Risk Factors for Adults
Even though the disease is more prominent amongst children. There are factors that increases the risk of an adult contracting chickenpox, they include:
- Living with unvaccinated children
- You work in a school or childcare space
- You spend more than 15 minutes with an infected person (true for either shingles or chickenpox)
- Contact with someone who has it
- Touching something that has been touched by someone who has chickenpox
Chicken pox can be treated, but one may experience complications due to certain factors such as:
- you’re pregnant and have never had chickenpox
- Weak immune system as a result of (certain medication, bone marrow transplant, or disease)
- you’re on steroid medication [2]
When adults develop chickenpox, they may notice flu-like symptoms before the rash. Adults actually may have stronger a reaction to chickenpox than children.
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases says adults are 25 times more likely to die from chickenpox than children. Therefore, it is very important to discuss with your doctor on how you can protect yourself from chickenpox if you’ve neither been vaccinated nor exposed.