School vacations don’t seem to start off well for everyone. According to the Sentinels medical network, the first week of July marked the comeback of chickenpox. The incidence rate of cases of chickenpox seen in consultation in metropolitan France is about 32 cases per 100,000 inhabitants on average, according to the epidemiological bulletin of July 8. Eleven outbreaks were observed in the territory, the most important being located in Alsace (90 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), in Brittany (89 cases), in Provence-Alpes-Côte-D’azur (74 cases) and in Rhône- Alps (57 cases).
Then follow Auvergne, Champagne-Ardenne, Corsica, Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon, Franche-Comté and Center, with between 51 and 20 cases each.
If it is said to be benign, chickenpox is however a very contagious disease. Caused by a virus, it mainly affects children under 15, 90%. At theadult, the infection is more severe but also much rarer.
Initially, small pink patches appear on the skin, along with moderate fever and possibly abdominal pain and headaches. The plaques then turn into vesicles containing a yellowish liquid, then dry out and become scabs after 2 days. They fall off about 10 days later, when the disease disappears completely. People with chickenpox are contagious between 48 hours before symptoms and 5 days after the appearance of the plaques. The virus involved is transmitted through skin lesions or drops of saliva. The time between contagion and the onset of symptoms is 14 days.
If the disease is not serious in itself, complications can occur, especially in the elderly and / or in immunocompromised people, for whom vaccine is recommended.
Read also :
Chickenpox: stop preconceived ideas
Chickenpox settles in France
Epidemic: can my child escape chickenpox?
