Chicken pox, second case in house - antiviral?

[caughtupintheratrace]

Hi,
My DD(5yo) has just had chicken pox i had to visit GP for another reason but they advised when/if DS (2yo) gets first sign of chicken pox to call GP within 24hrs for antiviral?
GP said this is because second case in household is usually worse, however i have never heard anyone have this advice before. My DS is healthy no issues.
I am not sure what to do as seems a bit unnessesary?
Any opinions/experiences please...
x

Seems totally unnecessary. Second cases in my household have been pretty much the same as the first.

anecdotal - what a pile of crap

hope that helps

Never heard this before. IME, chicken pox is normally worse the older the child and most of the illness (High temp, tummy bug, general malaise) is before the spots appear anyway.

Well, my experience has been that subsequent cases have been worse, certainly in terms of number of spots. I seem to remember reading that there is something in that, because they are generally exposed to a higher dose of viral particles because of being in close contact. My 'subsequent case' children didn't get much sicker than their older siblings, although the last one did scar quite badly on his face and personally, if I'd been offered antivirals I would have accepted them (with the benefit of hindsight anyway!)

dd had it considerably worse than ds2, two weeks after him. but i suspect that was down to her being 1 and him being 3. or just bad luck. i certainly wouldn't give antivirals to an otherwise healthy child for a normal childhood illness.

Am amazed a gp would prescribe as they are v expensive but quite amazing - don't be surprised if they backtrack when you phone up, but I'd think about using them - they are amazing

Am amazed a gp would prescribe as they are v expensive but quite amazing - don't be surprised if they backtrack when you phone up, but I'd think about using them - they are amazing

I would not want to give my children antivirals for a routine, though unpleasant, illness and have never heard of this before.

there is research that suggests subsequent cases in families are worse, probably because of greater exposure to the virus (can't find a link but there was a big study in, I think, Burundi published in a good peer reviewed journal). I beleive they're considering prescribing acyclovir in the US for second or subsequent siblings, but haven't heard of it in the UK.

Hi all, thanks for the replies.
Yes i am in UK, it does seem strange to me. If i hadn't of gone to the GP for another problem i would have just let DS get it and go as usual.
I don't really like giving medicines too much esp if not necessary, feel a bit confused what to do at the moment
If it does come out it will be this week, maybe have to call GP again.

Thanks again, anymore advice greatly appreciated x