What virus causes the chicken pox

Learn more information about clinical features, complications, and assessing immunity to varicella. See guidelines for collecting and shipping specimens to CDC lab and interpretation of laboratory tests. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.

Chickenpox Varicella. Section Navigation. Ferri FF. Herpes zoster. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Philadelphia, Pa. Bennett JE, et al. Chickenpox and herpes zoster varicella-zoster virus. Shingles: Clinical overview. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Longo DL, et al. Varicella-zoster virus infections. In: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. New York, N. Albrecht MA, et al. Vaccination for the prevention of shingles herpes zoster. Accessed Sept.

Zostavax zoster vaccine live recommendations. Shingrix recommendations. Herpes zoster shingles. Mayo Clinic; Related Shingles Shingles affects the nerves Shingles and alcohol Shingles vaccine: Can I transmit the vaccine virus to others? Shingles vaccine: Should I get it? Show more related content. A few people can get chickenpox more than once, but this is rare. If you've been vaccinated and still get chickenpox, symptoms are often milder, with fewer blisters and mild or no fever.

Chickenpox is normally a mild disease. But it can be serious and can lead to complications including:. Low birth weight and limb abnormalities are more common among babies born to women who are infected with chickenpox early in their pregnancy.

When a mother is infected with chickenpox in the week before birth or within a couple of days after giving birth, her baby has a higher risk of developing a serious, life-threatening infection. If you're pregnant and not immune to chickenpox, talk to your doctor about the risks to you and your unborn child. If you've had chickenpox, you're at risk of a complication called shingles.

The varicella-zoster virus remains in your nerve cells after the skin infection has healed. Many years later, the virus can reactivate and resurface as shingles — a painful cluster of short-lived blisters. The virus is more likely to reappear in older adults and people who have weakened immune systems.

The pain of shingles can last long after the blisters disappear. This is called postherpetic neuralgia and can be severe. The shingles vaccine Shingrix is recommended for adults who have had chickenpox. Shingrix is approved and recommended for people age 50 and older, including those who've previously received another shingles vaccine Zostavax.

Zostavax, which isn't recommended until age 60, is no longer sold in the United States. The chickenpox varicella vaccine is the best way to prevent chickenpox. When the vaccine doesn't provide complete protection, it significantly lessens the severity of chickenpox.

Young children. In the United States, children receive two doses of the varicella vaccine — the first between ages 12 and 15 months and the second between ages 4 and 6 years — as part of the routine childhood vaccination schedule. The vaccine can be combined with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, but for some children between the ages of 12 and 23 months, the combination may increase the risk of fever and seizure from the vaccine.

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