Chickenpox is what disease? How dangerous is chickenpox during pregnancy?

Chickenpox is a benign disease, patients will not have severe symptoms but are very susceptible to skin infections. However, getting chickenpox during pregnancy is very dangerous. Let's join SignsSymptomsList to answer questions in this article!

Before learning about the dangers of chickenpox during pregnancy, let's learn about this chickenpox with SignsSymptomsList.

Chickenpox is what disease?

Chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by the chickenpox virus, which is called Varicella virus. It is a highly contagious disease that occurs in both children and adults (more common in children).

Chickenpox is transmitted by inhalation by contact, spread through the air from tiny droplets of saliva, or chickenpox can be spread from fluid in the burns. In addition, chickenpox is also spread through objects contaminated with burn fluid, items such as towels, toothbrushes ...

Chickenpox is transmitted in many ways

Chickenpox has 4 stages, symptoms of the disease in each stage are different, specifically as follows:

• Incubation: This stage lasts from 10 to 20 days, this is the period when the patient is infected with the virus and does not have any symptoms, so it is difficult to detect chickenpox in this stage.
• Onset: This is the stage when the patient has symptoms such as headache, fatigue, mild fever... Erythema appears on the skin after 24 - 48 hours, the size is a few millimeters. Some patients may have lymphadenopathy behind the ear and pharyngitis .
• Full onset: Patients will have more severe symptoms such as high fever, muscle aches, headache, nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite... The blisters of about 1-3 millimeters appear to cause itching, burning very much. uncomfortable. Burns appear all over the body even in the mucous membranes such as in the mouth, making it difficult for the patient to eat and live.
• Recovery: After about 7 to 10 days, the blisters will burst on their own and the skin and mucous membranes of the burned area will gradually recover. During this period, the patient pays attention to careful hygiene to avoid infection.

According to epidemiological studies, the incidence of chickenpox is estimated at 0.7 - 3/1000 pregnant women. The incidence is quite low, but there are many complications of chickenpox that pregnant women need to pay special attention to during pregnancy. So how dangerous is chickenpox during pregnancy?

How dangerous is chickenpox during pregnancy?

Having chickenpox during pregnancy, both mother and baby can face dangerous complications to health. In the mother, there may be complications such as infection, pneumonia, nephritis, acute glomerulonephritis ... But in the baby, depending on the gestational age, there are other risks, specifically as follows:

• First 20 weeks of pregnancy: If chickenpox develops during this period, especially between weeks 8 and 20, your baby may have a rare birth defect called varicella syndrome. When a baby has this syndrome, there may be scarring of the skin, abnormalities of the brain, eyes, limbs, digestive tract, epilepsy , mental retardation, etc. This syndrome becomes rare after the week. 20.
• Last month or days before birth: During this period, a baby can be born with an infection called neonatal varicella, which is life-threatening. If the baby has a rash within 5 - 10 days after birth, pregnant women need special attention because there is a risk of death.

Having chickenpox during pregnancy is dangerously dangerous

Prevention and treatment of chickenpox in pregnant women

Prevention of chickenpox

Chickenpox causes many dangerous complications for the health of mother and baby, so preventive measures need to be applied. Pregnant women refer to the following ways to prevent disease:

• Vaccination is the most effective and long-lasting way to prevent disease. Women should be vaccinated from an early age or at least 3 months before becoming pregnant. The specific vaccination schedule for chickenpox vaccine is as follows: 1st dose - when over 1 year old, 2nd dose at least 3 months after the first dose.
• Avoid contact with people who have chickenpox or who are at high risk of getting it because chickenpox is highly contagious. If you are unfortunate enough to come into contact with an infected person, you should immediately seek medical advice and support.
• Sanitize your body and surroundings.

Vaccination helps prevent chickenpox

Treatment of chickenpox in pregnant women

If you have chickenpox during pregnancy and your body is not immune to the disease, go to the hospital to be examined. Specialists may recommend injections of immunoglobulin containing antiviral antibodies, maintaining the injection for about 10 days after immunoglobulin exposure may reduce the risk of disease or reduce the severity of the disease.

If a pregnant woman is sick at birth, the baby may need to be treated with immunoglobulin from birth to prevent chickenpox in the baby. If your child has chickenpox, he or she may need antiviral medication.

In addition, pregnant women when sick need to rest in bed, eat well and supplement with vitamin C to improve the body's resistance. Clean the body so that the surface of the skin is dry to avoid broken burns, which causes more spread. You can combine additional topical medications, but consult your doctor before choosing a certain topical medication.

Having chickenpox during pregnancy is very dangerous, this disease greatly affects the health of both pregnant mother and baby. Therefore, families need to pay special attention to measures to prevent and prevent this disease. Follow SignsSymptomsList to read more useful health articles!