Treating chickenpox

Pediatrics for Parents, April, 2002 by Harry Pellman

The standard treatment for a child with chickenpox is aimed at lessening the itching. The disease has to run its course and nothing shortens its duration.

Acyclovir is an anti-viral medicine that has been recommended as a treatment for chickenpox even though until now it's benefits haven't been clearly defined. Most doctors believe that if it was not started within the first 24 hours of the appearance of the rash, there was no reason to use it. It's been unclear whether the drug really affected the course of the disease.

To try to better understand the proper role of acyclovir in the treatment of chickenpox, doctors at the University of Minnesota Medical School studied 177 children and adolescents with chickenpox.

They found that starting treatment within the first 24 hours of the appearance of the rash is best, but those children who received the drug within 48 hours of the onset of the rash still benefited.

Treatment with acyclovir resulted in shorter time to the appearance of the greatest number of lesions and healing time. In addition, these children were infectious for a shorter time. They also found that when started within 48 hours of the appearance of the rash, treating for 7 days had no advantage over a 5 day course of medicine.

When started promptly after the appearance of chickenpox, acyclovir shortens the course of the illness and it's severity. In addition, the drug helps to lessen the amount of time the ailing child is infectious.

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 11/01.