Chicken pox

Chicken pox is caused by the varicella zoster virus. The virus is microscopically small, light and can survive for a short time (up to 48 hours) outside of the body.

The virus is transmitted either through direct body contact or by droplet infection. With a droplet infection, the virus is spread by tiny droplets of liquid that are catapulted into the environment through coughing and sneezing. Via draughts of wind, it can also reach people who are not in the direct vicinity of the sufferer.

Patients with chicken pox can already be carrying the virus around 2 days before the visible signs of the disease appear and remain infectious until new blisters stop forming.

Special characteristics

If you have had chicken pox once, you will not get this skin disease again. For the body's own defence (immune system) already 'flags' the structure of the virus with the help of memory cells during the first infection and thus, in the event of a new infection can proceed against it so quickly that the symptoms which accompany chicken pox do not form in the first place (immunity). However, the varicella zoster virus is also not completely eliminated out of the organism when the disease heals up. Instead, it 'hides' for the rest of that person's life in neural nodes from the cells and messenger substances of the immune system. If another varicella zoster virus infection or another trigger (e.g. stress, injuries) occurs in adulthood, the hidden viruses can be reactivated or cause another clinical pattern: the zoster (synonyms: herpes zoster, shingles).