Some questions about chickenpox

Chickenpox occurs all year round, but is particularly common in winter and spring and can become epidemic. But babies less than 3 months old rarely get chickenpox. Children under 10 years old are susceptible to the disease, with the highest incidence among children aged 1 to 4 years old.

After the child is infected, he or she will develop fever, and papules, herpes and scabs will appear on the skin in batches. Around 14 to 17 days after being infected, fever symptoms of around 38°C begin to appear and last for 1 to 2 days, accompanied by headache, runny nose, cough and other symptoms. The rash usually appears after a few hours to a day. Initially, small red rash spots like mosquito bites appear on the abdomen or back. There are only 1 to 2 spots at the beginning, and after a few hours, they develop to the wrists and legs. Part of it turns into blisters (from the size of millet grains to mung beans). 24 hours after the rash occurred, red rash spots and blisters appeared on the face, back, abdomen, limbs, etc., and some were scabbed. It seemed that three rash shapes coexisted.

When you use your hands to part your hair and look closely, you can also find blisters on your scalp. If you see a red rash on the roof of your mouth, you can probably diagnose chickenpox.

It takes 20 days for the scab to dry and fall off. At this time, there is generally no virus in the scab.

Treatment

Because chickenpox is generally mild, if it is confirmed to be chickenpox, you can take care of it at home instead of going to the hospital. However, children over 10 years old who suffer from chickenpox are prone to high fever, frequent rashes, severe symptoms, and scars. Therefore, children should be protected from chickenpox as early as possible.

People who have had chickenpox as children and are immune will show symptoms when they get the disease again as adults, which is called herpes zoster. It spreads along the nerves on one side of the body and becomes herpes with neuralgia.

Chickenpox is caused by a viral infection, so antibiotics are ineffective. Traditional Chinese medicine can be used clinically to fight the virus. If the symptoms are mild, you don’t need to take any medicine, just rest appropriately and adjust your diet.

Dietary conditioning

Food appropriateness

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that chickenpox is caused by the accumulation of dampness and heat in the body and external pathogenic viruses, so there is no need to strengthen nutrition. For a light diet, you can eat some gruel, rice soup, milk, noodles and bread, and you can also add some soy products, lean pork, etc.

During chickenpox, sick children may have dry stools due to fever. At this time, they need to add enough water, drink more water, and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, such as drinking watermelon juice and fresh pear juice. , fresh orange juice and tomato juice. Eat more leafy vegetables, such as cabbage, celery, spinach, and bean sprouts. Vegetables with leaves contain more crude fiber, which can help remove accumulated heat in the body and facilitate defecation; you can also eat winter melon, cucumber, etc., which can clear away heat and relieve dampness.

Food taboos

1. Raw, cold and greasy food.

2. Hair things. Foods rich in protein such as fish, shrimp, crab, beef, mutton, coriander, fennel, fungi, etc. These foreign proteins can easily produce allergens, which can cause allergic reactions in the body and worsen the condition.

3. Spicy and irritating food. For example, hot pepper, pepper, ginger and garlic can cause internal heat and are not conducive to early recovery.

In addition, some dietary therapies can also be used for chickenpox. The symptoms of chickenpox are different at different stages, and the dietary treatment methods used are also different:

1. Early stage of chickenpox

1. Make an appropriate amount of red bean soup instead of tea, or add an appropriate amount of water and simmer over low heat Eat porridge.

2. 30 grams of winter melon rind or 15 to 30 grams of winter melon seeds. Decoction with water, add rock sugar and drink.

3. 60 grams of rice, 1 lotus leaf. First cook the rice porridge. When the porridge is cooked, cover the porridge with washed lotus leaves and it is ready to eat.

2. When chickenpox appears for a long time

30 to 50 grams of bamboo leaves, 45 to 60 grams of gypsum, 50 to 100 grams of rice, and an appropriate amount of rock sugar or white sugar. First wash the bamboo leaves, boil them with gypsum and water for 30 minutes, remove the residue, add rice and cook into gruel, add appropriate amount of sugar to taste and take it 2 to 3 times a day for 3 to 5 days.

3. When the fever subsides and scabs begin to form

1. 10 grams of lily, 6 grams of almonds, and 60 grams of adzuki beans. Cook porridge and take it for several days.

2. 1 sweet pear. Cut the pear into thin slices, put it in ice-cold boiling water, soak it for several days, and drink it frequently.

