Most of us remember chicken pox as a very itchy rite of passage in childhood. After all, the illness affected about 4 million children a year until 1995. That’s when a vaccine for the illness was approved for use in the United States. Although chicken pox is still a common occurrence, the number of cases has plummeted as a result.

Caused by the varicella-zoster virus, chicken pox is spread by coming into close contact with an infected person. Once the virus enters the body, it takes about 2 weeks for it to multiply and spread. The first symptoms include fever, headache, and a cough, followed by those hallmark pink bumps. They turn into fluid-filled blisters and eventually crust over and scab before healing.

In children, chicken pox is a mild—though uncomfortable—condition. In adults, it can be more severe, particularly among pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems. Complications include a bacterial infection of the skin, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), and pneumonia. What’s more, the varicella-zoster virus can remain in the nerve cells and then, years later, reactivate and resurface as shingles, a condition that causes painful blisters. About 10 percent of people who have experienced chicken pox develop shingles.

Today, however, the chicken pox vaccine is administered to all children about the time they turn 1 year old and again between the ages of 4 and 6. Experts say the vaccine is effective 90 percent of the time; if a case does occur in an immunized person, it’s extremely mild. Still, some parents are wary of administering the vaccine, preferring to send their children to “pox parties.” These gatherings are held purposely to expose children to an already-infected child, in the hope that they’ll also come down with a case of chicken pox to build immunity against it.

ADDITIONAL FACTS

  1. Chicken pox gets its name from its trademark bumps, although experts debate how. Some say that it’s because the marks resemble chickpeas, which in Latin are called cicer. Others say it’s because they look like peck marks made by a chicken.
  2. People over 65 years of age may have severe shingles and should be revaccinated, according to medical authorities.