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Understanding Chickenpox -- Treatment
What Are the Treatments for Chickenpox?
Chickenpox is extremely contagious. Keep your child home until all of the blisters are dry and scabs have fallen off.
Most cases of chickenpox require little or no treatment beyond treating the symptoms.
Understanding Chickenpox -- Prevention
A varicella zoster vaccine to prevent chickenpox received FDA approval in 1995. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be immunized, usually after the child is 1 year old. The vaccine is also a protection to vulnerable people, such as non-immune women who plan to become pregnant. Some, such as those who are already pregnant, are not eligible to receive the chickenpox vaccine. Consult your doctor for advice. A similar vaccine -- but in a higher dose -- is also available for the...
Read the Understanding Chickenpox -- Prevention article > >
The prescription drug Zovirax (acyclovir) is helpful in shortening the duration of chickenpox symptoms if given within a day of their appearance. Most experts agree that this drug and those like it should be used for children with chickenpox infections that involve the lungs and/or brain. For less severe infections, some doctors recommend use of these drugs while others don't.
In addition, your doctor or pediatrician may recommend an over-the-counter antihistamine, such as Benadryl or Zyrtec, to relieve pain, itching, and swelling. Antibiotics are called for if a secondary bacterial skin infection arises or if the person with chickenpox contracts bacterial pneumonia.
Home Remedies for Chickenpox
- Trim your child's fingernails or cover her hands with socks or mittens to keep her from scratching, which could lead to infection as well as to possible scarring.
- To ease itching, add a handful of oatmeal or baking soda to bath water. Apply cool, wet towels to the skin and allow them to dry.
- Dab calamine lotion, any other perfume-free lotion, on the lesions to relieve itching.
- Leave your baby's diaper off as much as possible to allow the vesicles to dry out and scab.
- Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water and use as a gargle to ease mouth sores, or rinse with a combination of warm water and hydrogen peroxide. In older children, Chloraseptic lozenges or sprays contain a mild anesthetic.
- Give Tylenol for fever; no aspirin should be given to children.
- Keep sores clean by washing daily. Apply lotion afterwards.
WebMD Medical Reference
Reviewed by
Charlene H. Beard, MD on March 13, 2012
© 2012 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
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