How to protect your child from chickenpox in the garden. Ways to avoid contracting chickenpox from third parties. Emergency prevention for pregnant women

The Varicella zoster virus belongs to the herpes group. After the first “acquaintance” with him, a person falls ill chicken pox. For most, chickenpox goes away without leaving a trace. After proper treatment acquires a strong immunity to it. However, having settled in the body, Varicella zoster remains in the cells forever. The virus will “sleep”. And one day he may be reminded of himself by another disease - herpes zoster. In addition, people with poor health sometimes develop a complicated form of chickenpox, accompanied by myocarditis, encephalitis, lymphadenitis, etc. Pregnant women and newborns are also at increased risk.

The only specific method of preventing chickenpox is vaccination. In Russia, the first samples of the vaccine appeared in 2008–2010. Two drugs are approved for mass use: the Belgian Varilrix and the Japanese Okavax. Both vaccines are “live”, i.e. contain a weakened virus. After its administration, the body begins increased production antibodies that remain active for several years.

The chickenpox vaccine is not included in the National Vaccination Schedule. But it is often recommended for emergency prevention. For example, a mother who has not had chickenpox who is caring for a child, or teachers during a school epidemic, etc. should consider vaccination.

A doctor must give permission for vaccination. Like anyone else medicinal product, the chickenpox vaccine has and side effects. It should not be administered to children under 12 months of age, to people with allergies, to pregnant women, or to people with acute chronic disease or who have had a blood transfusion. Vaccination will have to be postponed in case of a runny nose, sore throat, flu and other acute infections with fever.

Other methods of preventing chickenpox boil down to stopping or at least reducing contact with the patient. A significant drawback of this method is that a person becomes contagious a day before the appearance of the first external signs. The nimble virus quietly puts entire families, school classes and kindergarten groups to bed at once.

Educational institutions are closed for quarantine when a certain morbidity threshold is exceeded. At home, the patient needs to be allocated a separate room, where other family members will have limited access. If the apartment area is small, Special attention paid to wet cleaning and ventilation.

Healthy relatives must scrupulously observe the rules of personal hygiene: wash their hands with soap, do not use the patient’s towel or utensils, wash his bed linen and clothes separately, etc. Traditional barrier methods of protection should not be neglected. Ordinary medical ones are sold in every pharmacy. You need to wear it when communicating with a patient, because... The chickenpox virus is transmitted from person to person by airborne droplets.

For preventive purposes, antiviral and immunomodulatory drugs are sometimes taken. But the cure for chickenpox is quite low, and harm to the body can be caused if the dosage is incorrect. Therefore, you cannot use them without a doctor’s recommendation.

Chicken pox is one of the most common infectious diseases and is an extremely contagious disease - it is no coincidence that when cases of the disease are discovered, quarantine is declared in kindergartens. It is easy to become infected with chickenpox: the virus that causes this disease is volatile and is transmitted by airborne droplets. physical contacts, when using common objects.

The best way Protecting yourself from infection means not contacting infected people. However, this is not always possible. For infection, sometimes it is enough just to be in the same room with a sick person; in addition, for some time after infection there are no symptoms of the disease, but the patient still poses a danger to others. For whom contacts with infected people are dangerous, how to prevent infection and how long before you can contact someone with chickenpox - you will find answers to these and other questions in our material.

For whom is contact with infected people dangerous?

It is widely known that chicken pox is one of the diseases that can only be contracted once in a lifetime. After the first episode of the disease, which usually occurs early childhood, the human body produces antibodies that effectively protect us from future infection. Even if the virus enters the body of a person who has had chickenpox or was vaccinated against it more than three months ago, the immune system destroys the virus and no unpleasant symptoms does not arise.

However, this idea of ​​​​chickenpox is only partly true. Antibodies to this disease actually remain in the body for life, but there are conditions under which re-infection is possible. In this case, the disease is usually more severe and can cause serious complications. Re-infection is usually associated with a significant and persistent decrease in immunity - for example, as a result of infection with HIV/AIDS or due to the use of immunosuppressive drugs.

Contact with someone infected with chickenpox is most dangerous for:

• Persons who have not previously had this disease and have not been vaccinated against it;
• Newborns;
• Children preschool age;
• Old people;
• Pregnant and lactating women;
• Persons with a weakened immune system as a result of serious injury, surgery, chemotherapy, taking immunosuppressants and other drugs that suppress the immune system;
• Patients with HIV/AIDS.
• Cancer patients.

