Polish people have taken over this vogue from the British for intentionally infecting children with varicella virus during meetings with already sick children with a rash. Nowadays, still, there seems to be an opinion that chickenpox is a mild disease that you just have to go through in childhood .  But an intentional exposure of the child to the virus will only cause unnecessary stress associated with a very itchy rash, possible complications and a stay in the hospital. 

Course of illness:

Around 14-16 days after the infection, the first symptom that occurs is fever, after which (within approx. 24 hours) a rash appears . Initially, it is a spot transforming into a red lump and a bubble in the middle of it filled with clear liquid, which gradually becomes misty and begins transforming into a scab . Scabs fall off leaving blemishes on the skin that disappear by themselves . The rash spreads over the entire body in successive "crops" of new "poxes" and is, most often, itchy. It lasts up to 7 days. Contagion ends when all the changes have transformed into scabs. This disease tends to vary in intensity. It often is accompanied by high fever requiring regular administration of paracetamol. Vomiting and dehydration may also occur.

Chickenpox is particularly troublesome for children who already have skin diseases: atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, psoriasis.

Possible complications :

  • purulent skin infection caused by streptococcus or staphylococcus, especially due to improper skin care during illness; 
  • interstitial pneumonia;
  • hepatitis;
  • neurological complications: cerebellar ataxia, meningitis, kidney inflammation;
  • arthritis, myocarditis, pancreatitis, epididymitis.

Chickenpox in adults is a serious disease with lots of blisters on the skin, high fever and body ache. The risk of complications and even death is 10-20 times higher in adults than in children. The most common complication is pneumonia with shortness of breath, leading to respiratory failure. Acute cerebellar ataxia, hepatitis, kidney inflammation, arthritis, myocarditis and pancreatitis may occur. Adults often require hospitalization.

Getting infected with chickenpox during pregnancy could cause congenital varicella syndrome . We do have varicella vaccinations, which we use for children (who are at least 9 months old) and in adults who have not yet suffered from this infectious disease. We do not vaccinate pregnant women.

This vaccine should be proposed for adults, as well, if they haven't had chickenpox in their childhood. And especially in case of women planning pregnancies, people suffering from acute leukemia (during remission), people with immunodeficiency, and those prior to treatment causing immunosuppression (chemotherapy of malignant tumors, transplantation of organs or bone marrow, chronic treatment with high-dose steroid anti-inflammatory drugs) and patients with asthma, skin diseases and chronic kidney ilnesses.