Chicken pox is a children's disease, however it is very unlikely that a
child who has not yet had his/ her birthday develop chicken pox. While in
the womb, the foetus will receive antibodies from his/ her mother to
protect him/ her against the virus that causes chicken pox. This is the
reason why, at least in his/ her first year of life, chicken pox will not
develop. However, there have been cases of chicken pox even in children
under one year old, but they are extremely rare. Furthermore, if babies
under one will develop chicken pox, this will be a very mild condition.
At the age of one, babies will receive a vaccine against chicken pox. This
vaccine will not prevent your child from ever getting chicken pox, but it
will make the disease a lot milder. If your baby will get chicken pox,
red, tiny, itchy bumps will be your first clue. In a couple of day' s
time, there bumps will change into blisters filled with fluid, which will
eventually dry and fall off. As the chicken pox progresses, new waves of
blisters will appear on your child' s body. The areas that are affected by
chicken pox are mostly the face, back and abdomen, but the rash may appear
all over his/ her body as well. Some babies will have more than three
hundred blisters on his/ her body, whereas other will only have a few.
Chicken pox cases can be different from a baby to another. Furthermore,
flu symptoms are some of the first signs that your baby may develop
chicken pox.
When your baby has chicken pox, he/ she will be very tired and have a
little fever. It is also possible that a runny nose or a cough may appear
a couple of days before the chicken pox rash appears. This disease lasts
about one week.
Chicken pox is very contagious, so if your baby has been near a person
that suffered from this disease, then he/ she is likely to have been
infected with the chicken pox virus. If your baby is healthy, then chicken
pox does not pose any threats whatsoever. However, there are cases, very
rare though, when babies can develop complications from chicken pox. Skin
infections, encephalitis or pneumonia may be the result of chicken pox.
This is the reason why you should see a doctor as soon as the first signs
of chicken pox appear.
