Contents:
- Medical Video: Treat Chicken Pox In Babies | Chicken Pox Treatment | Few Simple Steps To Treat Chickenpox
- What are the characteristics and symptoms of chickenpox in children?
- How do you deal with chickenpox in children?
- 1. Soak cold water
- 2. Relieve fever
- 3. Cold food
- 4. For babies affected by smallpox, give them a drink from sippy cup and not from a bottle
- 5. Overcoming sex pain due to chickenpox in children
- 6. Prevent children from scratching
- 7. Quarantine children at home
- 8. Avoid sun exposure
- 9. Acyclovir
- When do I have to see a doctor?
- How to prevent chickenpox in children?
Medical Video: Treat Chicken Pox In Babies | Chicken Pox Treatment | Few Simple Steps To Treat Chickenpox
Chickenpox is an infectious disease that generally occurs in children under 10 years, but not infrequently this disease will cause problems in pregnant women, newborns, teenagers and adults, as well as people who have low immune resistance. Chickenpox in children is not a critical medical condition. However, children who contract smallpox usually have to be quarantined at home so as not to transmit the smallpox virus to others
What are the characteristics and symptoms of chickenpox in children?
Characteristics and symptoms of chickenpox in children that you should pay attention to, namely:
- Reddish small bumps that slowly thicken and fill with fluid
- After 1-2 days, the nodules dry out, peel off, and become sores
- A new collection of smallpox will appear after 4-5 days afterwards
- The diameter of the nodule is not more than 0.5 cm
- A reddish rash that appears usually starts from the area around the head and back, then spreads throughout the body after 1-2 days
- Fever. The more pox pimples appear, the higher the fever. However, your child may not experience fever on the first day of smallpox or if the nodule that appears is not too severe.
- The rash is also common in the mouth, eyelids, and genitals
- Your child is in contact with a child with chickenpox 10-21 days in advance
If your child has different symptoms, contact your doctor. Generally the diagnosis of chickenpox in children is fairly easy.
New smallpox spots will appear every day for 4-5 days. Fever that follows smallpox will usually be at the highest level on the third or fourth day. Children will begin to feel better and the fever will decrease after the smallpox nodules slowly disappear. On average, a child will get 400-500 smallpox pimples.
Chicken pox is very disturbing appearance. Your job as a parent is to continue to convince your child that smallpox wounds are only temporary and will quickly disappear. Chicken pox does not leave a permanent scar, unless the chicken pox is infected with impetigo or your child continuously scratches the bump. However, smallpox scars take at least 6-12 months until they are completely gone.
Chicken pox will usually only occur once, and after that your child will develop immunity to the smallpox virus that will last a lifetime. It is very rare for cases of chickenpox to recur at adulthood.
How do you deal with chickenpox in children?
Tips to deal with chickenpox and reduce the itching that you can do at home, including:
1. Soak cold water
Cold water acts as a compress that relieves itching and redness due to smallpox. Ask your child to take cold water for at least 10 minutes every four hours on the first few days of getting chickenpox. Safe soaking is done as a home therapy because smallpox spreads only through air, not water.
To protect smallpox from breaking, do not rub with a towel when drying. Gently pat the body until the water absorbs dry. After bathing, you can apply cold powder (calamine) to relieve itching. Or, compress smallpox pimples with ice cubes. If your child complains of intense itching that interferes with sleep, give over-the-counter antihistamine drugs at the pharmacy.
2. Relieve fever
Give your child acetaminophen for the first few days if he shows symptoms of fever, but don't give ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is feared to cause a risk of severe side effects of strep infection. Don't also give aspirin to toddlers and young children who have contracted chickenpox, due to the side effects of Reye's syndrome.
3. Cold food
Bentpox chicken pox in children can also be found in the mouth and throat. The heat and discomfort caused by a reddish rash will make it difficult for your child to eat. Give a choice of fine and cold foods (ice cream, eggs, pudding, gelatin, mashed potatoes). Avoid giving salty food and sour fruits for a while.
4. For babies affected by smallpox, give them a drink from sippy cup and not from a bottle
The bottle dot will make the pain in the mouth worse. If your child is four years old and above and complains of unbearable pain in the mouth, recommend that he rinse with a spoonful of liquid antacid and do it four times a day after eating.
5. Overcoming sex pain due to chickenpox in children
Pain caused by chickenpox is common in intimate organs and can be very painful for your child. If your child (female, especially) complains of unbearable pain to resist urination, apply local anesthetic in the form of an ointment containing xylocaine 2.5% (usually the drug is sold freely) in her vagina as often as possible, every 2-3 hours, to relieve pain. Soaking cold water will also be very helpful.
6. Prevent children from scratching
To prevent bacterial infections, your child's nail clippers. Don't forget to always wash your hands with antibacterial soap. Do not let your child scratch and scrape pox, especially on the face. For babies who cannot control themselves, you should wrap their hands with baby gloves.
7. Quarantine children at home
Children who contract smallpox can transmit the virus to other children around them, especially in the first few days of being exposed to smallpox. To avoid transmission, rest your child at home for at least a week. Moreover, your child can return to school and undergo daily activities. No need to worry even though peeling still appears on the skin, this process is not contagious and will stop by itself in 2 weeks.
To avoid transmission, do not take your child to a hospital or a pediatrician's office. If absolutely necessary, leave the child temporarily in the car with the caregiver while you wait for the queue. Avoid occupying children who have contracted nearby chickenpox or in a room with pregnant women who have not contracted smallpox in the first trimester. Smallpox virus carries a risk to the fetus it contains.
8. Avoid sun exposure
Smallpox spots can appear in places directly exposed to sunlight.
9. Acyclovir
Acyclovir is an oral antiviral drug used to treat chickenpox. This medication will only help if it is started within 24 hours after the first symptoms of chickenpox appear. According to a number of studies, acyclovir can reduce the number of smallpox nodules by up to 20% and shorten the time of illness. However, the complication rate of chickenpox cannot be reduced. Acyclovir must be used routinely for five consecutive days. This drug is reported to have few side effects.
Children who contract chickenpox but also have immune system deficiencies, take steroids, or have chronic skin or lung disease should be treated with acyclovir. Some doctors will prescribe acyclovir for adults, teens, and young adults. However, most doctors will not use acyclovir in healthy children.
When do I have to see a doctor?
Contact your doctor immediately, if:
- Your child is difficult to wake up from sleep or wakes up in confusion (contact 112)
- Reddish spots on your child's skin, or softened areas of the skin
- Spotted red rashes arise such as scarlet fever (scarlet fever)
- Your child has difficulty walking
- Your child complains of neck stiffness
- Your child has difficulty breathing
- Nausea and vomiting occur more than three times
- Bleeding occurred in smallpox nodules
- Your child looks very pale in pain and fatigue
- Fever lasts more than 4 days
- Itching worsens and does not react to treatment
- Your child doesn't feel better
Contact a doctor within 24 hours, if:
- Spots appear softened and emit pus
- The spleen enlarges (for the time being, give a non-prescription antibiotic ointment until you feel the need for a doctor's visit)
- One of the lymph nodes enlarges and softens
- Your child has chickenpox, but has never received a smallpox vaccine or has smallpox before
- You feel the need to visit a pediatrician
How to prevent chickenpox in children?
Prevention of chickenpox is done by administering smallpox vaccine (immunization). Vaccines can also be given to relieve the severity of chickenpox in children who are infected with chickenpox. Give the vaccine no later than five days after the first contact with the virus. To get a vaccine, contact your pediatrician.
