Symptoms

After an incubation period (time between infection and outbreak of the disease) of about 2 weeks, most patients show the typical rash (exanthema) of the chickenpox virus: Within a few hours, the trunk of the body, face, arms and legs show red spots and finally fluid-filled blisters (rash with blisters), which cause severe itching. The vesicles tear, become crusty and dry out. Finally, the crust falls off and the chickenpox usually heals without scarring.

The blisters appear mainly on the head (face, hairy head, mucous membranes) and the trunk, arms and legs are rarely affected by a severe rash. Children have between 50 and several hundred blisters on the body, which are simultaneously in different stages (spots, knots, blisters, crusts) on the skin: The so-called starry sky pattern is present. The diseased, mostly children, are in good general condition and often do not feel ill or severely affected, except for the itching of the skin florescences.

Only 1/3 of those affected have fever during the course of the disease. Fever is a typical accompanying symptom of an infection with chickenpox. The fever can be relieved symptomatically.

Calf compresses are available as household remedies. Treatment with paracetamol or ibuprofen is possible. It is important that aspirin should not be given to children, as there is a risk of Reye’s syndrome.

In general, cold helps against itching, so that the skin can be cooled with cold cloths. Envelopes with synthetic tanning agents can also alleviate itching.If the itching cannot be stopped, antihistamines can be used. These are taken orally and should lead to a rapid improvement of the itching.

At the beginning of the disease a rash develops which can spread over the entire skin. It can extend to the scalp. This is followed by the formation of blisters filled with liquid, which burst open and become encrusted as the disease progresses.

The blisters appear in different stages, so that the skin appearance is colloquially called starry sky. When the blisters burst, the areas become encrusted and then healed. The skin rash is usually accompanied by very severe itching.