Can smallpox be contagious twice even though it has been exposed to it before?

Chickenpox is a contagious disease caused by infection with the varicella-zoster virus. Chickenpox is most often experienced by children. Most adults who have had this infectious disease as a child tend to no longer be aware of the transmission of chickenpox. This is because there are many assumptions circulating that it is impossible to get smallpox twice, if you have had it before. Is that right?

How is chicken pox transmitted?

The transmission of chickenpox is very easy. Chickenpox can be transmitted when you have direct contact with someone who has chickenpox, for example by touching the part of the skin that has chickenpox. Likewise, when exposed to items contaminated with a liquid that comes from the chickenpox resilience that breaks due to scratching.

Not only that, the virus that causes chickenpox can be carried away by the wind or air so that it then enters your body. This means that the mucosal splash or saliva that comes out when a person with chickenpox coughs, sneezes, and breathes can be a medium for transmission of the virus that causes chickenpox.

The risk of transmission will be even higher if many people are in the same room as the sufferer. The chickenpox virus can be transmitted much more quickly because everyone breathes air contaminated with the varicella zoster virus.

That is why people who have chickenpox are encouraged to do quarantine as much as possible, namely by separating themselves or keeping a distance from people who have never been infected with chickenpox.

What are the symptoms when you have chickenpox?

After chickenpox is spread from one person to another and the virus enters the body, the symptoms don't just appear right away. It takes about 7-21 days for the virus to develop in the body until it finally causes the initial symptoms of chickenpox, in the form of:

• fever
• headache
• fatigue
• loss of appetite

About 1-2 days after these signs appear, the typical symptom of chickenpox is a reddish skin rash that will also begin to develop slowly. At first, a red rash in the form of spots will appear on the face and front of the body and then spread to all parts of the body, especially the hands and feet.

Within a few days the spots will develop into bouncy or rash filled with fluid. Chickenpox resilience usually feels so itchy that you can't bear to scratch it.

Keep in mind, you shouldn't just scratch the chickenpox because it can cause scarring and make it difficult to remove. Instead, wait until the entire rash and resilience of the chickenpox peels off the skin on its own.

Is it possible to catch chickenpox a second time?

The average person who has had chickenpox has a lifetime of immunity to infection with the varicella zoster virus.

Therefore, when chickenpox is contagious again or has a "re-infection", the symptoms or health problems caused by chickenpox do not appear. The body of a previously infected person already has antibodies that are protective enough against pathogenic viruses that want to destroy healthy cells in the body.

Although the case of chickenpox reinfection is actually very rare, it does not rule out the possibility of the chickenpox virus being transmitted for a second time and causing symptoms again even after receiving the chickenpox vaccine.

One of the cases was analyzed in a 2015 study entitled Reinfection of Varicella zoster in a vaccinated adult. This case shows the re-infection of chickenpox in an adult (19 years) who contracted smallpox at the age of 5 years and who was vaccinated when he was 15 years old.

It is not certain what causes the re-infection to take place. The suspicion leads to a genetic mutation of the virus, but still requires further, more comprehensive research to prove it.

Of the other reinfection cases, there are several conditions that allow a person to come back with chickenpox even though they have been previously infected:

• Being infected with chickenpox when he was very young, especially when he was less than 6 months old.
• When you first get smallpox, you only have mild symptoms or even go undetected due to the infection that lasted a short time at the beginning (subclinical).
• Having a disorder in the immune system.

Another possibility that the symptoms of chickenpox will come back

The possibility of symptoms reappearing actually could happen, but not because the chickenpox virus was contagious for the second time so that reinfection occurred.

The typical symptom of chickenpox such as a reddish rash that changes to resilience can reappear as a result of reactivation of the virus varicella-zoster in the body. Why does this happen?

So, after you recover from the contagious chickenpox disease, the chickenpox virus actually does not completely disappear in the body. The virus remains in the body but is in a "sleeping" or dormant state. You are said to have had smallpox twice when the dormant chickenpox virus re-infects your body.

The chickenpox virus which is active again will cause shingles or shingles. The symptoms of shingles are almost similar to varicella zoster infection, but one thing that distinguishes it is the pattern of its resilient location.

The cause of viral reactivation in the case of shingles is not known with certainty, but it is known to be related to a severely weakened immune system. One of them can be caused by an infectious disease that attacks the immune system such as HIV.

In chickenpox, resilience usually occurs almost all over the body, whereas in herpes zoster infection usually does not appear elastic throughout the body, but the resilience pattern follows the dermatome (innervation pattern) of the body.

Preventing the danger of contagious chickenpox a second time

Apart from identifying the difference between the symptoms of chickenpox and shingles, to ascertain whether what you are experiencing is a re-infection or re-activation of the virus, you can immediately consult a doctor to get a more definite diagnosis.

Although it is widely assumed that children who have had chickenpox will not experience it again after smallpox has returned, it is important to still consider getting vaccinated.

Especially when chickenpox appears at a very early age and is not too severe. That way, the chance of getting chickenpox a second time is smaller. Vaccination to prevent the second time of water reading is also very necessary for people who have weak or immunocompetent immune system conditions.