Chicken Pox

Patients are considered Infectious with

varicella if any one of the following
conditions is met.
 By the airborne route.
• Primary Varicella Infection with a generalized
rash (chicken pox)
• Disseminated Herpes Zoster (shingles) defined
as involvement of more than one nerve root
distribution.
• Herpes Zoster (shingles) in an
immunosuppressed patient
 By the contact route
• Direct skin to skin contact with the vesicles of
any infected person
A person is considered to be exposed to varicella
if he/she does not have a mask on and has
contact with a person with varicella for at least
five minutes at a time when the person with
varicella is unmasked. Patients with chickenpox
are most contagious for 1 to 2 days before and
shortly after the onset of the rash, but
contagiousness may persist until all the lesions
have crusted (approximately 5 days).
 What should I do if a someone is exposed?

If a someone is exposed to someone with

varicella (chickenpox) and isimmune, he/she
does not need to alter any activities. He/she
should not develop chickenpox and cannot
spread the disease to others.
If a someone is exposed to someone with
chickenpox and is not immune, he/she may
develop chickenpox and be contagious to others.
The incubation period (the time between
exposure to infection and the appearance of the
first symptom) is 10-21 days, generally 12-14
days after exposure. Since a person is
contagious to others for up to two days before
the characteristic rash appears, he/she should
be isolated for 8-21 days after the exposure.