Can I still get infected from my child who had chickenpox a week back?

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

My child had an outbreak of chickenpox one week ago. I would like to visit her and would like to know. Can I still get infected? If yes, would a vaccine help 2 days before meeting her? I have attached my height, weight and BMI details.

Answered by Dr. Muhammad M. Hanif Md.

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

First of all, I want to tell you that based on the weight for your age and height, you are very severely underweight and the ideal weight you should have in my view is 68 kg to keep a good balance in life and keep your immunity up.

With this BMI of 10.20, you are very susceptible to any kind of infection that normal BMI persons of your age are naturally immune to. So, have a good balanced healthy diet and keep your BMI in normal limits. If you will need any kind of help in this regard, feel free to contact me anytime.

Let me explain you a little about chickenpox viral disease:

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It can spread easily. You can get it from your infected child who sneezes, coughs or shares food or drinks with you. You can also get it if you touch the fluid from a chickenpox blister on the body of your child.

Actually, a person who has chickenpox can spread the virus even before he or she has any symptoms. Chickenpox is most easily spread from 2 to 3 days before the rash appears until all the blisters have crusted over. So, if you have to touch the child, do it with gloves on. This is needed until all the blisters are crusted over.

You are at the risk for chickenpox if you have never had the illness and if you have not had the chickenpox vaccine.

Now I want to add some knowledge about the disease course and how will it progress in your child's case:

After a chickenpox red spot appears, it usually takes about 1 or 2 days for the spot to go through all its stages. This includes blistering, bursting, drying, and crusting over. New red spots will appear every day for up to 5 to 7 days.

It usually takes about 10 days after the first symptoms before all blisters have crusted over. This is when your child with chickenpox can return to daycare or school.

Treatment plan:

Get vaccinated for chickenpox if you had not had this vaccine when you were a child or if you had not got the disease when you were a child.

Preventive measures:

I usually recommend to get a chickenpox vaccination, for a healthy person who is not sure if he has had the vaccine or chickenpox at childhood.
Get your child properly treated as chickenpox may lead to severe complications like pneumonia and encephalitis.

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