How long is a person with chickenpox contagious?
Patients with chickenpox are contagious for 1 – 2 days before the rash appears and continue to be contagious until all the blisters are crusted over (usually 6-8 days). Is there a treatment for chickenpox? Most cases of chickenpox in otherwise healthy children are treated with bed rest, fluids, and control of fever. Children with chickenpox should not receive aspirin because of the possible subsequent risk of Reye’s syndrome. Acetaminophen may be given for fever control. Chickenpox may be treated with an antiviral drug in serious cases, depending on the patient’s age and health, the extent of the infection, and the timing of the treatment. How common is chickenpox in the United States? Because it is so easy to catch chickenpox, almost every adult in the United States has been infected. Until a vaccine became available, there were an estimated four million cases/year. Since the vaccine was licensed in 1995, the number of cases of chickenpox had fallen 83%-93% by 2004. Can you get chicke
