Chickenpox (varicella) is a highly contagious infection with the varicella-zoster virus that produces a characteristic itchy rash, consisting of small, raised, blistered or crusted spots.
Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease of childhood. Before the introduction of a vaccine in 1995, about 90% of children developed chickenpox by age 15. Now, the use of the vaccine has decreased the number of cases of chickenpox per year by about 70%. The disease is spread by airborne droplets of moisture containing the varicella-zoster virus. A person with chickenpox is most contagious just after symptoms start but remains contagious until the last blisters have crusted.
Although most people with chickenpox simply have sores on the skin and in the mouth, the virus sometimes infects the lungs, brain, heart, or joints. Such serious infections are more common in newborns, adults, and people with an impaired immune system.
A person who has had chickenpox develops immunity and cannot contract it again. However, the varicella-zoster virus remains dormant in the body after an initial infection with chickenpox, sometimes reactivating in later life, causing shingles.
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