Chickenpox

ARTICLE SECTIONS

Definition

Chickenpox was once considered a rite of passage for most children. Before 1995 — when a vaccine for chickenpox became available in the United States — about 4 million Americans, mostly children, contracted chickenpox each year. Thanks to the vaccine, the number of cases and hospitalizations is down dramatically.

However, when chickenpox does occur, it's highly contagious among people who aren't immune. The red, itchy rash is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is part of a group of viruses called herpes viruses. It spreads easily from person to person through the air and physical contact.

Most people think of chickenpox as a mild disease — and, for most, it is. Chickenpox usually lasts about two weeks and rarely causes complications. But the disease can be serious, even in healthy children.

There's no way to know which infected child or adult will develop a severe case. However, the chickenpox vaccine is a safe, effective way to prevent chickenpox and its possible complications. In the small number of cases when the vaccine doesn't stop chickenpox completely, the resulting infection is much milder than the infections that put most U.S. children into bed for a week years ago.

Symptoms