Control the Spread of the Disease

Treatment: none; antibiotics in some severe cases. A virus causes chickenpox, so the doctor won't prescribe antibiotics. However, antibiotics may be required if the sores become infected by bacteria. This is pretty common among kids because they often scratch and pick at the blisters. The antiviral medicine acyclovir may be prescribed for people with chickenpox who are at risk for complications. The drug, which can make the infection less severe, must be given within the first 24 hours after the rash appears. Acyclovir can have significant side effects, so it is only given when necessary. Your doctor can tell you if the medication is right for your child. •Using cool wet compresses or giving baths in cool or lukewarm water every 3 to 4 hours for the first few days. Oatmeal baths, available at the supermarket or pharmacy, can help to relieve itching. (Baths do not spread chickenpox. ) •Patting (not rubbing) the body dry. •Putting calamine lotion on itchy areas (but don't use it on the face, especially near the eyes). •Giving your child foods that are cold, soft, and bland because chickenpox in the mouth may make drinking or eating difficult. Avoid feeding your child anything highly acidic or especially salty, like orange juice or pretzels. •Asking your doctor or pharmacist about pain-relieving creams to apply to sores in the genital area. •Giving your child acetaminophen regularly to help relieve pain if your child has mouth blisters. •Asking the doctor about using over-the-counter medication for itching. If you didn't as a child, you're at greater risk of a more virulent adult form of the disease that can lead to hepatitis, pneumonia, or heart failure, warns Dragan Djordjevic, MD, a Chicago-based physician at MDVIP, a national concierge health care company. If you did, you're more likely to suffer an outbreak of shingles later in life, a painful illness also caused by varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox. Fortunately, both the common chickenpox vaccine and another one, Zostavax, can protect you against all conditions caused by the virus. Which one you should receive depends on your age and whether you carry antibodies: Get a simple blood test to find out which vaccine is right for you (kOSECKI). b. What role do social and/or cultural influences play in the disease for a particular population? What are the effects of the populations’ beliefs and values have on treatment options? Utilize a minimum of two research sources, with one from UOP Library and the other from rEsource to support your claims. 1. https://kidshealth. org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/chicken_pox. html 2. Kosecki, D. (2008, June). Have You Had Chickenpox?. Prevention, 60(6), 40-40. Retrieved March 11, 2009, from Alt HealthWatch database. Chickenpox causes a red, itchy rash on the skin that usually appears first on the abdomen or back and face, and then spreads to almost everywhere else on the body, including the scalp, mouth, nose, ears, and genitals. The rash begins as multiple small, red bumps that look like pimples or insect bites. They develop into thin-walled blisters filled with clear fluid, which becomes cloudy. The blister wall breaks, leaving open sores, which finally crust over to become dry, brown scabs. Chickenpox blisters are usually less than a quarter of an inch wide, have a reddish base, and appear in bouts over 2 to 4 days. The rash may be more extensive or severe in kids who have skin disorders such as eczema. Some kids have a fever, abdominal pain, sore throat, headache, or a vague sick feeling a day or 2 before the rash appears. These symptoms may last for a few days, and fever stays in the range of 100°–102° Fahrenheit (37. 7°–38. 8° Celsius), though in rare cases may be higher. Younger kids often have milder symptoms and fewer blisters than older children or adults. Typically, chickenpox is a mild illness, but can affect some infants, teens, adults, and people with weak immune systems more severely. Some people can develop serious bacterial infections involving the skin, lungs, bones, joints, and the brain (encephalitis). Even kids with normal immune systems can occasionally develop complications, most commonly a skin infection near the blisters. Anyone who has had chickenpox (or the chickenpox vaccine) as a child is at risk for developing shingles later in life, and up to 20% do. After an infection, VZV can remain inactive in nerve cells near the spinal cord and reactivate later as shingles, which can cause tingling, itching, or pain followed by a rash with red bumps and blisters. Shingles is sometimes treated with antiviral drugs, steroids, and pain medications, and in May 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a vaccine to prevent shingles in people 60 and older.

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