CHICKEN POX Hisyam B

CHICKEN POX  Chicken Pox is a red bumpy rash on parts of your body that can feel itchy, can also cause you to have the flu/fever. The disease is caused by the varicella zoster virus. Contagious by spreading through the air.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS  Chickenpox infection usually lasts about 5 to 10 days.  Loss of appetite  Headache  Once the chickenpox rash appears, it goes through three phases:  Raised pink or red bumps, which break out over several days  Fluid-filled blisters, forming from the raised bumps over about one day before breaking and leaking  Crusts and scabs, which cover the broken blisters and take several more days to heal

PREVENT THE POX  The best way to prevent chicken pox is to get doses  Children get the first dose of chickenpox vaccine at 12 through 15 months old and the second dose at age 4 through 6 years.  Kids who are 13 years of age and older who are not immune to chickenpox or have never had the disease should get two doses of chickenpox vaccine at least 28 days apart.

TEST  Usually the symptoms of chicken pox are enough to determine the disease but if the signs are not straight forward. A lab uses specimens taken from the blister, fluid in the blister, or sometimes spinal fluid. They are sent to a laboratory where it takes days to detect the virus in the preparation made from the specimen.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES  It is safe enough and effective enough to be recommended by the CDC as a standard vaccine for adults 60 and older. It is now one of components of preventive medicine, Except most of the problems for people is cost and coverage. The vaccine costs about $200 and most insurances do not cover it.  State laws that require children entering childcare or public schools to have certain vaccinations. There is no federal law that requires this

WORKS CITED  Conger, Cristen. How Stuff Works. Infospace LLc, 1 Jan Web. 1 Jan  Davis, Caroline. "Chickenpox." Infospace Llc, 1 Jan Web. 1 Jan  Hoffman, Gretchen. Chicken Pox. New York: Benchmark, Print.