Chicken Pox

Chicken Pox

Pathophysiology

Chicken pox is acute viral disease with airborne transmission usually characterized by a feverish state and rash. Varicella-zoster virus is the cause of two clinically dissimilar diseases: chickenpox occurring predominantly in children, and herpes cold sores, or herpes zoster, the clinical manifestations of which are observed, usually in middle-aged people. The causative agent of varicella zoster virus is a group of cold sores (herpes zoster identical pathogen - herpes zoster). The virus spreads rapidly in closed rooms and easily transmitted through airborne droplets through the mucous membranes of the eyes and upper respiratory tract, that is the reason why the disease is named chickenpox (Wharton, 2006). Chickenpox is a very common childhood disease which is usually mild, but can be serious in vulnerable individuals.

The virus enters the body through the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract and enters the epithelial cells of the mucous membrane. The virus then enters the blood and is fixed in the skin, causing the surface layer in the disease process: a limited expansion of capillaries (spot), serous swelling (pimple), exfoliation of the epidermis (vesicle) due to the multiplication of the virus and allergic response of the body having a fever and other general non-specific manifestations of infection. The incubation period lasts from 11 to 23 days (average 14 days). The disease usually begins with a sharp rise in temperature and the simultaneous eruptions on the skin, scalp and mucous membranes, which last for 3-4 days, sometimes longer. Primary element of the rash is small spot or papule (bundle), which in a few hours is converted into a vesicle (bubble) with hyperemia around it. 1-3 days later the bubble burst and dries from the center, gradually turning into a dense crust, after which the dropout scarring usually does not happen.

Generally patients do not have obvious symptoms that occur before the outbreak of the disease, which is accompanied by fever, fatigue, headache and loss of appetite. Symptoms begin between 10 and 21 days after infection. The initial characteristic is the appearance of redness and flat, ranging relief gradually taking to become blisters or vesicles. These causes extreme itching, break easily and form scabs that emerge and disappear in about two weeks. The process extends to the sixth day of the disease (Wood, 2000).

Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease. It can be spread by casual contact between an infected people to others. The proximity of a patient with chickenpox should justify strict rules of hygiene to reduce the risk of infection in individuals who have never experienced the disease or in the elderly who are already on the contrary develop shingles. It is transmitted via droplets from vesicular fluid or respiratory secretions that are transported by air, especially when the patient coughs or sneezes (Jason & Glaser, 2005). It also spreads through contact with objects that have been contaminated. For this reason it is important that the patient be isolated: the likelihood of transmission among children attending the same school or among family members ...