Actions after contact with a sick person

If you belong to one of the risk groups and know that you have had contact with an infected person in the recent past, you are advised to immediately consult a doctor for testing. preventive treatment. Preventive treatment consists of introducing into the body a serum containing a large number of immunoglobulins - antibodies that suppress the activity of the virus and prevent further development diseases. The serum is administered by injection.

Preventative treatment is most effective if given within seven to ten days of exposure. Clinical studies have shown that the administration of serum can completely prevent infection in approximately 40% of patients. The remaining patients who received the serum still experience an episode of clinically significant chickenpox, but the disease in this case is much milder, with fewer unpleasant symptoms. The administration of serum also significantly reduces the risk of developing complications, which pose the greatest danger with chickenpox.

What to do if a pregnant woman or child has had contact with someone with chickenpox?

Prophylactic treatment is recommended but not mandatory in healthy adult patients. Pregnant women, people with a persistent decrease in immunity, as well as children under the age of one year must undergo prophylaxis without fail, since it is they who most often develop health- and even life-threatening complications of chickenpox. This disease is considered mild and not too dangerous, but it can cause inflammation of the deep layers of the skin, damage to bones, joints, brain, lungs and other organs and tissues. If complications develop, patients may also require treatment with antibiotics, antiviral drugs and other therapy.

How long should you not contact someone with chickenpox?

A person infected with the chickenpox virus becomes contagious about one to two days before the first rash appears on their body. The contagiousness (infectiousness) of the disease persists for five to six days after the appearance of the last eruptive elements. In other words, the patient ceases to pose a danger to healthy people at a time when the formation of new vesicles (bubbles) stops, and the old, existing bubbles open and are covered with a brown hemorrhagic crust.

Chickenpox is an unpleasant disease that every person faces. According to doctors, it is better to get over it in childhood. Firstly, the pathology is easier to tolerate, and secondly, the risk of complications is minimal. This often happens; many people encounter the disease in childhood. If the person has not been sick, you need to know how to prevent chickenpox in adults after contact with a sick person.

The pathology is unpleasant, it is accompanied by a lot of negative manifestations. Moreover, there is a risk reinfection. To prevent infection, adults should follow several recommendations. What to do if you didn’t have chickenpox in childhood, but your baby became infected in kindergarten or school, how can you protect yourself from dangerous complications?

Severe chickenpox

Every parent, especially if they did not have chickenpox in childhood, when their baby becomes infected, begins to panic and look for ways to prevent infection - this is quite logical and even correct.

Children, unlike mothers and fathers, easily tolerate the disease. Pathology in adults is characterized by a severe and long-term course, as well as the possibility of a whole list of complications. To prevent this and maintain health, every person should know how to prevent chickenpox in adults after contact with a patient.

The disease in a mother or father who has not had chickenpox will be more severe. The patient may experience the following symptoms:

• increase in body temperature up to 40°;
• malaise;
• severe headache;
• rashes, skin itching;
• dyspeptic disorders;
• rapid fatigue;
• chronic fatigue;
• irritability;
• sleep disorder

In order not to encounter manifestations of smallpox, you need to know how to avoid getting chickenpox as an adult if there is a sick person in the house.

After illness, the immune system develops a strong defense against the virus; re-infection is extremely rare.

There is still a chance that an adult will get chickenpox a second time after contact with a patient. Re-infection is provoked by:

• presence of HIV;
• carrying out radiation or chemotherapy;
• use of corticosteroid hormones.

What to do and how to avoid becoming infected with chickenpox as an adult if there has been contact with an infected person, it is necessary to find out from the relevant specialist specifically as soon as possible. Firstly, doctors advise minimizing contact with the patient, and secondly, following all the recommendations of the treating doctor.

Immunity does not work properly - there is a risk of re-infection

The likelihood of an adult contracting chickenpox from a child if the parent was sick in childhood is extremely low, but it still exists. A special group includes people suffering from a decrease in the body’s protective properties and those whose immune system for certain reasons (AIDS, autoimmune diseases, passing radiation therapy) is not working correctly.

Therefore, if there is a child with chickenpox at home and it was not possible to minimize contact with him, it is unlikely that he will be able to avoid getting sick. With repeated infection, herpes zoster or lichen develops. This disease is very serious, it is accompanied by the appearance of rashes (along the nerves), deterioration general condition. The pathology may become chronic.

However, in normal health, without any severe pathologies, re-infection does not occur.

