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Which Are the Dangers of Adult Chicken Pox?

Adult Chicken Pox

Is Adult Chicken Pox Really Dangerous?
While chickenpox in adults is not likely to lead to your death, it is much more dangerous than if you get this common disease as a child. The dangers of chicken pox in adults is actually more than just being a bit more uncomfortable, if you get adult chicken pox then it is much worse than if you get it as a child. Catching this as an adult will cause you to be more prone to getting congestion and a high fever, and the itching will be much worse.


The big risk is that you are also that you will have a severely weakened immune system and you are more likely to end up with pneumonia. Almost twenty percent of people that get adult chicken pox will get pneumonia and ten percent will get shingles. Chickenpox, like so many other childhood diseases is much worse when contracted as an adult versus as a child.

Should I Get Vaccinated?
The chances of you getting adult chickenpox are small, but the risk will be always there if you did not contract this disease during your childhood. Most people will have had this illness as a child or adolescent and those that haven’t, aren’t as likely to be in close contact with people who contract it. If you have not have this disease, then you are more than likely going to want to get a vaccine. The vaccine has proven to be effective in more than ninety percent of the population.
Getting the vaccine is a quick and fairly painless process. If you are unsure if you have had chickenpox before then it’s still a good idea to get the vaccine. This can help you to not only keep you from getting a case of adult chicken pox but also the other potential diseases that can come with it.

What If I Do Get Adult Chicken Pox?
There are not that many ways to make sure that you prevent yourself from getting chickenpox as an adult. The best bet is going to be to get the vaccine. If you find for any reason that you do end up contracting the disease then you will want to take good care of yourself. Get plenty of rest and try not to do much of anything, and make sure that you drink plenty of water. Since the itching for adult chicken pox is much more severe than in children then you will want to take some sort of diphenhydramine like Benadryl to help with that itching. It’s a good idea to make sure that you take very good care of yourself if you get adult chickenpox, so that you can prevent yourself from getting any other diseases that come along with it.

{ 8 comments… add one }
  • elaine laurie June 5, 2011, 9:49 pm

    I am 46 and have taken chickenpox. The spots just kept appearing over about 10 days. 3 weeks later 1 am in agony with a prickly sensation on my neck and forehead. Also around the area where the spots are on my arms, I have only gone out of the house twice in that time and had to come home it was so painful. Now I seem breathless alot of the time. Has anyone had similarexperiences?

  • Steve Hels July 27, 2011, 11:34 pm

    Hi,I also am 46 and have chicken pox .As soon as the rash started to get bad I went to
    the Dr.,and was diagnosed,and prescribed Valtrex which is actually a herpes medication.
    Suiting since chicken pox is of the herpes family.So I’ve taken that with lots of water,I
    mean lots,and with alot of benydryl total rest.Also I’ve put a good dose of Calamine
    lotion over everything.
    I’m four days into it and the bumps have stopped so has the itching.I’m confident I’m
    on the mend although your situation scars me

  • lisa September 22, 2012, 7:50 pm

    hi.been to the doctors this morning and he said i have chicken pox.
    im 36.told me to go home and rest and take paracetemol.my sposts
    are all down left side of my torso they itch alot have been applying plenty of calomile lotion.feeling tired alot.a few more spots have appeared in different areas now,have about 12 in total.have also developed a slight cold.the doctor said i might experience a few waves/bouts of spots.

  • Angel September 11, 2014, 12:44 am

    I am 44 and I already have fibromyalgia and lupus (ESL) and going thru radiations treatments for abdominal cancer. I have chicken pox now. It started Thursday when I started getting sores in my nose (which I though was just from my lupus when it flare) then my throat was getting hoarse, then I get up Friday morning and noticed my tail bone was itching (but I don’t scratch cause I know scratching creates infections on me , like even getting a paper cut I get an infection). So I went to work and it started itching again. So I decided to go look at it to see what’s wrong . I looked in the mirror and it looked like mosquito bites. Which is nothing new to me I always get bit there by Mosquitos and I’m wearing clothes. Later that day the itching started to get really bad. So I looked at it again and it had developed into like little head. So I put neosporin on it. It rained all of Saturday and Sunday so my throat got sore, I developed what I thought was heat rashes under npmy boobs and thigh area and lower on my abdominal. So I cleaned them with alcohol let them air dry then put neosporin on them. Later it developed on my back. Monday I went to work and noticed I couldn’t hardly sit it hurt so bad, so Tuesday morning I went to my dr. He said I have adult chicken pox and I should’ve came in when it first started. I told him my nose has sores in them and my throat hurts. He checked me out and said I have them in my nose down my throat and on the outside of my body as well. He also told me since I have fibro, lupus, an cancer this is going to fry my nervous system. In which fibro is basically nervous system . So I will be in a great deal more of pain. I take 8meds day for the fibro an lupus alone. He gave me prednisone, an antibiotic, gambapentin , and something else for the chicken pox. He said I will need to be monitored daily since I have all this because it can kill my liver, my stomach, and kidneys, I could have swelling in my brain, go blind, and a long list of other issues. He also told me that I wouldn’t get shingles later in life cause I’m not gonna live that long to get them. He said like 40-60 years.
    So I hope you all get better very soon. I know it sucks. Hugxxx

  • steve May 26, 2017, 12:21 am

    My wife got the vaccination for Shingles and had a severe reaction. She was in the hospital for 10 days. Now she keeps getting rashes on her back and arms. she is miserable !! It seems like the medical system we belong to doesn’t want to acknowledge that it is from the vaccine… They just keep giving her topical steroids, very frustrating. Wish she would have never got it.

  • SANDRA HILL August 27, 2017, 8:01 pm

    I had the chicken pox when I was a child. My Granddaughter is 22 years old and I have been applying the calomine lotion to her body at least twice daily. Am I in any way susceptible to getting them again?

  • benita February 12, 2018, 3:15 pm

    I was 24 when I got the chicken pox took lots of benadryl,oakmeal bath and alot of rest. Then in 94 develop a rash that started out on my knees and elbows and the more I itch the more it would spread and this rash would spread from head to my feet. At times when it was on the bottom of my feet it was painfull to walk and there would be times I would have it on my lips and it would look like someone had punch. When I first started having this problem I was around my dad and itching really bad that he ask me if I had fleas and I said no dad I don’t know what it is so he help to get test done to see if it was alergies and everything came back negative. So I change my deodrant and laundry soap to arm and hammer and had to monitor my eating habbits but with all that nothing change. But the only thing that doctors could come up with is I had cronic hives and gave me a script call doxipen, along with bendryl,epipen shot and lots of rest.These hives I had to deal with for 2 years straight and often and on for another 2 more years.But over the years they come back and last for a month or a week.But if I was to ever get this again hopefully with medical science someone can give me a better understanding as to why this happen and lasted for as long it did.My ? would be was this some type of shingles as well and would I develop shingles from having chicken pox as an adult.

  • Becky March 18, 2019, 4:52 pm

    I have had hives/rashes off and on since I was a kid. I have bad allergies now later in life and found that I have a histamine intolerance. Basically if it’s in a box, bag or can don’t eat it. I did that for about a year now and hives have not reappeared. I add foods in to see what I can tolerate and so far, so good.

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