Almost every person encounters such a childhood infection as chickenpox in his life. Often this disease is diagnosed over the age of two years, but sometimes chickenpox occurs in infants.
Is this infectious disease dangerous for children under one year old, do newborn children get chickenpox and what should parents do if the baby has chickenpox at such an early age?
Can a baby get chickenpox?
If the mother had chickenpox before pregnancy, for the first 6 months the baby is protected from the causative agent of this infection thanks to the antibodies received from the mother during gestation and during breastfeeding.
Infection of an infant with the Varicella Zoster virus, which causes chickenpox in humans, is possible in the following ways:
- Intrauterine from a mother who did not have chickenpox before pregnancy and contracted the virus during gestation. It is especially dangerous if infection occurs in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, since the Varicella Zoster virus in this case provokes the development of serious pathologies in the fetus. When the pathogen gets to the baby in the last days of pregnancy (5 days before delivery), it becomes the cause of congenital chickenpox. If the infection occurs later than 12 weeks, and the woman's illness begins earlier than a week before childbirth, the baby manages to get enough antibodies from the sick mother, so chickenpox may not appear in any way.
- Airborne droplets from a child or adult with chickenpox. Typically, such an infection occurs at the age of over 6 months, when the protection by maternal antibodies disappears, and the baby becomes susceptible to the Varicella Zoster virus. If he is in the same room with a chickenpox patient, for example, if the infection is detected in an older brother or a sister attending a kindergarten, then the risk of infection is very high.
It is known that the incubation period for chickenpox is on average 10-21 days. Moreover, most often in children from 6 months to a year, this period, during which the virus develops in the body of the crumbs and does not manifest itself in any way, is shortened to 7 days.
Symptoms
The first symptoms of chickenpox in infants are poor appetite and sleep, restless behavior, weakness. Soon, the baby's body temperature rises (sometimes only up to 37-38 degrees, but many toddlers have a higher temperature) and a rash develops. The rash appears first on the trunk, then on the head and on the limbs.
The elements of the rash gradually change shape - at first they look like spots, then they become like mosquito bites (papules) and very quickly transform into bubbles filled with a transparent liquid. Soon, these bubbles dry up, and crusts appear on their surface.
While some of the bubbles have dried up, new specks appear next to the clean skin, which also turn into vesicles. If you don't comb this rash, the crusts will fall off within a few weeks without leaving any marks.
How infants tolerate chickenpox
The course of chickenpox at the age of one year is both mild and severe. If the baby transfers the infection easily, his general condition changes slightly, and the rash is represented only by isolated elements. However, due to immature immunity in babies under one year old, severe forms of chickenpox are not uncommon.
In newborns who become infected from their mother just before childbirth, the disease is also very difficult. In this case, the baby has a very high temperature, a lot of bubbles and complications are possible (encephalitis, pneumonia, hepatitis, and others).
How to treat chickenpox before the age of one year
- If the disease is mild, it is treated in infancy only symptomatically and at home. A severe course requires hospitalization and the appointment of antiviral drugs.
- Infants are given paracetamol or ibuprofen to lower their fever. specifying the dosage with a pediatrician.
- For bubble treatment you can use brilliant green, Calamine lotion or Zindol suspension based on zinc oxide. With severe itching, Fenistil gel can be applied to the skin of an infant older than a month.
- If bubbles appear in the baby's mouth, genitals or other mucous membranes, they can be washed with herbal infusion (for example, chamomile) or furacillin solution. The wounds formed on the mucous membranes can be treated with sea buckthorn oil, and if they greatly bother the baby, then lubricate with one of the anesthetic gels used for teething.
- It is important to prevent scratching of the vesicles, therefore, babies with chickenpox are put on mittens, and if the itching is very pronounced, they turn to the doctor for the selection of an antihistamine.
- It is not forbidden to bathe a baby with chickenpox, as hygiene procedures help to reduce itching. However, the bath is not recommended during high temperatures. If the well-being of the little one has returned to normal, there is no need to avoid bathing. However, during water procedures, you should follow some recommendations - do not overheat the water, do not use detergents and a washcloth, do not rub after bathing with a towel.
- If the course of chickenpox in infants is severe, the doctor prescribes antiviral drugs, for example, Acyclovir is a drug that affects the Varicella Zoster virus, blocking its reproduction in the child's body. In very severe cases, such a medicine is administered to the baby intravenously, and is also applied to the vesicles in the form of an ointment.
- In the case when the mother gets sick with chickenpox five days before delivery or later, the newborn is given immunoglobulin immediately after birth to help kill the Varicella Zoster virus. Also, such babies must be injected with Acyclovir.
Prevention
If the expectant mother has never had chickenpox and is thinking about how to protect herself from chickenpox during gestation, and the baby in her tummy, vaccination would be the best option. It is recommended to vaccinate against chickenpox at least 3 months before the planned pregnancy. And since the chickenpox vaccine in adulthood is administered twice with an interval of 6-10 weeks, then you should contact the polyclinic for vaccination even earlier.
Children over six months old can be protected from infection from the older child in the family by isolating the sick baby during the period of greatest infectiousness and frequent wet cleaning in the apartment (the virus is very unstable outside the human body).
But, since a child with chickenpox becomes contagious when there are no clinical manifestations of the disease yet (on the last day of the incubation period), it will not work to fully protect the baby from chickenpox in a situation where the older child “brought” it from kindergarten or school. ...
