re. Chickenpox exposure

[LadyLaSnack]

15 month old has has snotty nose and cough for about 5 days. Today a slightly raised temp, but still under 38. He is pretty well in himself. Chickenpox is going round at his nursery.

Yesterday I spotted a couple of vague tiny red patches on his chest and back which disappeared by the evening.

Today the same.

I have cancelled a meetup with a friend and her 2 month adjusted preemie, but what should I do about the family lunch at 4pm today? And about tomorrow, and Christmas day?

My sister is 9 months pregnant. Google says if she has had chickenpox she and the baby would not be at risk. If she hasn't had them then and she has the baby within 5 days then she would be at risk of passing to the a newborn (very serious). Our mum is sure she's had chicken pox.

Under normal circumstances I'd obviously just sack the lunch off today, but my dad's brother, his wife, and nieces/nephews are all coming up from down south, and my dad has Dementia which is progressing quite rapidly. There might not be another opportunity for a lunch like this.

If it's clearly chickenpox I'll just cancel everything, but it isn't. How fast can you tell that it's pox? What would tell me that this definitely is/isn't chickenpox?

If he doesn't have any pox, what makes you think it is chicken pox?

Other than it going round at gis nursery, that is. I bet their are other virus' making the rounds there too.

The tiny red patches on his chest and back.

I was in this situation a few weeks ago. I cancelled a few plans and then thought what am I doing? This was after a pregnant friend told me I was mad and her toddler had been exposed to chicken pox at Nursery around 10 times this year and not yet contracted it.

Personally I would check with the parents of the niece/nephew and if they have strong feelings co wider cancelling. There are so many bugs going round at this time of year that everyone is ill with something.
If you are due to see someone severely immunocompromised or pregnant and not immune then stay away but otherwise I wouldn’t stop your plans.

Ive never heard of chicken pox that appear as vague red patches and disappear within hours. Are they a thing? The chicken pox i know are red spots that develop a blister then scab after a few days.

The tiny red patches sound more like a viral rash (especially coupled with a cold and cough) rather than chicken pox.
We've had loads of children in nursery with viral rashes and colds over the last few weeks.
I would carry on with the dinner as he doesn't have visible spots. Chicken pox has a 21 day incubation period, that's a long time to cancel everything for.

Niece + Nephew are 34 and 37 so I can ask them directly.

It's mostly the unborn baby I'm thinking about, but my mum is sure my sister has had chickenpox so is therefore immune.

In my experience, the chickenpox rash is very, very obviously chickenpox and nothing else. It looks like little fluid filled blisters, that pop and scab. Before the rash comes out, just a high temp and no other signs. So the red patches you are describing really don't sound like it. They could very well be viral, but it doesn't sound like pox to me.
In all honesty, I'd probably ask your sister and let her make the decision. It's probably not CP anyway, but even if it is, your Mum is sure she's had it, so the risk is almost zero. But I'd let her decide.

My toddler has the same sounding illness op. Took him the drs yesterday and they said just a nasty virus. He's also been coughing in my face for 5 days and I haven't caught anything. I'd honestly enjoy your meet up.

The little red spots and mild fever say it's very likely chickenpox. Did they look like this?

www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/picture-of-varicella-chickenpox

If it is varicella, it's highly contagious. If it's been going around at his nursery it would be unlikely that he hasn't been exposed.

I would cancel the get togethers. Sorry.

Thanks all

BarbarianMum - This is the tricky bit - the tiny red patches do look like some pictures of early pox (before they fill up with the blister type fluid). But they disappeared yesterday, which means they can't have been chickenpox. Now there are more today - what if yesterday they weren't but today they are etc?

I guess what I'm wondering is - how quickly do spots appear and fill up once the first ones arrive?

Bubbly - that sounds sensible. OK thank you.

My children have both just had chicken pox and there was no red patch or uncertainty with it - when they came, you knew it! I wouldn't cancel unless you get actual spots. With both of mine it was a quickly developing outbreak of many, many spots.

My with my DD we were not sure if she had chicken pox for a few days, neither was the pharmacist because she only had a couple of spots for the first few days but they were very clearly blisters. For the four days before the spots appeared she was very clingy and just wanted to be cuddled.

One of mine has chicken pox currently and there were red spots one day and they had turned into blisters the next. A rash that comes and goes doesn’t sound like CP.

Thanks all - any thoughts on these spots?

Hmmm. They do look more spotty than rashy. I'll try to attach a pic of what DCs looked like

First crop

Obviously not expecting a diagnosis though. Just wondering if anyone else's pox looked like this to begin with.

The confusing bit is that they looked like this but disappeared again yesterday.

Thanks aNut!

They are definitely a bit less defined that your DCs but not entirely dissimilar.

Maybe I should cancel the lunch today and play tomorrow/Christmas by ear depending if they go away again tonight.

Fingers crossed, but try not to worry if the adults are happy to come. We've had lots of visitors who were all pre warned and everyone's been fine.

That looks like chicken pox to me. I think you need to just let people know so they can make their own decision whether to come or not.

Are there any spots behind his ears? That’s where DD’s first spots turned up.

I do think they look like chicken pox. I think you need to contact the family and ask them. If they haven’t had chicken pox, there’s high risk of them catching them. However, if they’ve had it, there’s minimal risk (apparently it can actually reduce the risk of developing shingles).

Looks like chicken pox to me too. And even if your sister did have it as a kid, she could still get shingles which isn’t nice. Just stay at home with him.

OK thanks all. V helpful to know that others think they could be pox.

He does get eczema on his chest, adding further layer of mystery into the mix.

If anyone isn't immune I'll probably just keep him away myself (don't want others to miss their fun because of us).

Shingles is not caused by chicken pox, shingles can cause chicken pox. Shingles is the reactivation of the chicken pox virus you had previously - my Dad has just had it for about 8 months.

We have just had chicken pox here, adults who haven't had it can get it from little people but if you have had it you are fairly safe.

I was made to feel really bad about going out in the past two weeks after eldest had had it as my little one was basically a walking chicken pox time bomb! Its hard as he has now got it but I couldn't keep us all in indefinitely when he had no symptoms at all. Bit grumpy but two teeth have cut through last weekend as well!