--- title: Spots and itches: chickenpox, head lice and friends — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Spots and itches: chickenpox, head lice and friends», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Lots of common childhood spots and itches are caused by tiny living things: viruses, bacteria, a fungus, or small ins --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / Spots and itches: chickenpox, head lic… # Spots and itches: chickenpox, head lice and friends Lesson 11 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 17 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/0/) — Lots of common childhood spots and itches are caused by tiny living things: viruses, bacteria, a fungus, or small insects and worms. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/1/) — Chickenpox is a virus: red spots turn into blisters and then crust over in about a week, and it spreads very easily, so you stay home till all the spots have crusted. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/2/) — Head lice can't fly or jump; they walk from head to head when heads touch, and they like clean hair just as much as dirty hair. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/3/) — Several names lie: ringworm is a fungus, not a worm, and a cold sore has nothing to do with a cold. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/4/) — None of these mean someone is dirty, so nobody should be teased for them. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/5/) — Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus; spots become blisters and crust over in about a week, and children stay home until all spots have crusted; it is usually mild, but some children get very ill with it. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/6/) — Ibuprofen should not be given for chickenpox unless a doctor says so, because it can sometimes lead to serious skin infections. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/7/) — After chickenpox you are usually immune (protected from catching it again), but the virus sleeps in the nerves and can wake years later as shingles, a painful rash. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/8/) — Many countries vaccinate against chickenpox, and the UK was reported to have added it to the routine childhood vaccines in 2026. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/9/) — Head lice spread by head-to-head contact, cannot fly or jump, lay eggs called nits on the hairs, and are found by wet-combing with conditioner and a fine nit comb. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/10/) — A verruca is a wart on the foot caused by a virus, often picked up from wet floors; it has no roots to dig out; in the UK children can usually swim with it covered. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/11/) — Ringworm is a fungus infection making a red scaly ring, treated with antifungal cream; it can come from people or pets. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/12/) — Threadworms are tiny white worms in the gut that come out at night to lay eggs, causing an itchy bottom; the whole family is treated. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/13/) — Cold sores are caused by a herpes simplex virus that stays in the body and can come back when you're ill or in the sun. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/14/) — Slapped cheek syndrome gives bright red cheeks, and by the time the rash appears you are no longer infectious. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/15/) — Hand, foot and mouth disease is a mild childhood virus with mouth ulcers and spots on the hands and feet, unrelated to the cattle disease. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/11-spots-and-itches-chickenpox-head-lice-and-friends/17/) — Scarlet fever is caused by streptococcus bacteria, gives a rough sandpaper rash, and is easily treated with antibiotics. - ← previous: [Tummy bugs and tummy aches](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/10-tummy-bugs-and-tummy-aches/) - next →: [COVID and staying home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/12-covid-and-staying-home/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)