How to care for people with chickenpox to avoid complications

Currently, Hanoi is seeing many cases of chickenpox, and the current weather is also favorable for the disease to spread. Chickenpox can cause serious complications, so people need to know how to take care of themselves to limit serious complications.

Dr. Nguyen Dang Manh, Director of the Institute of Clinical Infectious Diseases (108 Central Military Hospital) said: Chickenpox is caused by the Varicella Zoster virus. The Varicella Zoster virus that causes chickenpox is mainly transmitted through the respiratory tract, through small droplets in the air that are expelled from the respiratory tract such as the nose and mouth of the patient, through direct contact with objects such as clothes, blankets and pillows contaminated with the patient's secretions, through direct contact with fluid when the blisters break. In particular, pregnant women with chickenpox can transmit it to the fetus through the placenta, causing congenital chickenpox.

The contagious period of chickenpox lasts from 1-2 days before the rash appears until the blisters are completely crusted.

Chickenpox can cause many complications such as: pneumonia, encephalitis; in particular, the sequelae that may follow include: deafness, epilepsy, slow mental and motor development... Newborns born to mothers with chickenpox during pregnancy may suffer from birth defects. Chickenpox is not only found in children but also in adults with symptoms that are sometimes more severe.

According to Dr. Nguyen Dang Manh, there is currently no specific treatment for chickenpox; treatment usually focuses on alleviating symptoms and keeping the patient hydrated. Therefore, caring for chickenpox patients plays an important role.

Doctors recommend:

- When caring for patients with chickenpox, it is necessary to ensure that the patient eats a nutritious diet, eats soft foods, drinks enough water; can drink more fruit juice...

- Patients need to clean their nose and throat daily with saline solution.

- Patients need to maintain personal hygiene, change clothes, and bathe daily with clean, warm water.

- Patients should avoid scratching and breaking blisters because it can easily cause secondary infection and scarring.

In particular, according to doctors, if the patient has symptoms such as: discomfort, lethargy, fatigue, convulsions, coma or bleeding on the rash, they should be taken immediately to a medical facility for timely monitoring and treatment.

Chickenpox can spread quickly and become an epidemic, so prevention is very important. People can prevent chickenpox most actively and effectively by getting vaccinated against chickenpox. For older children and adults, it is best to get 2 doses at least 6 weeks apart.

In addition, people need to proactively prevent disease with simple measures such as: Avoid contact with sources of disease, maintain personal hygiene, wear masks to prevent infection...

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper