Is Acyclovir Intake Safe When Suffering From Chicken Pox?

Posted on Tue, 21 Jan 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 21 Jan 2014 Answered on

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Immeditely post recovery of my elder son (11) from chicken pox My wife (34 ) got chickenpox 2 days back. My kid was not given any medicine but for my wife doctor has been presecribed Tablet Acyclovir (Acivir) -800 mg thrice a days for 5 days so that exposure period can be reduced . My quries are as below 1. I heard that medicines should not be given for chickne pox , shall i continue giving prescribed medicines to my wife? 2. There is also a risk of infection to Me (age 40) as well , i`m not sure if i had been given any vaccination for the same . Shall i take some preventive vaccination now , can i get check vercilla antibodies in blood for confirming need of vaccination to me , if yes can you pls prescribed the tests 3. Any other advice by you on the same.

Answered by Dr. Synthyia Bhagat (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Relax. Detailed Answer: Hi. Thanks for your query. I understand your concern. Chickenpox is highly contagious. -continue with acyclovir as prescribed by doctor. -IgG Elisa testing can be done and positive test indicates that person has antibodies to VZV either from past disease or vaccination. -test for antibodies should be done if practicable as long as it does not delay Zoster immunoglobulin administration for greater than 96hours from exposure. -there is significant exposure for contacts living in same households person.period of infectivity is from 48 hours before onset of rash until crusting of all lesions occur. I suggest you be in regular followup with your doctor. Hope I have answered your query. Wishing you and your family good health. God bless.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar