Chicken pox has a fancier medical name called varicella zoster. It is a virus which infects the body causing the typical illness. To understand why it is called "chicken pox" see "Why is it called Chicken Pox?".

Almost never. Except for children and adults who have immune system problems, getting chicken pox confers life-long immunity. Now, the minute I say never, someone will come up with a story about how he or one of his family got it twice. While this is a possibility, it is extremely rare. Most of the time, these stories turn out that the original chicken pox "infection" was a rash that was mistaken for chicken pox.

It doesn't happen very often, but it's your decision to jump or not to. Nobody will ever force you to jump, and we'll gladly land the plane with you inside it. If you decide not to jump before you are geared up, we'll be happy to give you a refund.

it is likely that the eggs that reach the consumer were laid several hours ago, the likelihood of infection is low, even if the droppings were carrying the avian flu virus. The avian flu virus is destroyed by drying, and exposure to sunlight for a few hours. However, in the event of a pandemic, recent droppings are to be considered infective unless proven otherwise.

Chicken manure is high in nitrogen, so it is considered "hot". It will need to be composted before putting it directly onto your garden. once it has broken down, it then becomes perfect food for the garden. A Polyphemus moth rests on the outside of the coop. Good thing! If it were on the inside, it would make a tasty snack for one of the hens.

Humans are the only animals that get chicken pox. Therefore, the only way to catch it is by being around a person who has it. The virus is spread through secretions and by tiny droplets, so sharing saliva (kissing, infant's toys, etc.), sneezing, and coughing are good ways to get the virus from one person to another.

The most contagious time occurs when the person is going through the cold-like symptoms which is usually two to five days before the rash shows up. Therefore, the time in which someone is most contagious occurs before the person even knows he has chicken pox! After the rash appears, the person is infectious for about 5 days or until all the lesions have begun crusting over. This does not mean the lesions need to have gone away or fallen off, just crusted over.

Unfortunately, there isn't much that can be done to completely eliminate the symptoms once a child is infected with chicken pox. Therefore, treatment is geared to trying to alleviate the pain, itch, and fever of chicken pox. Because of the association of Reye's Syndrome and aspirin use during chicken pox, acetaminophen (Tylenol, Tempra, etc.) should be the only medication used to treat fever during this illness.

Chicken pox is a relatively benign infection for most. However, more serious complications do uncommonly occur, and it is these more serious complications that constitute the biggest argument to give the chicken pox vaccine. Some of these complications include: The most common of these otherwise uncommon complications is infection of the skin due to bacteria invading the open sores of the chicken pox. Most of the time, these skin infections are easily treated with antibiotics by mouth.

Children with immune problems can have significant problems if infected with chicken pox. These include those children infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, those with cancer, those on steroids for other illnesses, and newborn babies.

The most effective way to prevent chicken pox in children is to get the vaccine. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children over 12 months of age receive this vaccine. The vaccine licensed in the U.S. has been used for a little over six years now and immunity has been holding relatively strong. About 95 percent of children remain immune after six years. However, because it is not 100 percent, these children will most likely require booster shots as an adult.

This is entirely up to you and your child's doctor. As I said, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends vaccinating all children against this disease. There are a lot of pros and cons to this issue, so open discussion with you and your child's doctor is important.

During a pandemic, do not come in contact with fresh droppings. Use some other manure until such time the pandemic has cleared

middot; Most adults are immune to chicken pox, either from having the disease of by forming immunity from a mild exposure. If you have had chicken pox in the past, you and your baby are protected (immune). If you are not sure, ask your health care provider to check your immunity with a blood test. If this shows positive immunity, you and your baby are protected. If it shows no immunity, an injection of a medicine called Varicella Immune Globulin (VZIG) may be given to prevent chicken pox.

Yes. If the pregnant woman has definitely had chicken pox in the past there should not a risk of exposing the fetus to the virus. However, to be on the safe side, children with chicken pox should avoid coming in contact with pregnant women.

Yes, eating properly cooked poultry, as well as eggs, is safe. The U.S. government has banned imported poultry from countries affected by bird flu. At the present time, bird flu is not present in the U.S. For protection against many types of food borne diseases, such as Salmonella, all poultry should be cooked to 165? F or hotter. Cooking also destroys flu viruses.

It is safe to eat properly handled and cooked chicken and other poultry (turkey, ducks, etc.) products. Even if poultry and eggs were to be contaminated with the avian virus, proper cooking would kill it. You should follow these guidelines when cooking poultry:

By demonstrating a verbal history verified by a healthcare provider; by vaccination with two doses of Varivax; or by a blood test that shows immunity to varicella.