Chickenpox in newborns and infants: causes, symptoms, features of the course, treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Chickenpox is believed to be a childhood disease. Indeed, preschool children aged two to six years are mostly affected by it. Most of them suffer from chickenpox in a mild form and receive strong immunity to the virus for life. But what if, in addition to a preschooler, a baby also lives in the house? Can a newborn baby get chickenpox? We will tell about this and what to do if it is infected with a virus in our article.

Can a newborn baby get chickenpox?

Chickenpox is an acute viral disease transmitted by airborne droplets. Its causative agent is the herpesvirus Varicella Zoster, which has an extremely high volatility. The probability of infection through contact with a sick person is almost 100%. It is very rare for adults to get the virus, as it is most often transmitted during childhood.

In some sources, you can find information that newborns and infants (pictured) cannot be infected with chickenpox while they are breastfed and they are under 6 months old. In fact, this is an erroneous statement. The probability of infection remains quite high at any age, even despite the fact that immediately after the birth of a child, the mother's immune cells protect against viruses. But if the woman herself had previously had chickenpox, then with breast milk the baby will also receive antibodies that will serve as reliable protection for him. And if the baby still catches the virus, then there is a high probability that he will suffer the disease in the mildest form.

Causes of infection and ways of transmission of the virus

The windmill is transmitted through the air when sneezing, coughing, and even when a sick person talks to a he althy one. The virus spreads especially quickly in enclosed spaces with a large crowd of people, for example, in kindergartens. And from there, an older brother or sister can bring him home. In external conditions, in fresh air, the virus dies in about 10 minutes.

Causes of chickenpox infection in newborns and infants can be caused by the following circumstances:

1. When in contact with a sick person, whether it be an adult or a child.
2. In case of infection of a pregnant woman with the virus, if this happened on the eve of childbirth. Chickenpox is called congenital, in which rashes in a child appear before the 11th day of life. It is this disease that most often occurs in the most severe form and is fraught with complications.

Incubation period

The insidiousness of chickenpox is that the first symptoms of the disease appear after the child has become dangerous to surrounding he althy children. Thus, the baby becomes contagious already 2 days before the appearance of characteristic rashes on his skin. The incubation period of the disease is 21 days. But this does not mean at all that all this time the child will remain contagious to others. It is enough to limit the child's communication with other children for 7 days from the moment the last bubble appears on the skin.

The incubation period can be conditionally divided into the following periods:

1. The appearance of the virus in the body and its adaptation.
2. Proliferation of cells and entry of Varicella Zoster into the blood.
3. The appearance of visible symptoms of the disease on the skin.

During the period when the patient remains contagious to others, care should be taken by those already immune. Otherwise, new infections are inevitable.

Chickenpox symptoms in newborns and infants

The disease most often affects children aged 2-6 years. But situations when a baby gets sick with chickenpox are far from uncommon lately. Parents can recognize the disease by the following characteristic symptoms:

1. Skin rashes. The rash starts on the head and spreads over the course of the day.throughout the body. At first, parents may notice that red dots have appeared on the child's body, resembling a sweatshirt. But soon they begin to fill with a cloudy liquid, turning into bubbles. They spread throughout the body, appear on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, genitals. The rash may last for 4-5 days, after which the blisters begin to dry up, crusts form, and the child is no longer infectious to other children.
2. Itching. With chickenpox, the whole body begins to itch strongly. In infants, itching causes increased anxiety, crying, tantrums, refusal to eat and sleep. But combing the bubbles and opening them is strongly not recommended, since the resulting scars will remain for life.
3. Increased body temperature. In almost all children, the thermometer readings during chickenpox fluctuate between 37-39 °. Very rarely, the disease occurs without fever. Fever may occur at the same time as the rashes or up to 1 day before they appear.

Forms of the disease in infants

Many parents literally dream that their child had chickenpox in childhood. They take him to visit sick children, creating all the conditions for infection. Only in the case of infants, this is categorically not recommended. In children under one year old, all diseases occur with an increased risk, and no one can say in advance what the reaction of a fragile organism will be.

Chickenpox in infants is mild or severe. If the mother is immune tovirus and the baby is breastfed, then the likelihood that he will transfer the disease easily is quite high.

For newborn babies on artificial feeding, chickenpox is fraught with complications. An increase in body temperature in them can reach 40 ° with pronounced signs of intoxication. At the same time, the spread of the rash to the mucous membranes can lead to laryngeal edema, viral pneumonia, encephalitis, and cerebellar changes. Fortunately, these complications are rare.

