A pregnant woman with exposure to an ill child worries about infection affecting both her and the baby; which infection is most likely?

• A. Chickenpox
• B. Measles
• C. Rubella
• D. Mumps

Answer: (A)

When a pregnant woman is exposed to an ill child, the infection most likely to be of concern is varicella (chickenpox) because varicella-zoster virus is highly contagious and easily transmitted from children with active rash or vesicles. If the mother contracts varicella during pregnancy, there is a real risk to the fetus—especially with infection in the first half of pregnancy—leading to potential congenital varicella syndrome and, if infection occurs near delivery, neonatal varicella. This pattern makes chickenpox the most relevant concern in this exposure scenario.

Rubella is also known for fetal risk, but vaccination has reduced rubella outbreaks and maternal infection during pregnancy is less likely in many settings today; measles and mumps can affect the mother but do not have the same characteristic fetal malformation risk profile as rubella. The key idea is that the child’s illness points toward a highly contagious varicella exposure with meaningful fetal implications if a pregnant woman becomes infected.