Did you know that since public funded vaccine programs started
in Canada,
the annual cases, hospitalizations, and deaths of chickenpox have been
reduced by over 90%?
In today's video we'll be talking about chickenpox and
the importance of vaccination.
The first part of the video will be targeted for
adults, but you can skip to 5 minutes and 8
seconds for a kid-friendly explanation of chickenpox.
We hope you enjoy!
Chickenpox in a highly contagious disease,
caused by a virus called
"varicella-zoster." The virus spreads
mainly through close contact with someone who has chickenpox.
At first, chickenpox may
start out like a cold;
your child might have a runny or stuffy nose,
sneezing and a cough. One to two days later, a
rash may appear in bunches of spots on your child's chest,
back, and face. From there,
it can spread quickly over the surface area of their body.
Other symptoms that may appear before the rash are fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, and headache.
The chickenpox blisters are small and sit on an
area of red skin that can be anywhere from the size
of a dime to a quarter.
At first,
the rash looks like a pink dot,
but it can rapidly develop into a small blister. After
about one to two days, the fluid
in the blisters gets cloudy and eventually it turns into
a scab.
The diagnosis of chickenpox is typically made after a visual
observation by a doctor,
a combination of the visible rash,
as well as a patient history of exposure, should be enough.
If further testing is needed,
there are a variety of laboratory tests that can be done.
Blood test will check for antibodies against the virus, and
tests using specimen samples will test for the virus itself.
Of the different diagnostic tests,
PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, is the fastest and most sensitive
test that can be done to confirm a diagnosis.
It uses a sample of fluid from the blisters to test
for varicella zoster DNA.
So you might be wondering: if chickenpox is so contagious,
how can you protect yourself?
If you or someone you know has chickenpox,
make sure to stop all physical contact until all blisters
have popped and are crusted over.
If your child has chickenpox,
you should inform their school of a possible chickenpox exposure.
You can expect them to miss five to six days
of school until they are no longer contagious and can
safely return to normal activities.
Vaccines are currently the best preventative measure available for you
and your family.
It is recommended that each person receives 2 doses of
the chickenpox vaccine,
a different time periods,
depending on your age.
There are different versions of the chickenpox vaccines.
The two most common are the varicella vaccine and MMRV vaccine, a vaccine
that contains protection against measles, mumps,
rubella, and varicella.
In order for the vaccine to work,
it must contain the live version of the virus.
But one may I ask, if the vaccine contains the
same thing that causes chickenpox, won't
I become infected?
Well, yes and no.
The purpose of the vaccine is to teach your body
how to recognize the virus.
The key thing to understand is that the live version
of the virus has been weakened.
This means that it will have enough of an effect
to create antibodies,
but the effect won't be strong enough to make you sick.
Once vaccinated, if the real virus enters your body,
your immune system will be able to fight it off
quickly with the antibodies.
it has already made.
However,
nothing is a hundred percent.
Is estimated that 20% of vaccinated individuals will still be
infected with the virus if exposed, but will have a
much milder reaction,
meaning less lesions,
reduced fever, and reduced risk of complications.
But, chickenpox is not just a kid disease, and as a parent,
you need to protect yourself and those around you.
If you have never been vaccinated for chickenpox or have
never been diagnosed,
you are still at risk for contracting
the disease.
What's worse is that as an adult,
you are 25 times more likely to have complications.
Now,
there are certain things you can do at home
if you or your child have chickenpox.
To help soothe the need to scratch,
you can use calamine lotion and take a cool bath
with baking soda and oatmeal.
But you should immediately consult a doctor if your child
is younger than one or older than twelve and if
they haven't been vaccinated, have a weakened immune system,
develop a severe cough or fever for more than 4 days, or have a
fever higher than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
For more information,
you can visit the link in the description.
And in cases such as these,
a physician may prescribe some antiviral medications.
When treating fevers for chickenpox in children,
avoid using aspirin or aspirin-containing medication because it may
put the child at risk
for developing Reye's disease,
which can affect the brain and liver and can lead to death.
Some other complications that can arise from chickenpox
are bacterial infections of the skin and soft-tissue in children,
pneumonia, infection or swelling of the brain, bleeding problems,
bloodstream infections, and dehydration.
If you have questions or concerns,
please call your doctor.
This video is for educational purposes
only and is not meant to substitute professional help.
Wondering how to explain the chickenpox to
your kids? Our friends
Jimmy and Jamie would be happy to help with this
week's episode of connect the dots on chickenpox.
[Jamie]: Hey, Jimmy,
where have you been?
[Jimmy]: Hi Jamie! Oh man, I wish I could have been here last week,
but I have to stay home because of the chickenpox.
[Jamie]: The chicken's box?
Do you have a pet chicken? Does it, does it lay eggs?
[Jimmy]: No, no, the chickenpox!
It's a type of infection that you can get when a
germ gets inside your body and makes you sick.
I got it from my sister who got it from
her teammate because it spreads quickly from person to person.
[Jamie]: Does that mean I'm going to get sick?
[Jimmy]: No, that's why I've been away from school,
I was getting better.
The doctor says I'm okay now.
[Jamie]: Oh ok, well that's good. But how come you were away for so long? It felt like forever!
[Jimmy]: It was only a week!
Well you see, first I had to go see the doctor
so they could tell it was the chickenpox...
The doctor asked me a lot of questions about
how I was feeling
and the people I was around.
I wasn't feeling too great,
and I had all these itchy spots on my back.
Based on this, the doctor told my parents that I have chickenpox.
[Jamie]: Okay, well couldn't the doctor give you some medicine
to make it go away so you could come back to school?
[Jimmy]: Well. they did, but that's not enough to make it go away right away.
You see, next came the worst part of the chickenpox...
I just kept getting more and more of these itchy spots.
And I had to stop myself from scratching them
because if I kept scratching,
I can make it worse!
My mom even cut my nails so short
so I would stop scratching. And she put a lot
of lotion on to try and make me feel better.
And I had to stay home all this time because
I didn't want to make anybody else sick.
[Jamie]: You didn't leave your house at all?
[Jimmy]: Nope.
Thankfully it didn't last too long and I didn't get very sick
and that's because the doctor gave me some medicine to
fight against the chickenpox when I was a baby.
It's called a vaccine.
It's a medicine that comes in a needle and helps
our body fight the bad guy.
It also teaches our bodies to remember them.
[Jamie]: Woah, that's cool!
So basically our bodies memorize how to attack and win?
[Jimmy]: Yeah! [Jamie]: Cool.
Well since you're back,
are you up for a soccer match? [Jimmy]: You're on!
We hope you learnt something about chickenpox.
See how much you learnt by trying to connect these
dots on the chickenpox.
Great job! We'll see you next time!