What should you know about first chickenpox?

Chickenpox, also called varicella, commonly causes fever, tiredness, reduced appetite, and an itchy rash. New spots can appear while earlier ones become blisters and then scabs, so the rash may look like it is at different stages at once. Scratching can break the skin and allow bacterial infection. After recovery, the virus remains in the body and can reactivate later as shingles; shingles is a different illness with a different pattern.

Keep the nails short, use loose clothing, and encourage gentle skin care rather than scratching. A cool bath, soothing moisturiser, or an oral antihistamine recommended by a clinician or pharmacist may reduce itch. Give fluids and use fever medicine only as advised for the person’s age and health. Keep the person away from pregnant people, newborns, and anyone with reduced immunity until a clinician confirms they are no longer contagious. Do not give aspirin to children.

Contact a GP promptly if the person is pregnant, very young, immunocompromised, or an adult with a new suspected rash, because treatment decisions may be time-sensitive. Seek urgent care for breathing difficulty, severe headache, confusion, repeated vomiting, dehydration, a rapidly spreading painful rash, or blisters near the eyes. A clinician can confirm chickenpox and decide whether antiviral treatment is appropriate.

Ask how long isolation should continue, which itch and fever measures are suitable, whether close contacts need vaccination advice, and how to tell chickenpox from another blistering illness. Mention the date of rash onset and any recent exposure.