How to treat chickenpox at home and whether you can…

How to treat chickenpox at home and whether you can get a vaccine - dos and don'ts for parents

A debate has been taking place over chickenpox vaccines for children and if they should be added to the NHS childhood vaccination schedule.

A new study found that most parents would accept chickenpox jabs for their kids if they were on the vaccination schedule. According to the research, about three-quarters of parents would support routine immunisation against chickenpox during childhood.

The findings, published in the journal Vaccine, were based on survey results from about 600 parents assessing their attitudes to the jab. The researchers said making chickenpox jabs routinely available would mean parents will no longer need to expose their children to risky "chickenpox parties".

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is considering whether to recommend adding chickenpox vaccination to the schedule. But what is the best way to treat chickenpox at home? And are any vaccines available at the moment?

Here's some information for parents from the NHS. More advice can be found here.

Symptoms of chickenpox

Chickenpox is common and mostly affects children, but you can get it at any age. It usually gets better by itself after one to two weeks without needing to see a GP.

An itchy, spotty rash is the main symptom of chickenpox. It can be anywhere on the body and happens in three stages - small spots appear, the spots become blisters and then the blisters become scabs.

Other symptoms

Before or after the rash appears, you might also get:

a high temperature
aches and pains, and generally feeling unwell
loss of appetite

Chickenpox is very itchy and can make children feel miserable, even if they do not have many spots.

How to treat chickenpox at home

You'll need to stay away from school or nursery until all the spots have formed a scab. This is usually five days after the spots appeared.

Do

drink plenty of fluid (try ice lollies if your child is not drinking) to avoid dehydration
take paracetamol to help with pain and discomfort
cut your child's fingernails and put socks on their hands at night to stop them scratching
use cooling creams or gels from a pharmacy
speak to a pharmacist about using antihistamine medicine to help itching
bathe in cool water and pat the skin dry (do not rub)
dress in loose clothes

Don’t

do not use ibuprofen unless advised to do so by a doctor, as it may cause serious skin infections
do not give aspirin to children under 16
do not go near newborn babies, people who are pregnant and people with a weakened immune system, as chickenpox can be dangerous for them
do not scratch the spots, as scratching can cause scarring

Speak to a GP if

you're not sure it's chickenpox
you're concerned about your child

Tell the receptionist you think it might be chickenpox before going in to a GP surgery.

The chickenpox vaccine

Several countries such as the US, Japan, Australia and Canada include chickenpox vaccine in their routine childhood vaccination programmes. In the UK, it is not part of NHS childhood immunisations but is available to those who demonstrate a clinical need.

You can only get the chickenpox vaccine on the NHS if there's a risk of harming someone with a weakened immune system if you spread the virus to them. For example, a child can be vaccinated if one of their parents is having chemotherapy.

You can also pay for the vaccine at some private clinics or travel clinics. It costs between £120 and £200. More information about the vaccine is available here.

Do you think chickenpox jabs for children should be added to the vaccination schedule? Let us know in our poll below. If you can't see it, click HERE to open in a new browser window

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