What Is Chicken Pox?

Chicken pox is a very common disease especially in the tropics. More often, it is associated with extreme heat, especially during summer. However, apart from other skin diseases caused by hot climate, chicken pox is far more contagious and this makes the disease more alarming.

Here are more chicken pox disease facts:

• Chicken pox is brought about by infection from the Varicella zoster virus.
• Initially it appears on the head and then goes down to one’s body.
• It starts with skin rashes that later become pockmarks and small open sores.
• The disease has an incubation period of up to 21 days.
• Spreading is through soughing, sneezing, or through direct contact with the secretions from the rashes. In some instances, being proximate to a person with chicken pox may be enough for the person to acquire the disease.
• Once a person has become infected, there is usually a lifelong immunity from it. However, recent cases suggest that some individuals reacquire the disease long after their first infection.
• By nature, chicken pox is not fatal. However, the disease is more severe in adults than in children, and more so with pregnant women. On the other hand, individuals with a very weak immune system are likewise very prone to the disease and the ones most likely to suffer the most.