Incubation period duration

The incubation period describes the time between the first contact with a pathogen, in this case the Varicella zoster virus, which belongs to the herpes viruses, and the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease. The initial infection manifests itself here as chickenpox in childhood. After an infection, there is a lifelong insensitivity to the pathogens, but they remain present in the nerve roots of the spinal cord in the body for a lifetime and can multiply again if the immune system is weakened, which then leads to herpes zoster, also known as shingles, in adults.

This is then called reactivation. The time between the initial infection and the recurrence of the disease is therefore very different. Should the disease break out, it is usually preceded by a short period of three to five days, during which time general symptoms such as fatigue, slight fever, headache and aching limbs can occur.

If pain and burning of the skin then occurs, the red skin rash typical of shingles follows a little two to three days later, followed by bulging blisters over the next 12 to 24 hours, which fuse within the next five to seven days. In the next week to 12 days, the blisters dry out. Sometimes this phase can last up to four weeks, but shingles usually heals within three weeks. In patients with a severely weakened immune system, however, the process can be protracted over several months.

How long is the incubation period for chickenpox?

The incubation period from contact with the pathogens until the first symptoms of the disease appear is on average two weeks in the case of chickenpox.The incidence of shingles after chickenpox varies because the virus rests in the spinal nerves and only breaks out in older people or people with a weak immune system. In some people the disease never occurs, in others it is enough infection or stress to cause shingles.

How long is the incubation period during pregnancy?

It is very difficult to give information about the incubation period, i.e. the time from infection to the appearance of first symptoms, in shingles. This is because shingles must always have been preceded by chickenpox. Once the disease has healed, the viruses remain in the body and can later cause shingles.

Thus, no exact time of infection can be given and thus no exact incubation period. The actual course of shingles in pregnant women is in most cases not different from the normal case in terms of severity and duration. If the expectant mother has had a chickenpox infection before her pregnancy or has been vaccinated against chickenpox, shingles can develop during her life, for example during pregnancy. The shingles then shows itself with the same symptoms and the same time from the appearance of the first symptoms of the disease until the skin changes subside. Shingles during pregnancy is not dangerous for the unborn child.