Enlarge / Chickenpox on a 1-year-old. (credit score: BSIP/UIG By way of Getty Photos)
Due to the vaccination program that started in 1995, chickenpox is now comparatively uncommon. Instances of the depressing, itchy situation have fallen greater than 97 %. However, whereas youngsters have largely put the oatmeal baths and oven mitts behind them, docs have apparently let their diagnostic expertise get a bit of crusty.
In line with a examine printed Thursday, public well being researchers in Minnesota discovered that 55 % of individuals identified with chickenpox primarily based on their signs have been truly destructive for the varicella-zoster virus, the virus that causes chickenpox. The examine famous that the folks have been all identified in individual by well being care suppliers in medical amenities. However, as an alternative of chickenpox, lab testing confirmed that among the sufferers have been truly contaminated with an enterovirus, which may trigger a rash, or the herpes simplex virus 1, which causes chilly sores.
The examine, printed within the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, helps increasing laboratory testing for suspected chickenpox instances within the state’s program and highlights that diagnoses primarily based on signs are “unreliable.”
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