Any medical folk about? Worried about baby's chickenpox URGENT

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Hi all

My DS (6 months) has chickenpox; he's not been great but is soldiering on. I'm worried about some of his spots looking infected - any nurses / dr's etc about who can help? My surgery say they won't help because he's diagnosed and contagious so they've said A&E if I'm worried but I'm also worried about infecting others there. Thanks all

Aveeno do amazing colloidal oatmeal sachets for baths - they’re expensive compared to sticking oats in a sock but so much more effective. Definitely worth the money.

My GP told us that hand, foot and mouth and chicken pox are virtually impossible to distinguish visually, and the treatment for both is the same, so there's no real need to be sure which it is.

Same @Seaandsand83 that’s what I thought, but OP said it was confirmed chicken pox by the doctor. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much either way in terms of what you do about it. I was worried about my DS when his HFandM spots started to blister but the pharmacist said it was best to just use normal moisturiser, there was no need for any medicated creams even if it looks quite bad. They didn’t seem to bother DS at all either even though they looked quite sore.

There is a gel you can buy for chicken pox called Virasoothe, it is cooling & really does help with the pain & itching. I've just had shingles & used it every night.

My son's chicken pox did get infected, due to his eczema. You could not see the skin or spots it was so red. If in doubt get it checked, maybe with pharmacist?
We had a 3 day stay and we were in quarantine in hospital!

I think so much depends on the person - virasoothe and poxclin did nothing for us. Eurax cream (anti itching cream over the counter) is the best thing we tried as it did seem to stop them being itchy. Also, keeping creams / gels in the fridge so they’re cooling when applied really helped.

Can you get Eosine in UK? It disinfects the spots and stops them itching.

@turnthebiglightoff is it calamine lotion or cream that you’re using? If it’s lotion it dries the spots out and makes them really itchy, so cooling creams/gels are better virasoothe is fab stuff.

Nhs guidance

www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/

My LO had 'chicken pox' which started to look like that. Got bigger, merged together and just kept getting worse not better.

Turned out to be impetigo.

DS2 had CP at a week old as his two year old brother had it too. Just to reassure you that six months more isn't too bad! Those spots look normal to me. Hope he's soon better.

Chicken pox spots do tend to look worse as they get better tbh!

Google images for "chicken pox spots stages" and see what I mean :)

I always recommend Poxclin on chicken pox. I had it at the ripe old age of 36 and it immediately took away the itch. DD was 9 months at the time and it seemed to soothe her too.
I think the spots on your baby look normal chicken pox. I agree your drs aren't being very helpful for such a young baby. Surely they could at least look at some photos of the spots?!

Chicken Pox is usually rife Spring time.
Hand, Foot and mouth is doing the rounds at the moment and this looks exactly like it.

Have you managed to get him to a medical practitioner today?

Just to echo what others have said - avoid Nurofen.

Virasoothe was the best for us to calm the itching. The pharmacist also recommended piriton to help with the itching and help them sleep at night, both mine were a bit older though so double check.
I’ve used eurax myself before and it is amazing but I always got the lotion as I going the cream too thick and hard to rub in

Hi OP just thought I’d mention - a friend saw my DS’s chickenpox and thought they looked angry and infected. Could see what she meant but until that point I thought normal. I booked a phone call with GP, he asked questions and got me to describe the spots. He prescribed antibiotic ointment over the phone which DH collected. Glad I got it as the way the spots developed really was different to when my second son got it (not as angry and didn’t have strange discolouration of the middle bit). It’s worth a phone consult with a GP if you’re worried.

My dd had it so bad, was advised not to bath her for a week as drying was so aggravating

Vita soothe or poxcillin were much the best treatment for us.

It used to be possible to buy calamine cream rather than lotion. Try very hard not to let her scratch them as they'll mark permanently.

Poor mite, looks normal to me too though

Is he too young for antihistamine??

Mine had it when a little older & that's what our GP advised alongside the oats, bicarb & calamine & I also sprayed with colloidal silver to minimise the infection risk. The antihistamine helped a lot

I don’t think it looks particularly infected. Check for heat with the back of your hand though. Bless him. (Nurse for 40 years).

Oat bath oat bath oat bath.

Leg of tights filled with oats and slung over the tap. Once bath is full squeeze it into the water, then rub the oat goo all over the spots. It's the best thing.

These were my ds spots when he was admitted to hospital. He had a temp of 40 and spots were warm to touch.

@MyDcAreMarvel that's awful. My dd was close to that, but not widespread.

I had my youngest vaccinated as soon as she was old enough.

Thanks all so much.I gave him an oat bath last night with some bicarb in and the angriest spot clusters really do look better this morning. His appetite is returning so it's just the overnight lack of sleep to contend with now (the pox seems to have rendered him nocturnal)!

I hope we've turned a corner, thanks so much for all of the fantastic advice. Will continue with oat baths for a couple of days to ease the itching for him.

I did speak to the doctor this morning who apologised for the reception staff not getting him to call yesterday (!) and he said to keep checking for heat with the back of my hand like a PP said, and if his temp goes up anymore to take him to A&E but I think we're starting to be over the worst of it!!

Interestingly his hands (and forearms) are now probably the worst part; as a few of you have suggested hand foot and mouth!