erythema • If a child who is taking steroids or similar drugs or who has unusually low resistance to disease is exposed to chicken pox, call your doctor. • If the pocks become infected (show increasing redness, soreness, and pus), call your doctor. И lymph nodes become red and tender, call your doctor. |f bruises or broken blood vessels appear under the skin ut there has been no injury), see your doctor. Avoid breaking the blisters or disturbing the scabs, since airing can occur.? Chicken pox Chicken pox is caused by a highly contagious virus. The chicken pox virus is transmitted by contact with a person who has the disease or via droplets or airborne particles from such a person. Symptoms may appear within 12 to 21 days after being exposed to a person with chicken pox. One attack of chicken pox makes a person immune for life, unless the attack is extremely mild. A vaccine to prevent chicken pox has recently been developed but is not available for general use. SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS Chicken pox may start with the symptoms of a mild cold, but often a rash is the first sign. The rash worsens for three to four days and then heals in three to four days. The child is contagious from 24 hours before the rash appears until all blisters of the rash have dried. Fever can be low or as high as 105°F; fever is the worst on the third or fourth day after the appearance of the rash. The key symptom of chicken pox is the rash. Each new spot, or pock, resembles an insect bite. Within hours the pock develops a small clear blister in the center, which may be hard to see without good light. Most blisters break and are replaced by a brown scab. The rash usually begins on the trunk and moves outward to the limbs and face. However, the rash may appear anywhere on the skin, including the scalp and the mucous membranes of the mouth, genitals, anus, and eyelids. It becomes quite itchy. The pocks never appear in bunches or groups. New pocks continue to appear for three to four days. The first sign of chicken pox is usually the characteristic itchy rash, which begins as small red spots on the trunk and spreads to the face, scalp, arms, and legs.? Chicken pox HOME CARE Bed rest is not necessary, but your child should be isolated from other people. Cut the child's fingernails to lessen scratching. To reduce the itching, bathe your child in lukewarm water with cornstarch added, or apply calamine lotion (without phenol) to the skin. Give acetaminophen-not aspirin-for fever or pain. PRECAUTIONS • Do not give aspirin to a child with chicken pox. Aspirin use during chicken pox may be a factor causing Reye's syndrome, which is a life threatening illness. • Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) is a rare complication of chicken pox. If high fever, prostration (collapse), headache, vomiting, or convulsions occur, see your doctor immediately. • Chicken pox can be dangerous to newborns. If a young infant is exposed to chicken pox or develops chicken pox, call your doctor. three-day