Chicken pox is generally a mild illness. There is usually no need to keep the child with chicken pox in bed. The purpose of staying home is mainly to avoid infection other children. Some children, however, run fevers as high as 104. Painful sores inside the mouth or in the rectum or genitals are also not uncommon.

More serious complications, while rare, do sometimes occur. Call your doctor immediately if:

• An area of the skin becomes red, swollen, and painful. This could indicate the presence of a bacterial skin infection for which the doctor can prescribe oral antibiotics after evaluation.

• The child develops difficulty breathing or chest pain. These are symptoms of pneumonia which rarely accompanies chicken pox in children but frequently affects adults with the disease.

• The child begins to vomit or become disoriented during or after the illness. These are symptoms of Reye’s Syndrome, a serious disease that follows viral infections such as chicken pox. Reye’s Syndrome has been liked to aspirin use during viral illness. Therefore, never give aspirin to children with chicken pox, influenza, or other viral infections.