Complications

Chickenpox is normally a mild disease. But it can be serious and can lead to complications including:

• Bacterial infections of the skin, soft tissues, bones, joints or bloodstream (sepsis)
• Dehydration
• Pneumonia
• Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis)
• Toxic shock syndrome
• Reye's syndrome in children and teenagers who take aspirin during chickenpox
• Death

Who's at risk?

People who are at higher risk of chickenpox complications include:

• Newborns and infants whose mothers never had chickenpox or the vaccine
• Adolescents and adults
• Pregnant women who haven't had chickenpox
• People who smoke
• People whose immune systems are weakened by medication, such as chemotherapy, or by a disease, such as cancer or HIV
• People who are taking steroid medications for another disease or condition, such as asthma

Chickenpox and pregnancy

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.

Chickenpox and shingles

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.