Prevention and care

Chickenpox is highly contagious. Children who are found to be sick should be isolated immediately until all the scabs on the herpes have scabbed off.

During the chickenpox epidemic, children who have not had chickenpox should avoid going to public places. After contact with a child infected with chickenpox, the child should be quarantined at home for 3 weeks.

Children suffering from chickenpox should completely avoid contact with people with pyogenic bacteria at home. Cut your nails regularly, wash your hands, and change your shirt and underwear every day.

Clothes and utensils contaminated by the patient's respiratory secretions or rash contents should be disinfected by exposure, boiling, ultraviolet irradiation, etc.

The indoor air should be circulated, and attention should be paid to avoid wind and cold to prevent the recurrence of external evils.

Do not scratch the skin to prevent secondary infection. Use gentian violet solution with a concentration of 2% for external application.

Sick children are contraindicated in taking hormones. Sick children who are taking hormones should stop using them immediately or reduce the dosage.

How does Chinese medicine treat chickenpox?

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that chickenpox is caused by exogenous pathogenic factors that damage the lungs and spleen, produce dampness and heat, and occur in the skin. Treatment is mainly based on dispersing wind, clearing away heat, detoxifying and removing dampness. According to the severity of the condition, it can be divided into the following two types:

1. Wind-heat syndrome with dampness

a. Symptoms: Mild , symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, chickenpox with red and sparse distribution, clear and bright water content, accompanied by itching, poor appetite, loose stools, thin white tongue coating, and floating pulse.

b. Treatment: The method of dispelling wind and relieving the surface, clearing away heat and removing dampness is suitable. Fang chooses Yinqiao Powder to add or subtract.

2. Syndrome of excessive dampness and heat

a. Symptoms: It is a severe syndrome and is more common in children with weak constitution. Severe fever, characterized by intense heat and polydipsia, red lips and face, lethargy, dense acne rashes, dark purple color, turbid and opaque acne pulp, and even herpes in the mouth, accompanied by dry mouth and desire to drink, dry stools, and short red urine , the tongue coating is yellow, thick and dry, and the pulse is rapid or slippery. This is when the evil is strong and strong, and the evil of dampness, heat and poison is invaded internally.

b. Treatment: Treatment should increase the power of clearing away heat, cooling blood and detoxifying. Choose the flavored disinfectant drink. Depending on the specific situation of the patient, western medicine can be appropriately selected for symptomatic treatment, such as reducing fever and relieving itching. The rest of the requirements of Chinese and Western medicine are consistent in terms of nursing, diet, disinfection, isolation, etc.

Diet for chickenpox

1. Diet principles for chickenpox

a. A liquid or semi-liquid diet that is easy to digest and rich in nutrients should be given. It is advisable to drink mung bean soup, silver flower dew, wheat soup, porridge, noodles, dragon whisker egg noodles, etc., and drink more boiled water and beverages.

b. Avoid greasy, ginger, pepper and other irritating foods and hair-raising substances.

2. Dietary therapy for chickenpox

(1) Dietary therapy to dispel wind and clear away heat

a. Carrot and coriander soup: 60 grams each of carrot and coriander, washed Chop it into pieces, add water to boil, add rock sugar and take it, 1 dose a day, divided into 3 times. Take it for one week, and the baby only takes the soup.

b. Honeysuckle and sugarcane tea: 10 grams of honeysuckle, 100 ml of sugarcane juice. Decoct honeysuckle in water to 100 ml and add sugarcane juice instead of tea. It can be taken frequently. One dose per day, 7 to 10 days as a course of treatment.

(2) Detoxification and dampness food therapy

a. Coix and red bean porridge: 20 grams of coix, 30 grams each of red beans and smilax, 100 grams of japonica rice, washed** *Cook, porridge, cooked beans and mashed beans mixed with rock sugar. Take 1 dose daily, divided into 3 times. It is suitable for those who have had chickenpox, have fever, red urine, fatigue and poor appetite.

b. Purslane and water chestnut paste: 30 grams each of fresh purslane and water chestnut powder, 15 grams of rock sugar. Wash the fresh purslane and pound it into juice. Take the juice and mix it with water chestnut powder. Add rock sugar and roll with a rolling mill. Boil water until cooked to a paste. 1 dose daily. It is suitable for those who have had chickenpox or are about to have it, and have fever, irritability, and loose stools.