Tinyworld Day Nurseries

Everything you need to know about Chickenpox

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Chickenpox usually affects children under the age of 12 and this can be a nasty illness for children and babies, causing them to develop a fever along with itchy rashes and blisters on their skin. Caused by the varicella zoster virus, Chickenpox generally spreads throughout nurseries and schools if the symptoms aren’t noticed quickly. This month, Tiny World Day Nursery are here to help you understand more about Chickenpox, what to look out for, the symptoms and how to treat it.

What causes Chickenpox?

A highly contagious virus called varicella-zoster causes Chickenpox and the bug spreads through breath and sneezes. If your child contracts this virus, it will take between 1 to 3 weeks to reveal its symptoms.   

Symptoms of Chickenpox

It’s likely that your child will get Chickenpox at some point but usually this means they’ll be immune to it when they get older – which can be a blessing because it can be much more severe for adults. That said, it can be dangerous to newborn babies, pregnant women and those having chemotherapy, radiotherapy and people who are taking medication due to weakened immune systems.

Signs of the illness:

Red spots turn into blisters quite rapidly if it’s Chickenpox and they become itchy within 12-14 hours post-appearance. More spots can form days after but usually they scab up and drop off over 7-14 days. Your child is most contagious on day 5&6 – days before the scabs form and seal the red, itchy spots.

How Chickenpox spreads

Chickenpox is highly contagious, it can be transferred through coughing, sneezing, touching contaminated surfaces, face-to-face contact and touching the spots/blisters.

Be wary of:

What you should do if you think your child has Chickenpox

Contact your family GP, it’s important for this to be on your child’s health records but avoid taking them to the surgery unless your child is critically unwell because this can spread the infection far and wide. Keep your child at home, do not take them to nursery.   

How to treat Chickenpox

Although you can’t cure Chickenpox, you can help to keep your child as comfortable as possible. You may wish to try:

Tiny World Day Nurseries can be found around Nottingham and Mansfield on Stockhill Lane, Arnold Road and Layton Avenue. Arrange a tour around our premises and secure your free child place for your 2,3 or 4 year old today.

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