Everyone should know this

As an adult, you can protect yourself from chickenpox. You must follow the doctor's recommendations and do everything preventive measures that help prevent the spread of the virus.

The use of a special vaccine against the smallpox pathogen is the main working method of preventing chickenpox in both adults and children. The use of the vaccine will help in preventing infection, and in case of re-infection, in muffling symptoms and preventing the development of complications.

Therefore, in order to prevent an adult from getting chickenpox after contact with a sick child, doctors advise getting vaccinated. But since it begins to act after three days, it is recommended to carry it out in advance, especially if there is high risk the occurrence of pathology in the baby.

Another way to prevent chickenpox in an adult is to minimize contact with an infected person. Patient care is delegated to relatives who have already suffered from the disease.

Preventive measures

It is possible for an adult to protect himself from chickenpox, but to do this, you must follow the recommendations of doctors.

1. Minimize contact with the infected. It is better to give him a separate room.
2. Carry out wet cleaning and ventilation of the room.
3. Walk around the house wearing gauze bandages.
4. Exclude joint use with infected personal hygiene items and utensils.
5. Treat toys and things that are used by the baby with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate.

Also, to avoid catching chickenpox from a child, an adult should:

• increase the body's protective properties: take healthy food, fruits, vegetables, take vitamins;
• give up bad habits– smoking, drinking alcohol (they have a detrimental effect on immune system, reduce the protective properties of the body);
• play sports, lead an active lifestyle.

However, if you were not sick in childhood, then in most cases, preventing chickenpox in adults after contact with a sick person will not help positive result and infection will still occur.

Drug prevention – is it possible?

There is no medication that can 100% eliminate the risk of infection. To protect yourself from chickenpox, adults who come into contact with a sick person can be vaccinated in the first 96 hours after communicating with an infected person. In more than 90% of cases this will prevent the disease, in the remaining 10% it will prevent severe forms infections.

Of course, it is permissible to take medications that have antiviral properties for prevention. But this method is not reliable. The risk of getting sick, even when a person takes medication, remains high.

The main measure to prevent the spread of the virus is quarantine. If a child is sick, in order not to get chickenpox, he should be completely isolated from those who have not been sick. However, it is very difficult to keep the entire family safe, especially if everyone lives in the same house. In this case, doctors advise taking medications with antiviral effects. They do not provide a 100% guarantee that infection will not occur, but they still help in reducing the likelihood of infection, as well as increasing the body’s protective properties. To avoid contracting chickenpox through contact with a sick child, experts recommend using: Viferon, Cyclofen, Acyclovir.

However, the best way to protect yourself is to use a vaccine. Modern means are able to provide excellent protection of the body from the virus for a long period - ten to thirty years. This depends on the composition used.

How to prevent the development of smallpox during pregnancy

Cases where a baby gets sick when a mother is pregnant with her second baby are quite common. If a child gets chickenpox, but the mother did not get sick and is carrying a second child, doctors recommend eliminating contact with the little patient. If you continue contact with the patient, there is a risk not only of the mother getting sick, but also of abnormal development of the fetus.

Therefore, to prevent an adult from becoming infected with chickenpox from a child, he should entrust the care of the baby to family members who have already had chickenpox.

But even isolation is far from the best way to prevent pathology. Chickenpox is a disease with a long latent period, and the virus itself is very active. A pregnant woman may not even suspect that her baby is sick, which means she may become infected.

A mother can become infected with chickenpox from her child even before symptoms of the disease appear. To prevent this, doctors strongly advise getting vaccinated before planning a pregnancy.

How to understand that an infection has occurred?

The disease has its own characteristic features: skin rashes, severe itching, increased temperature. The appearance of alarming symptoms indicates that it is too late to vaccinate if the child of a mother who has not had chickenpox is sick. It is already necessary to use means to treat the disease.

Chicken pox is an unpleasant pathology characterized by a long course and sometimes the development of serious complications. The best way to prevent chickenpox in adults after contact with a sick person is to go to a medical facility and get vaccinated.

Chickenpox is one of the most common childhood infections. Many mothers are horrified by this disease; they search the Internet for information about the likelihood of infection, trying in every way to protect their child from the disease. Other parents view chickenpox differently, wanting the baby to get over it as soon as possible, because in childhood the disease is much easier to tolerate than in adults. Is it worth protecting against the chickenpox virus and how to treat the disease?

Chickenpox: get sick and forget?

