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Symptoms of Chickenpox

by Cynthia M. Johnson, MA
En Español (Spanish Version)
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Symptoms start 10 to 21 days after a person has come in contact with the virus.

Before the classic rash, a person may have:

  • Fever
  • General feeling of discomfort
  • Headache
  • Belly pain

A person will then get a rash that turns into itchy, fluid-filled blisters. It may spread over the whole body, including the mouth, eyelids, and genitals. The blisters will burst and scab over in 4 to 7 days. The scabs fall off in about 3 weeks.

REFERENCES:

Chickenpox. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:https://www.dynamed.com/condition/chickenpox. Accessed September 8, 2020.

Chickenpox. Family Doctor—American Academy of Family Physicians website. Available at: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/chickenpox.html. Accessed September 8, 2020.

Chickenpox (varicella). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox. Accessed September 8, 2020.

Gershon AA, Breuer J, et al. Varicella zoster virus infection. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2015 Jul 2;1:15016.

Last reviewed March 2020 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Shawna Grubb, RN  Last Updated: 3/23/2021