Chickenpox is a common childhood viral disease--and no, it is not transmitted by chickens. One theory behind the origin of the name "chickenpox" is that the blisters that appear as part of the usually mild disease looked to some like chickpeas, while the word "pox" can mean either a curse or skin eruption. In Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, he related it to an inferior form of smallpox, then a real danger. Whatever the actual origin of the term, the virus, varicella zoster, struck about three million children in 2007 in the United States alone, although that number is decreasing due to the use of preventative vaccines.
Transmission
Chickenpox is easily transmitted through direct contact with the active fluid in the skin eruptions or by fluid contact (saliva, mucous, etc.) in the air when in close proximate to someone who has just contracted it. However, no symptoms form immediately, so a person doesn't necessarily know she has it for the first couple of days, and then may just think it is just a cold. Once the pox marks form, the disease is easily recognizable and anyone in contact with the open blisters is likely to get the disease if they haven't had it or haven't been inoculated against it. Once all the blisters are crusted over, or about 10 days from the beginning of the disease, the patient is no longer contagious.
Course
The duration of chickenpox is about 10 to 14 days, with the main annoyance being intense itching on and around the spots. Calamine lotion, oatmeal baths and cool wash cloths on the affected areas can all helps with the itching, but health professionals warn that children should have their fingernails cut short and not break the blisters open because further infection might result. While most of the cases of chickenpox are mild and soon forgotten, a few cases, especially in adults, can be more acute when the patient's immune system is compromised for other reasons. The virus remains dormant in the patient thereafter, and can erupt years later as herpes zoster, or "shingles," when the immune system is down. Shingles can't be transmitted, but can infect unvaccinated children and adults with the chickenpox virus.