Chickenpox in children who do not have any health problems occurs without serious consequences and is much milder than in adults. In adulthood, a person’s temperature rises sharply, there is pain in the muscles, and the body is covered with a profuse rash. The disease can lead to complications (encephalitis, meningitis, pneumonia, renal failure, damage to the optic nerves).

It is especially dangerous for a pregnant woman to become infected with chickenpox. A child may be born with serious pathologies.

In children, the temperature rarely rises above 38 degrees (sometimes it does not rise at all). The rash is not so obvious general health good.

The above allows us to conclude that it is better to experience chickenpox in childhood. This way you can continue to live full life without fear of getting infected and harming your health.

When is chickenpox prevention needed?

After a patient has had chickenpox, the virus remains in his body in an inactive form. It is almost impossible to get chickenpox again, but there is a risk of the virus becoming more active when the immune system is weakened, which can trigger the occurrence of shingles. This disease is a serious illness in which severe painful sensations and the appearance of a rash along the nerves.

Prevention of chickenpox is required when a child in the house is sick, but other family members have not previously had it. Newborns have a hard time suffering from the disease. For this reason, it is important to protect pregnant women from this disease during pregnancy. later, since the virus in most cases is transmitted to the baby.

Chickenpox is deadly for children with immunodeficiency and oncology. Due to weakness protective forces in their body, the virus can cause serious complications and even lead to fatal outcome. Children with impaired immunity should be protected as much as possible from chickenpox infection.

As a result of the above, it becomes clear that in some cases mandatory protection against chickenpox is required. If you know and follow certain rules, infection can be avoided.

How to avoid getting infected from a sick person?

The main measure that will protect against chickenpox infection is quarantine. The patient, as a source of infection, should be isolated from people who have not previously had the disease, and contact of the virus carrier with them should be excluded.

Basic principles of quarantine:

• placement of the patient in a separate room, where members of his family will not enter;
• use by patients separate funds personal hygiene and utensils;
• wearing gauze bandages by healthy family members;
• separate washing of clothes and bedding of a virus carrier;
• use of a quartz lamp in the patient’s room (strictly according to the instructions).

Taking antiviral drugs

People who are in contact with someone who has chickenpox are not easy to protect. In addition to quarantine, they can help antiviral drugs. With their help, the risk of infection will be reduced and the immune system will become stronger.

Viferon, Acyclovir, Arbidol or Cycloferon are usually prescribed. If infection does occur, with the help of these drugs the disease will be milder, there will be fewer rashes, and the likelihood of complications will decrease. Usually in combination with antiviral agents Vitamin C is also prescribed.

Vaccination against chickenpox

The chickenpox vaccine is not included in the Russian vaccination calendar. However, some countries (Greece, Germany and others) have included it in the compulsory vaccination calendar.

Russians, if they wish, have the opportunity to get vaccinated in private centers. This method of preventing chickenpox is the main one, but it is not suitable for everyone. This vaccination is not recommended for people with blood problems and cancer patients. Vaccination is contraindicated during pregnancy and acute illness.

In the Russian Federation, two types of vaccinations are given against chickenpox:

• Varilrix (Belgian production);
• Okavax (made in Japan).

Both vaccines contain the chickenpox virus in a weakened form. They are produced in the form of granules, which are accompanied by a special solvent. The vaccine is injected into the shoulder area under the skin.

Children over one year old are allowed to be vaccinated. At the age of 1 to 12 years, a single vaccination is given. After 12 years, two-time vaccination is required with a break of 6 to 10 weeks.

The vaccine is generally well tolerated by both children and adults. However, the injection site may become red and slightly sore. Rise in temperature and general weakness are not observed.

What to do if infection occurs?

If a child has been in contact with someone with chickenpox, the likelihood of infection is quite high. If you notice symptoms of chickenpox in yourself or your child, you should call a doctor at home. You should not go to the hospital, because many people will come into contact with you and may become infected. However, a doctor's examination is necessary, since the patient's parents may even confuse chickenpox with dermatitis.

Bed rest is important. The main goal of treatment for chickenpox is to relieve the symptoms of the disease and prevent complications.

The doctor will prescribe antiviral drugs. It is also possible to prescribe a diet for the child. Hot, spicy, fatty, smoked, sour, salty foods, as well as products that can cause allergic reaction. The diet should contain a lot of dairy products, cereals, soups, natural juices, fresh vegetables, fruits and berries. It is better to steam meat and fish of low-fat varieties. This way they will bring maximum benefit.

