Will chickenpox during pregnancy affect the baby?

Varicella is a viral infection. Although most patients are children, the cause of chickenpox is mostly related to decreased immunity. Children are more likely to get chickenpox because of their low immunity. However, people are not only in childhood when they have low immunity. Pregnant women have decreased resistance after pregnancy and may also develop herpes infection during the high incidence season of chickenpox. As long as it is controlled in time, it will not affect the baby.

Varicella is a viral infectious disease that is highly contagious and develops rapidly .

Once a pregnant woman is infected, especially in the early stages of pregnancy, it may cause fetal malformation or even fetal death, so prevention is particularly necessary. During the seasons when the disease is most common, pregnant women should pay attention to improving their own disease resistance, strengthen physical exercise, avoid going to susceptible areas, and avoid places where the crowd is too dense.

Varicella is a human herpes zoster virus infection that is most common in autumn, winter and early spring, with children being most susceptible to infection. In the early stages of infection, there are often cold-like symptoms such as fever and fatigue, followed by the appearance of papules with depressions in the middle, which gradually spread from the face to the body. Chickenpox is contagious from two days before the rash appears until the rash disappears. After chickenpox occurs, antibodies will be produced, which can provide lifelong immunity.

As a pregnant woman, if you don’t know whether you have been vaccinated against varicella or have been infected with varicella, you should get the varicella vaccine. Of course, you can also have a blood test to detect whether there are chickenpox antibodies in the blood, and then find out whether the body has the ability to resist. Adult women who have not had chickenpox and do not have antibodies in their bodies but are considering pregnancy should be vaccinated against chickenpox and learn how to avoid infection. It should be noted that the varicella vaccine is an active attenuated vaccine and pregnancy is not recommended within 3 months after vaccination.

How to determine whether the baby of a pregnant woman is infected with the chickenpox virus. However, after a pregnant woman is infected with the varicella virus, how can she know whether the fetus is infected through examination. The chance of fetal malformations caused by chickenpox in early pregnancy is not high, and ultrasonic diagnosis also has certain limitations. Experts from the China Birth and Family Planning Network pointed out that most of the tests involve drawing amniotic fluid or fetal umbilical cord blood to measure antibodies and viral genes, which can confirm whether there is direct fetal infection. However, this invasive diagnosis itself has risks and is not currently recommended as a routine examination.