The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is seeing an increase in the number of chickenpox cases within the CNMI, according to a CHCC news release yesterday. Since June 15, 2022, there have been seven reported cases of chickenpox, it added.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The virus spreads easily from people with chickenpox to others who have never had the disease or never been vaccinated. The virus spreads mainly through close contact with someone who has chickenpox or shingles.<\/p>\n
Chickenpox vaccination <\/strong><\/p>\n The best way to prevent chickenpox is to get the chickenpox vaccine. Call the CHCC Immunization Program at (670) 236-8745 to ensure that you or your loved ones are up to date with their vaccinations. The CDC recommends two doses of chickenpox vaccine for children, adolescents, and adults. Children should receive two doses of the vaccine\u2014the first dose at 12 through 15 months old and a second dose at 4 through 6 years old.<\/p>\n People with active or recently diagnosed chickenpox should inform their family or friends to stay up to date with their vaccinations or inform health officials of their contact information so they may be properly treated.<\/p>\n Most children do not have any side effects from the chickenpox vaccine shot. The side effects that do occur are usually mild, and may include soreness, redness, or swelling where the shot was given; fever; mild rash; and temporary pain and stiffness in the joints.<\/p>\n Chickenpox symptoms <\/strong><\/p>\n Chickenpox illness usually lasts about four to seven days, and children usually miss five to six days of school or childcare due to chickenpox. A person with chicken pox is contagious until all of the rash has scabbed or crusted over.<\/p>\n The classic symptom of chickenpox is a rash that turns into itchy, fluid-filled blisters that eventually turn into scabs. Other typical symptoms that may begin to appear one to two days before rash include: fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, and headache.<\/p>\n Chickenpox treatment <\/strong><\/p>\n There are several things that you can do at home to help relieve chickenpox symptoms and prevent skin infections. Calamine lotion and a cool bath with added baking soda, uncooked oatmeal, or colloidal oatmeal may help relieve some of the itching.<\/p>\n Try to keep fingernails trimmed short and minimize scratching to prevent the virus from spreading to others and to help prevent skin breakage and skin infections. If you do scratch a blister by accident, wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.<\/p>\n Do not use aspirin or aspirin-containing products to relieve fever from chickenpox. The use of aspirin in children with chickenpox has been associated with Reye\u2019s syndrome, a severe disease that affects the liver and brain and can cause death. Instead, use non-aspirin medications, such as acetaminophen, to relieve fever from chickenpox. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends avoiding treatment with ibuprofen if possible because it has been associated with life-threatening bacterial skin infections.<\/p>\n When to seek medical care<\/strong><\/p>\n It is important that you call your health care provider before visiting. For people exposed to chickenpox, call a health care provider if the person:<\/p>\n \u2022 Has never had chickenpox and is not vaccinated with the chickenpox vaccine<\/p>\n \u2022 Is less than 1 year old<\/p>\n \u2022 Is pregnant<\/p>\n \u2022 Has a lowered ability to fight germs and sickness (weakened immune system).<\/p>\n If these individuals get chickenpox, it can lead to more serious illness. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911, especially if you develop any of the following symptoms:<\/p>\n \u2022 Fever that lasts longer than four days<\/p>\n \u2022 Fever that rises above 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius)<\/p>\n \u2022 Any areas of the rash or any part of the body becomes very red, warm, or tender, or begins leaking pus (thick, discolored fluid), as these symptoms may indicate a bacterial infection;<\/p>\n \u2022 Difficulty waking up or confused behavior<\/p>\n \u2022 Difficulty walking<\/p>\n \u2022 Stiff neck<\/p>\n \u2022 Frequent vomiting<\/p>\n \u2022 Difficulty breathing<\/p>\n \u2022 Severe cough<\/p>\n \u2022 Severe abdominal pain<\/p>\n \u2022 Rash with bleeding or bruising (hemorrhagic rash) (PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is seeing an increase in the number of chickenpox cases within…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":372245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[257],"class_list":["post-372244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-nmi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}