How was chickenpox discovered?

Answer 1

Discoveries about chickenpox have been ongoing for over a thousand years:

• Chickenpox was described clinically by a Persian scholar, Muhammad ibn Zakariya Razi, the ninth century. He didn't differentiate between chickenpox and smallpox, though.

• Giovanni Filippo of Italy differentiated between chickenpox and scarlet fever in the sixteenth century.

• In the 17th century, an English physician, Morton, called a disease "chickenpox" that seemed to be a less dangerous form of smallpox.

• In the 18th century, another Englishman proved that smallpox and chickenpox were different diseases.

• In the late 19th century, the relationship of chickenpox and herpes zoster was established, and a scientist named Steiner proved that it was an infectious disease.

• The link between chickenpox and herpes zoster was proven in the 1950s.

• Live weakened chickenpox vaccine was invented in the 1970s. The vaccine was approved for use in March 1995 in the US.

• The first anti-herpes medication, acyclovir, was invented in the 1980s.

Answer 2

how Robert Schaffer patented acyclovir in 1979. This antiviral medication was the first prescription antiviral for chickenpox and other viruses in the herpes family. While acyclovir and valacyclovir do not cure chickenpox, they can reduce symptoms and duration of disease, and are often used for patients at higher risk for chickenpox-related complications or for patients with shingles (herpes zoster).

Answer 3

There is no known cure for chickenpox. A vaccine was invented in 1974 to prevent chickenpox, and medications were invented in the late 20th century to treat chickenpox and other viruses in the herpesvirus family. However, chickenpox is a virus that remains in your body for life and can cause shingles later. There is no viral "cure" that eliminates the virus, although your immune system clears chickenpox disease within one or two weeks.