They also help maintain immunity and overall body resistance. folk remedies. It is recommended to give the child an infusion of rose hips, lilac flowers or wheatgrass leaves.

A sick child needs to change his linen and bedding daily. All fabrics that his body touches must be natural.

To treat skin rashes, it is recommended to use a solution of manganese, special pharmaceutical gels or brilliant green. It is important to explain to the child that itchy rashes should not be scratched, as this may lead to infection, which will significantly prolong treatment.

The child should not be covered with a warm blanket, as the amount of rash increases with sweating. To reduce itching, it is recommended to use antihistamines(Diazolin, Suprastin). If the body temperature rises above 38 degrees, use Ibuprofen or Paracetamol.

Children attending kindergarten or school, are at home (in exceptional cases - in a hospital) for 21 days. Only after this can they return to the team.

Chicken pox - acute infection, which can infect both children and adults. In childhood it occurs easily, in adults it is more severe and with great risk development of complications. What can you do to avoid getting chickenpox?

Briefly about the disease

Chickenpox is an infection caused by a virus from the herpetic group. It is characterized by very high contagiousness. The virus is stable in the external environment, sensitive to heat and ultraviolet irradiation. Despite its high contagiousness, chickenpox epidemics do not occur. Most often, the disease develops in the autumn and winter months.

Routes of transmission of the virus

The infection is transmitted by airborne droplets and airborne dust. The microorganism can spread over very long distances. This is where the disease gets its name - as if it is carried by the wind.

The chickenpox pathogen is released from an infected person by coughing and sneezing, even during simple communication. Isolation of the virus begins to occur as early as incubation period, so a person can infect a large number of people without even knowing about his illness.

There is also a contact route of transmission, since the pathogen is found inside the vesicles of the rash. If a pregnant woman is infected, the disease can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta.

How long is a person contagious?

Humans spread the chickenpox virus over a long period of time. The infectious period is counted from the time the pathogen enters the body:

• the incubation period lasts from 3 to 21 days;
• the average duration of the rash period is 3-5 days;
• The pathogen continues to spread for five days after the last rash appears.

A person is contagious from 11 to 31 days of illness.

Risk of re-infection

After the illness, a strong and lasting immunity to the chickenpox virus remains. It is almost impossible to get chickenpox again. Exceptional cases are observed with a pronounced decrease in the body's immune defense.

But the chickenpox virus, like all herpes viruses, is not completely destroyed, but remains in the body. It settles in the nerve ganglia, and if conditions are favorable for it, it becomes active again. These conditions are:

• immunodeficiency;
• severe somatic pathology;
• use of cytostatics;
• irradiation.

Reactivation of the chickenpox virus occurs like shingles. With this disease, a blistering rash appears along the nerve fibers, accompanied by severe pain.

Prevention in children and adults

Preventive measures for children and adults are practically the same. The person who has not yet had chickenpox needs to be protected. Measures to prevent chickenpox are divided into specific and nonspecific.

Specific measures include the use of a vaccine. It appeared relatively recently. There are two types of vaccines used in Russia:

• Okavax;
• Varilrix.

After vaccination, a person develops lasting immunity. Vaccination is especially indicated for children with weakened immune systems and pregnant women to prevent the development of complications.

The vaccine is administered to healthy children and adults. It is recommended to do it for children over two years old. The vaccine will also protect if the child or adult has already been in contact with a sick person.

Nonspecific measures to prevent chickenpox in adults and children:

• avoiding contact with someone who is clearly ill;
• treating the nasal mucosa with antiviral ointments (Oxolinovaya, Viferon) before visiting public places;
• compliance with personal hygiene measures.

If one of the family members is sick, it is quite difficult to protect yourself. Protective masks should be used, separate utensils and hygiene items should be allocated to sick people, and the premises should be sanitized daily.

These measures do not always help to avoid the disease. It is difficult to protect yourself as much as possible from the disease. Must be taken vitamin complexes and immunostimulants to maintain the body’s protective properties at a sufficient level.

Duration of quarantine

The sick person is isolated at home, the end of the isolation period corresponds to the fifth day from the moment of the last skin rash. If the child has not had chickenpox, he is separated from the sick person and monitored from 11 to 21 days from the moment of contact.

It is very easy to get chickenpox; prevention measures are not always effective. It's better to get sick in early age, and if an adult does not have immunity, it is better for him to get vaccinated.