Chickenpox symptoms

The illness may start with tiredness, reduced appetite, headache, or fever before the rash is obvious. Small red or pink spots can appear on the face, scalp, chest, back, or elsewhere, then become itchy blisters. New spots may arrive while older ones are drying, so the rash can show several stages at once.

Chickenpox is caused by varicella. Shingles is a later reactivation of the same virus and usually has a different pattern, often with painful grouped blisters in a band on one side. A healthcare professional can help distinguish them from insect bites, eczema, or another blistering rash.

Keep nails short, wash hands, and use gentle skin care to reduce damage from scratching. Cool baths, loose clothing, and advice from a pharmacist may ease irritation. Avoid giving aspirin to children with a viral illness, and check before using medicines for fever or itch. A GP consultation is useful if the diagnosis is uncertain or the person is at higher risk of complications.

Contact a clinician promptly if breathing becomes difficult, the person is confused or unusually sleepy, fever is persistent or returns, or the skin becomes increasingly painful, hot, red, swollen, or covered with pus. Seek advice early for infants, pregnancy, adults with a new rash, or a weakened immune system. Keep the person away from vulnerable contacts until a clinician advises that they are no longer infectious.

Ask whether the rash matches chickenpox, how to control the itch, which fever medicine is appropriate, and when school, work, or contact with others can safely resume.