Chickenpox and its Epidemiology
Grand Canyon University
Concepts in Community and Public Health Nursing
NRS 427V
February 20, 2014
Chickenpox and its Epidemiology
Chickenpox is a viral infection caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) transmitted via the respiratory route that causes itchy, blisters-like rashes usually lasting about 5-10 days. It is highly contagious transmitted by person to person contact (direct) from respiratory secretions or indirectly through contact with airborne respiratory droplets, via soiled inanimate objects infected by discharge from skin lesions, vesicle discharges or nasopharyngeal secretions. The incubation period lasts about 10-21 days and the disease is communicable 1-2 days
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This contributes to the development of chicken pox in individuals who don’t have health insurance or is an illegal immigrant, they will be less likely to participate in primary prevention and more likely to delay obtaining medical treatment. Some barriers to health services that contributes to the development of the disease includes high cost, lack of availability or in the case of vaccine shortage mostly seen in developing countries and limited language access. These barriers can cause unmet health needs and inability to receive preventative services. Individual behavior as a determinant of health plays a major role in health outcomes. Individual behavior consists of diet, physical activity, hand washing and compliance with vaccine preventable diseases. This factor contributes to the development of chickenpox when individuals refused be vaccinated and do not have natural immunity against the disease. Therefore in an epidemic of chickenpox these individuals have a higher risk of contracting the disease. Biological and genetic factors affects specific populations more than others. An example of a genetic determinant of health is Sickle Cell Disease which is a condition characterized by the offspring inheriting the disease because both parents carry the sickle cell gene. In the case of chickenpox there is no biological or genetic factors that contributes to a person developing the disease as
Another interesting fact that I came across within the article, was that a host with shingles is able to provide direct transmission of the chickenpox’s with the help of an open rash or sore. Naturally you would expect the person to automatically
The incubation period for chicken pox is 2-3 weeks (Bishop,P et al. 2010), this is the contagious time before the signs and symptoms start showing, which means the nurse’s daughter, was past the infectious period of the disease. The nurse’s daughter could have had the virus for over a week, and exposed her mother to it during this time. If the nurse developed symptoms a few days after getting Varicella Zoster Immunoglobin, she had already contracted the virus before immuniglobin injection had been administered, thus not able to prevent chickenpox in this case.
Shingles is a virus that causes a tender rash located anywhere on the body. The torso and face are common areas for shingles to occur, and usually appears just as a strip of blisters. The shingles virus can affect anybody, but is more likely to occur in adults. Varicella-zoster virus, which causes chickenpox, can lead to shingles. Once someone has had chickenpox, it remains in the body located in nerve tissue close to the spinal cord. After a number of years, it can reappear as the shingles virus. The virus remains in the body and can flare up at different times, but some people never experience the return of this virus. It is not possible to get shingles if one has never been exposed to chickenpox.
Varicella zoster virus is the same virus that causes chickenpox. Therefore, if a person has previously had chickenpox at younger age they are more likely to get Shingles because that same virus is dormant in their body. The virus stays dormant around the nerve tissue of spinal cord for a long time after the person have had chickenpox. The shingles virus can
Dr. Ohoud Al Yabes last week on Tuesday, 04 October 2016. He suspected the infection with chickenpox with atypical manifestation. The patient had upper respiratory tract manifestations including fever and upper respiratory tract discharge and he had some cough followed by the very next day with appearance of rash in both of his hands and his buttocks and few rashes were seen in his feet. With time, this rash in the hands crusted, some rash developed the mouth and on the face. Dr. Ohoud sent him for admission for suspected atypical manifestation of Varicella
Chicken poxChickenpox is a mild and common childhood illness that most children catch at some point.
