How long is chickenpox infectious for?

Question
I will be looking after my three-year-old niece on Saturday who is just recovering from chickenpox.

I am concerned whether it is safe to do so as I have a five-year-old daughter who hasn't caught the disease yet and we will be going on holiday on 23rd June and would hate for her to catch it beforehand.

My niece's spots first appeared on Friday 2nd June. She has been constantly scratching them and on Saturday 3rd June she was taken into hospital due to her temperature getting so high that it brought on convulsions. Her temperature was brought down and she was sent home and told to keep away from nursery for the week.

She has apparently been back to nursery yesterday and has three spots left which are black and scabby. What do I do?

Is she 100 per cent not contagious or should I refrain from looking after her. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
I think you can be 100 per cent confident that your daughter will not catch chicken pox from your niece if you look after her this Saturday.

Once the blisters of the chickenpox rash have dried out and crusted over, there should be no risk of the infection being passed on to someone else.

The infectious stage of chicken pox usually lasts between five to ten days, and as you say that your niece's spots first appeared on June 2nd, she will be well past the infectious phase by this coming weekend.

I can well understand why you don't want your daughter to get chickenpox before, or during, your holiday but in general it is a much less unpleasant illness for children than for adults so I'd try and make sure she DOES get it sometime in the next few years. You'd be doing her a favour, I promise!

Yours sincerely

The Medical Team