Archive for the ‘Chickenpox In Children’ Category

Complications Of Chickenpox

Complications:

Chickenpox is normally a mild disease. But it can be serious and can lead to complications, especially in these high-risk groups:

•      Newborns and infants whose mothers never had chickenpox or the vaccine
•      Adults
•      Pregnant women
•      People whose immune systems are impaired by medication, such as chemotherapy, or another disease
•      People who are taking steroid medications for another disease or condition, such as children with asthma
•      People with the skin condition eczema

A common complication of chickenpox is a bacterial infection of the skin. Chickenpox may also lead to pneumonia or, rarely, an inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), both of which can be very serious.

Chickenpox and shingles:

Anyone who had chickenpox is at risk of a latent illness called shingles. After a chickenpox infection, some of the varicella-zoster virus may remain in your nerve cells. Many years later, the virus can reactivate and resurface as shingles — a painful band of short-lived blisters. The virus is more likely to reappear in older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Shingles can lead to its own complication — a condition in which the pain of shingles persists long after the blisters disappear. This complication, called postherpetic neuralgia, can be severe.

A shingles vaccine is available and is recommended for adults age 60 and older who have had chickenpox in the past.

Chickenpox and pregnancy:

Other complications of chickenpox affect pregnant women. Chickenpox early in pregnancy can result in a variety of problems in a newborn, including low birth weight and birth defects, such as limb abnormalities. A greater threat to a baby occurs when the mother develops chickenpox in the week before birth. Then it can cause a serious, life-threatening infection in a newborn.

If you’re pregnant and not immune to chickenpox, talk to your doctor about the risks to you and your unborn child.

Possible Complications:

Rarely, serious bacteria infections such as encephalitis have occured. Other complications may include:

•      Reye’s syndrome
•      Myocarditis
•      Pneumonia
•     Transient arthritis

Cerebellar ataxia may appear during the recovery phase or later. This involves a very unsteady walk.

Women who get chickenpox during pregnancy can pass the infection to the developing baby. Newborns are at risk for severe infection.

Which complications might arise?

•      Bacteria may infect the blisters.
•      Occasionally scars may remain at the site of the blisters.
•      Conjunctivitis.
•      Pneumonia.
•      In very rare cases, chickenpox can result in complications, such as meningitis, encephalitis, inflammation of the heart (myocarditis) or Reye’s syndrome.