Friday, July 3, 2009

Arghhhh... Chicken Poxzzz

About 3 weeks ago, my hubby got 'chicken pox' and thanks god that I already got it since I was 5 years old and I need to take care of him. It was tiring of taking care a chicken pox patient. They do not have appetite and always want to sleep. My hubby told me that he have lost about 3 kg for the past 2 weeks of chicken pox. So nicez can diet and lost 3kg easily hor...
A bit of the history and information which manage to dig out from my experience where this is a highly contagious illness which caused by primary infection. Generally it will start from a non-stop fever and then with a vesicular skin rash appearing in tow or tree waves, mainly starts from the head to the toe. It will become itchy but remember those who kena kenot scratch ya or else u will leave mark forever in your body.

During the 'pox' time, for Chinese, they have a lot of 'pantang larang'. You cannot fried fish in the house and meet up stranger if not the pox patient will get very itchy. There is one traditional method that everyone is using drinking coconut water as it will cool down your body. Beside the coconut water, you have to drink one type of chinese herb which called 'ling yeong sai kok' where it helps to cool down your body as well, I have no idea what in English called but you can get it from the "Chinese Sinseh" Kedai Runcit.
Chicken pox may comes in any season but normally people say is during 'durian' season. But I personally feel it will comes anytime as long as your body is too heaty (ie eat too much of fried stuff, durian etc...) this is one of the major cause of the pox comes out from your body.
But no worries, the pox thingy will comes out from your body once in a lifetime, however based on my grandma advise that even after you have got well from your pox you will have to 'pantang' not eating all type of bean (ie. peanut, green bean, long bean etc...) where they belongs to "BEAN" family for 3 months/100 days. If not then u will get the 2nd time chicken pox, do you believe that? But never say you don't believe it, coz sometimes is true.
BTW, do you know the history of chicken pox. Here is the history of the chicken pox where I have plug from one of the website.
HISTORY OF CHICKEN POX
Chickenpox was first identified by the Muslim Physician, Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi (865–925), known to the West as "Rhazes", who clearly distinguished it from smallpox and measles Giovanni Filippo (1510–1580) of Palermo later provided a more detailed description of varicella (chickenpox). Subsequently in the 1600s, an English physician named Richard Morton described what he thought a mild form of smallpox as "chicken pox". Later, in 1767, a physician named William Heberden, also from England, was the first physician to clearly demonstrate that chickenpox was different from smallpox. However, it is believed the name chickenpox was commonly used in earlier centuries before doctors identified the disease. There are many explanations offered for the origin of the name chickenpox: Persian name: "آبله مرغان" literally means chickens (birds) pox;

Samuel Johnson suggested that the disease was "less dangerous", thus a "chicken" version of the pox; the specks that appear looked as though the skin was pecked by chickens; the disease was named after chick peas, from a supposed similarity in size of the seed to the lesions; the term reflects a corruption of the Old English word giccin, which meant itching.

As "pox" also means curse, in medieval times some believed it was a plague brought on to curse children by the use of black magic.

During the medieval era, oatmeal was discovered to soothe the sores, and oatmeal baths are today still commonly given to relieve itching.

PREVENTION
A varicella vaccine was first developed by Michiaki Takahashi in 1974 derived from the Oka strain. It has been available in the U.S. since 1995 to inoculate against the disease. Some countries require the varicella vaccination or an exemption before entering elementary school. Protection is not lifelong and further vaccination is necessary five years after the initial immunization.

In the United Kingdom, varicella antibodies are measured in women with no history of the disease as part of routine prenatal care. By 2005 all National Health Service personnel had determined their immunity and been immunized if they were non-immune and have direct patient contact. Population-based immunization against varicella is not otherwise practiced in the UK. It is feared that there would be a greater number of cases of shingles in adults, until the vaccination was given to the entire population—because adults who have had chickenpox as a child are less likely to have shingles in later life if they have been exposed occasionally to the chickenpox virus (for example by their children). This is because the exposure acts as a booster vaccine.
So, drink more water and eat healthy...