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Chickenpox Research Paper

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Chickenpox was discovered years, years ago. According to an article on chickenpox (2008), Giovanni Filippo (1510-1580) was the first to have the first description of varicella (chickenpox). Around this time, people would mistake a mild smallpox for chickenpox. Later, in 1767, a physician named William Heberden, also from England, was the first physician to clearly demonstrate that chickenpox was different from smallpox (Chickenpox, 2008). Chickenpox is just one of many disesases that are caused by virus's and like others, it has its characteristic transmission, symptoms, and treatments. According to the CDC (2011), chicken pox or Varicella is caused by the Varicella-zoster virus.
This virus is also known as human herpes virus 3 (HHV-3), …show more content…
The disease is most comon in ages 4-10 years (Gillespie, 2007, Bamford, 2007). Only 5% of varicella cases occur in adults; however, adults experience more severe disease (hospitalizations are 18 per 1000 cases) and have a higher mortality rate (50 per 100,000 cases) (Chamberlain, 2009). There are certain symptoms that patients tend to get prior to the physical symptoms. These symptoms may include, fever, loss of appetite, headache, and malaise (Chickenpox, 2013). In other words, patients may feel tiredness. After a couple days, the physical symptoms start to occur. The physical symptoms in chickenpox are blister-like bubbles on the skin all over the body. These blister-like bubble are called lesions. This physical symptom takes three stages. According to an article on chickenpox (2013), it undergoes raised pink or red bumps (papules), which break out over several days, fluid-filled blisters (vesicles) forming the raised bumps over about one day before breaking and leaking and lastly, crusts and scabs, which cover the broken blisters and take several days to heal. The liquid in the lesions looks a bit cloudy. They start on the scalp and trunk and spread to the face and limbs, sometimes to the mouth, throat and vagina, and occasionally to the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts (Black, 2012). Since the physical symptoms are on the skin, it is easier for other bacteria to get into the affected areas. In this …show more content…
Pregnant women who have never had chickenpox and have not been vaccinated should avoid exposure to children who have chickenpox and to people who have shingles (Black, 2012). 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 (Chickenpox, 2013). If it so happens that the mother gets chickenpox about a week before birth, it can cause a life-threatening situation. According to an article on Chickenpox (2008), possible problems may include: damage to brain, eye, body, cervical, spinal chord, and skin disorders. Babies born to women who contract varicella in the first two trimesters of pregnancy have a 0.4-2% chance of congenital varicella syndrome and Babies whose mother has onset of chicken pox from five days before until two days after delivery have a 17-30% of developing severe disease (Infectious diseases epidemiology and surveillance, 2007). This is the only situation that chickenpox can be fatal

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