Amongst the most common childhood diseases, chicken pox is classified under the herpes family of viruses. This is an incredibly contagious condition and if you have more than one child, the likelihood of the uninfected child getting chicken pox is very high. While chicken pox does not make your child feel ill, she will experience symptoms of fatigue and an itchy rash all over the body. This rash usually begins in the scalp as red spots. Over the course of the next few days/weeks, these spots develop into blisters that are filled with fluid.
Chicken pox is most likely to spread in the first few days that your child is sick, well before the rash begins to manifest. After the rash develops, the fluid contained in the lesions is considered highly contagious but once the lesion breaks and begins to develop into a scab, it will not spread the virus any more. If your child begins behave in a listless, tired sort of way and does not display his usual appetite, you should take him to a doctor and rule out all possibilities, especially if he has been exposed to a child who has contracted chicken pox recently. This way, you can reduce the chance of your other children, if any, getting the disease.
answered by G M