Chickenpox vs. Smallpox

In smallpox, lesions are commonly found on the palms and soles. In chickenpox, however, there are very few or no lesions on the palms and soles.

In smallpox, fever is present for 2 to 4 days before the rash begins, while with chickenpox, fever and rash develop at the same time.

All the pocks of the smallpox rash are in the same stage of development on any given part of the body and develop slowly. In chickenpox, the rash develops more rapidly, and vesicles, pustules, and scabs may be seen at the same time.

	Smallpox	Chickenpox
Evolution	Centripetal distribution – eruption starts from the face and extremities towards the body	Centrifugal distribution – eruption starts from the trunk and spread to exposed parts or away from the center
Prodromal Period	prolonged and severe; systematic manifestations are more pronounced	milder constitutional manifestations with less complications
Fever	high grade fever	low grade fever
Characteristics (lesions)	-multilocular -areas of the body (areas of the pressure and tight skin) -hard shotty discrete and deep lesions	-uniocular -over the body (exposed parts of the body) -skin superficial lesions

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