Is chickenpox scabs still contagious?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Assoc. Prof. TS.BS Huynh Thoai Loan - Head of Pediatrics - Neonatology Department, Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital. Uncle is one of the leading experts in Pediatrics - Neonatology in Ho Chi Minh City with nearly 30 years of experience in examining and treating diseases of pediatric endocrinology, pediatric nephrology and other pediatric - neonatal problems.

Chickenpox is a skin disease, which manifests in stages of erythema, vesicles until pustules burst and the chickenpox nodule crusts over. This is a contagious disease, but when chickenpox scabs are still contagious is a question of many people.

1. Chickenpox

Chickenpox is a very contagious disease, mainly through the following ways:
Inhaling the virus that is released and suspended in the air by an infected person talking, sneezing, coughing, and runny nose. Direct or indirect contact with inflammatory fluid from blisters and oozing pus. Sharing clothing, bedding, and other personal items that have been contaminated with fluids from an infected person's skin lesions.

2. Stages of the disease

2.1. Symptoms of chickenpox through the stages The stages of chickenpox develop as follows:
Incubation period: Usually in the range of 10-15 days depending on each subject and each person's immune system, at this time The patient is still asymptomatic. At the end of the stage, the patient begins to feel tired, the whole body is hot and tingling. Onset phase: Takes 1-2 days with symptoms including low-grade fever, headache, dizziness, loss of appetite, and the appearance of red, pinkish red spots on the skin. The fulminant stage: The scalded chickenpox rash begins to spread all over the body, forming pustules, then gradually crusting and peeling. This situation repeats many times in a row and then ends. Recovery phase: All chickenpox blisters have completely crusted over, lasting 7-10 days. After recovering from the disease, children are often more prone to scarring than adults if not taken care of carefully. Chickenpox will take a different time to progress depending on the condition of each person. In general, from incubation to the onset of specific symptoms, and then full recovery, will last for a total of 1 month.

2.2. Has chickenpox scabs healed yet? Usually, chickenpox blisters grow in batches, each spaced about 2-3 days apart. After about a week, the rash becomes scalded and pus-filled, which dries up on its own and then crusts over with white or dark brown scabs. The scab will fall off on its own within the next week, but there is a high risk of scarring if the patient does not take care and abstain carefully. Dermatologists say that a completely crusted chickenpox can be a sign of recovery phase. People with weakened immune systems will take longer for chickenpox blisters to crust over.
However, the cycle from when the erythema forms blisters, the blisters break with water and pus until the crusting and peeling will repeat continuously, ending the old skin and then moving to a new location all over the body. Many times, it will heal. Thus, the case of scaly chickenpox nodules still cannot be completely reassured because there will be a new blistering situation, which will burst, then scab and peel elsewhere.
2.3. Is chickenpox scabs still contagious? In fact, this is the period when chickenpox is most contagious. The period of spread of the disease is from 1 to 4 days before symptoms appear until 7 days after all chickenpox scabs have dried up. Chickenpox is only really safe if all the existing chickenpox blisters have scabbed and started to peel off, along with the condition that no new blisters appear on the skin. Therefore, the patient needs to be patiently monitored for a while since the chickenpox blister has scabbed, to ensure that there is no longer a risk of infecting others.
In addition, if after the chickenpox spots have scabbed, but the skin is still painful, red, swollen with pus, it is likely that the patient has a bacterial superinfection. At this time, you should quickly go to the hospital to be examined by a doctor for a diagnosis and prescription of supportive medications. This is the best and safest treatment, avoiding self-medication, smoking or bathing according to folklore will be very dangerous.

3. Taking care of people with chickenpox

When you have chickenpox, it is necessary to pay attention to properly handle the blisters all over the body, contributing to quick healing, specifically:
Use a warm towel to gently wipe to avoid breaking the blisters. Wash hands thoroughly, trim fingernails and wear gloves for children to avoid scratching, rubbing, and breaking chickenpox rashes and scabs on the skin. When the chickenpox nodule breaks, methylene blue should be applied, not tetracycline, red medicine or penicillin. Absolutely abstain from water spinach and foods from glutinous rice. When the chickenpox nodules have scabbed, the disease is in the recovery stage. Patients should especially keep in mind the following notes if they do not want to leave scars on their skin:
Wash the skin with physiological saline to help soften the scabs and help the chickenpox scabs fall off faster. If the chickenpox scabs are still firmly attached, do not try to scrape or peel them off, to limit further damage to the skin. Let the scabs fall off on their own, do not touch or touch them because it is easy to cause infection or form concave scars, especially on the face. Apply turmeric cream to the pale pink young skin when the scabs have just fallen off. After 3-4 days, apply fresh turmeric to avoid darkening the young skin. Chickenpox is quite benign if treated aggressively and promptly. However, there are still cases of serious complications such as pneumonia, acute kidney, brain and heart muscle, or blood infection, even death. The chickenpox vaccine is the simplest but most effective way to prevent chickenpox.

When chickenpox scabs are still not confirmed to be cured. If the scaly chickenpox has healed, it will still have to wait for nearly a week, if the patient no longer has a fever and no new blisters appear, the disease has healed. In case the chickenpox nodules have scabbed, completely dry and no longer contain pus, now the disease is out of risk of spreading, the patient can return to school and work normally.
Chickenpox is a dangerous disease that can leave complications as well as a high risk of infection. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to vaccinate against chickenpox, especially young children and women. pregnant.
Vinmec International General Hospital has been deploying immunization services with a variety of vaccines for different audiences, from infants, young children, adults, and women before and during pregnancy pregnant. Including vaccines against diseases.... The advantages of vaccination at Vinmec include:
Patients will be examined and screened by specialist doctors for all physical problems and health problems. health, advice on preventive vaccines and injection regimens, monitoring and post-vaccination care before ordering vaccination according to the latest recommendations of the Ministry of Health & World Health Organization to ensure the best effect and safest for children. A team of experienced and professional pediatric doctors and nurses, understand children's psychology and apply effective pain relief methods for children during the vaccination process. 100% of vaccinated patients were monitored 30 minutes after injection and reassessed before leaving. Undertake medical supervision before, during and after vaccination at Vinmec Health System and always have an emergency team ready to coordinate with the vaccination department to handle cases of anaphylaxis, respiratory failure - circulatory arrest, ensuring Ensure timely and correct handling when incidents occur. Vaccines are imported and stored in a modern cold storage system, with a cold chain that meets GSP standards, keeping vaccines in the best conditions to ensure quality.

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