for a check-up that I found out he had chickenpox. Today we will introduce to you what chickenpox looks like, and we hope that parents can detect this disease in time.

Generally speaking, as long as there are children in a place, such as a kindergarten, as long as one child is infected with the varicella virus, the varicella virus will follow the infected person and appear on the dust, clothes, and toys that the infected person has passed by. Therefore, whether there is direct or indirect contact with a child infected with chickenpox, it is very easy to be infected with the varicella virus. (Which season is most likely to cause chickenpox? How to prevent children from getting chickenpox)

What does a child look like before getting chickenpox? What are the symptoms of chickenpox in children [Picture] -2

What did a child look like before getting chickenpox?

If a child is infected with the varicella virus, symptoms usually appear after a latent period of 2 to 3 weeks. The child does not have any symptoms at this stage.

After an incubation period of about 2 weeks, the baby will show early symptoms such as fever, headache, physical discomfort, loss of appetite, etc. The symptoms at this time are very similar to a cold, so mothers should be careful to distinguish them.

If the baby shows cold symptoms in spring or winter, mothers should give the baby cold medicine, because anti-cold medicine also has a certain effect on chickenpox in the early stages of the disease.

1. Once a child is infected with the varicella virus, after the incubation period, he or she will have symptoms such as fever, loss of appetite, and general weakness, especially for children with poor physical conditions.

2. When a child gets chickenpox, in the early stages there are just some small red spots (usually on the abdomen, back, ears, etc., parents can observe carefully). After a few hours, they will slowly develop into blisters the size of mung beans, and there will be severe itching.

Warm reminder: Parents must prevent their children from scratching the blisters, as this can easily lead to infection with other bacteria and cause other chickenpox complications. If you scratch the blisters on your face, you may end up with scars.

3. When a child gets chickenpox, a series of symptoms first appear on the trunk, and then gradually spread to the head, face and limbs. But in general, the main locations of chickenpox are on the trunk, and the symptoms on the face and limbs are often less frequent than on the trunk.

In addition, the mouth, eyes, pharynx, vulva, etc. may also experience symptoms of chickenpox infection, and there will be severe pain.

(1) After the baby has chickenpox, papules, blisters and scabs appear on the skin in batches

Within a few hours or a day after the onset of chickenpox, characteristic papules will slowly appear on the baby's skin.

Initially, only small red rashes appear on the abdomen or back, like mosquito bites, and there are usually only 1-2 of them. After a few hours, they spread to the wrists and legs, and some of them turn into blisters (at this time, the blisters also grow from the size of millet grains to the size of mung beans).

(2) Rashes and blisters appear on the baby's skin

24 hours after the baby has chickenpox, red rashes and blisters will appear on the baby's face, back, abdomen, limbs and other places. Some of them will begin to form scabs, which will last for about a week before the scabs fall off.

The rash is most common on the trunk, followed by the head and face, less common on the limbs, and even less common on the palms and soles. It looks like three types of rashes coexist.

(3) The baby has a fever

Around 14-17 days after the baby is infected, he or she will begin to have a fever of around 38°C, which will last for 1-2 days, accompanied by symptoms such as headache, runny nose, and cough.

Warm reminder: If the baby shows symptoms of fever, parents must help the baby reduce the fever and prevent high fever.