Chicken pox question

[fells]

My dd is just recovering from fairly mild chicken Pox. About a week before the first spots appeared she came into contact with one of my friends who, at the time, was 3 months pregnant. I don't know if my friend has had Chicken Pox or not. She does not know about dd as I don't see her or speak to her that often.

Would dd have been infectious a week before the first spots appeared?

[hairymclary]

she may have been yes, you ought to tell your friend so that she can see a gp, just in case

[Eliboo]

I've been told only infectious one day before spots appear, two at very most.

[usandbump]

If I remember correctly you're contagious 7-14 days before the spots appear. I would definitely tell her just in case.

[3andnomore]

I would contact your friend as soon as you can, i.e by now probably tomorrow morning, so, she can make an urgent appointment at her gp's if she hasn't has CP, because they will give her bloodtest to check her immunity and if she isn't immune they can give her somehting...can't remember what, sorry, to reduce the risk of probs...CP is at the most dangerous in the first and the last trimester of pg if the mum to be is not immune!

[slalomsuki]

I went through this last year when pregnant. Its an issue in the first 3 months and again just as you give birth. I was 12 weeks at the time and was rushed off for a blood test and was guded through how to get a chicken pox vaccine if I didn't have the antibodies.

Depending on your health area being pregnant may put you in a high risk group and allow you to get the vaccine or you may have to get it privately. Its expensive for the Gp and not something the routinely have only for HIV/Aids suffers etc.

Fortunately I was OK but a friend of mine who was 7 weeks and hadn't told anybody apart from me was antibody negative when tested and she sepnt the rest of her pregnancy worrying that she may have caught a mild dose and something may have been wrong with the baby. It wasn't.

Get your friend to get a blood test done. GP can arrange it or local hospital

[jamiesam]

fells - my ds got chicken pox when I was 4 months pg - gp was able to ring the hospital and get them to run a test on bloods that had been taken at 12 week scan appt and confirm within a day or two that I had chicken pox antibodies. I should assume that your dd was infectious and get your friend to phone her gp...

[dimcat]

new member here -

my c.pox experience might help someone out there.

i caught c.pox from ds1 when preg with ds2, knew in advance that did not have immunity as had requested blood test at start of each pregnancy

(am bit paranoid as i work with young children & despite my mothers protestations i knew i hadn't had the disease)
when ds1 came out in spots i was 16wks - midwife was abismal -phoned for advice - she never got back to me, i did my own research on the net & wonderful GP arranged for ZVIG (I think) antibodies to be released, dh collected them from hosp & GP injected me at the surgery, it didn't stop me getting the pox but i think it lessened the attack!!

Local midwives would not see me- why? or allow me into local clinic- understadable if still contagious, had to get my GP to arrange special development scans for ongoing preg. Wall of silence from midwifery squad.


now on preg3 & shun local midwives as waste of space, get my urine & BP checked at work - alls well with 5 wks to go can't wait for farce of postnatal midwife visits - might be in or i might not