Shingles is a skin disease that causes large rashes and blisters. The shingles virus normally comes after you have had the chicken pox. Once you have gotten the chicken pox the shingles virus is already inside of you. This doesn’t exactly mean that you will get shingles if you have had the chicken pox it just means you are more likely to get it. The correct name of the virus that gives shingles is varicella zoster virus this virus is the same for chicken pox. The shingle virus can stay dormant inside of someone for years but when it comes awake it will travel up nerves and whatever those nerves control is what will be affected. According to (The british skin foundation) “About 20% of people who have had chickenpox will have an attack of shingles
Chicken pox- Chickenpox is a mild and common childhood illness that most children catch at some point. It causes a rash of red, itchy spots that turn into fluid-filled blisters. They then crust over to form scabs, which eventually drop off. However, even before the rash appears, the child may have some mild flu-like symptoms including:
Shingles are more likely to show up in adults who have had the chickenpox in their childhood. The shingles are caused by a viral infection known as the varicella-zoster virus. This virus is part of a group of viruses called herpes viruses (herpes zoster). Although shingles is part of this group, it is not the same in that it is not a virus that is responsible for sexually transmitted diseases. Shingles can be very painful and cause many types of infections, but it is not life-threatening and it is treatable.
It is not a serious health issue to healthy children and adults. It can cause problems for pregnant women, newborns, teens, adults, and people who have immune system problems. Chickenpox is spread easily. It can be spread by an infected person when they sneeze, cough, or you share food or drink with them. It can also be contracted by coming in contact with the liquid from a chickenpox blister. If you live with someone who has chickenpox, you have a much higher chance of contracting them. The first symptoms occur fourteen to sixteen days after a person is infected with the virus. Infected person usually feels sick and runs a fever; they have a loss of appetite, headache, cough, and sore throat. The rash appears a day or two after the other symptoms begin. After the rash appears, it takes a day or two for the spots to go through all of its stages. These stages include: blistering, bursting, drying, and crusting over. New spots will continue to appear for five to seven days. Ten days after the first symptoms is when all of the spots usually will have crusted over and it is okay to be around other
Indeed, “Social determinants are relevant to communicable and non-communicable disease alike”¹. The healthcare system work and is different among the countries and some parameters that help to maintain these inequalities are the poor control of major diseases which influenced directly on the life of expectancy. Second poverty which is linked to infectious diseases and third the poor conditions where people live and work which contribute to the mental, physical and violent deaths¹.
Acting in different levels, from micro to macro, those determinants have effect in a complex interplay of a multidirectional flow between the individual and the social scope. They are normally and roughly grouped into categories, such as individual factors interpersonal factors, institutional and community environments, broader social, economic and political influences. That concept allows explain why some people and groups are at higher risk for develop some diseases instead of others, and that is a very important key for a better understanding of its prevalence and to design more effective prevention strategies.
Before vaccines were introduced, varicella was endemic in the United States, and virtually all persons acquired varicella at some point before adulthood (cdc.gov, 2006). It is reported that 4 million cases of chickenpox were recorded in the U.S. each year before the vaccine was introduced. Although some states reported cases of varicella to the CDC, it was eliminated from the list of nationally notifiable conditions in 1981. Children under 10 years of age make up between 75 – 90 % of chickenpox cases. In 1995, due to the availability of the vaccine in the U.S., hospitalizations due to chickenpox has declined by nearly 90% (Hambleton, & Gershon, 2005).
An array of factors like personal, social, economic, and environment issues influence and determines the health of individual and population, acting in various combination (Knickman & Kovner, 2015). These determinants of health, known as population health determinants generally include genetics, access to health care, individual behavior, social determinant, physical environment (Knickman & Kovner, 2015).
Chicken Pox is a virus caused by varicella-zoster, a member of the herpes family. This same virus also is a cause of herpes zoster other known as shingles in adults. Chicken pox is very contagious and can easily spread to people. Chicken pox is acquired by coming into contact with the fluid of a chicken pox blister, or airborne by an infected person sneezing near you. The blister-like rash usually lasts five to ten days. The incubation period lasts 10-21 days and a person with chickenpox becomes contagious one to two days before their blisters appear. The person with chicken pox remains contagious until all the blisters have crusted