Treatment of chickenpox in children 1 year of age

General therapeutic actions in this disease are aimed at relieving its symptoms. Treatment includes taking the following medications:

1. Antiviral. For children older than three years, the doctor usually prescribes drugs directed against herpesvirus, for example, Acyclovir. For infants, such treatment is unacceptable. That is why the doctor may prescribe a more suitable antiviral drug for newborns, such as Viferon in the form of suppositories.
2. For rash treatment. To speed up the process of drying the bubbles and the formation of a crust on them, it is recommended to treat them with alcohol-containing solutions. Suitable and well-known brilliant green, and tincture of calendula. Among modern drugs, a solution based on iodine "Betadine" is highly effective.
3. Antihistamines. Since chickenpox is accompanied by itching, it must be removed, which will alleviate the patient's condition. For this purpose, the drug "Fenistil" in the form of drops is suitable.
4. Antipyretic. If a newbornthe child has chickenpox, which is accompanied by fever, he is prescribed drugs based on paracetamol or ibuprofen, for example, Panadol or Nurofen.

Features of the course of the disease in infants

Chickenpox should be diagnosed by a house doctor, not by a mother, grandmother or neighbor. If there are few rashes, the temperature rise is insignificant, and there are no signs of general intoxication, therapy is carried out at home. Chickenpox in infants, occurring in severe form, always requires hospitalization in a hospital and treatment under the constant supervision of doctors.

A newborn is small, however, like an older child, always experiencing discomfort from an itchy rash. At this time, he usually sleeps little, becomes capricious, irritable, whiny, he loses his appetite and feels worse.

Bathing during chickenpox

Representatives of the Soviet school of medicine are categorical on the question of whether a child can take a bath during the active stage of the disease. They do not allow any water procedures if there are rashes on the body. Doctors explain this by the fact that after getting wet, the crust is very easy to damage, which will later lead to the formation of scars. In addition, bathing will negate all the procedures for drying bubbles with alcohol solutions.

Modern medicine is not so categorical on the same issue. You can bathe a child during chickenpox if he does not have a temperature, but without using any detergents andsoap. After water procedures, the skin is gently blotted with a towel, after which the bubbles are again treated with solutions. Bathing helps to relieve itching and improve well-being.

General recommendations for child care

When sick, parents should ensure the following:

1. Child should stay in bed, especially if he has a fever.
2. Don't force your baby to eat. The best food for newborns and infants with chickenpox is mother's milk (if they are breastfed).
3. Change clothes and bed linen daily, be sure to iron them after washing.
4. Cut your child's nails in time to reduce the risk of blisters scratching and infection.
5. Stop walking until 7 days have passed since the last pimple.
6. Regularly carry out wet cleaning and ventilate the room where the child sleeps.

Dr. Komarovsky about chickenpox in infants

A well-known pediatrician who enjoys authority among modern mothers says that chickenpox in children under 6 months is extremely rare, but is severe. Newborns, whose mother fell ill with chickenpox 5 days before birth or immediately after them, are especially difficult to tolerate the infection with the virus.

Among the symptoms of chickenpox in newbornsand infants Komarovsky, in addition to those presented above, calls intoxication. The child becomes lethargic and refuses to eat. To treat the disease, the doctor recommends treating the bubbles with the means prescribed by the local doctor, giving antihistamines, bathing the child in water with the addition of soda, avoiding overheating and ensuring compliance with the drinking regimen.

Do I need to treat rashes with brilliant green?

For many parents, this disease is associated exclusively with a child whose skin is covered with green dots. And indeed, even 20 years ago, chickenpox in children (newborns and not only) was treated exclusively with brilliant green. Today there is no urgent need for this. Bubbles with liquid inside and without additional processing will sooner or later be covered with a crust, which will fall off over time.

But there is still some sense in treating the rash with brilliant green. If you lubricate the bubbles with a green solution, you can easily notice when the rash has stopped. This means that from the moment the last pimple appears, you will need to count 7 days, and calmly go for a walk on the street, because the child will no longer be contagious.

Chickenpox vaccination

Children can indeed be vaccinated against chickenpox, but only when they are 1 year old. Therefore, it will not be possible to completely protect infants and newborns from this disease. The likelihood of infection for them is quite high, especially if there is an older child in the house attending kindergarten.

One ofThe most severe form of chickenpox is congenital. That is why doctors recommend that women who did not have this disease in childhood get vaccinated at the stage of pregnancy planning. This will to some extent protect newborns and infants from chickenpox.

It is worth noting that vaccination cannot 100% guarantee that a child will not become infected with this virus. But he will endure the disease in a very mild form.