Children can develop shingles but do so less often than adults. Rarely, a person with shingles can pass along the chickenpox virus to others who aren't immune. Shingles can lead to its own complication a condition in which the pain of shingles persists long after the blisters disappear. This complication, called postherpetic neuralgia, isn't contagious. In otherwise healthy children, chickenpox typically requires no medical treatment.
Some doctors prescribe antihistamines to relieve itching.
But for the most part, the disease is allowed to run its course. Another drug called varicella-zoster immune globulin, or VZIG, may also be given. It contains antibodies to the chickenpox virus. If complications do develop, doctors treat those by type. Skin infections and pneumonia may be treated with antibiotics.