Advice on Chicken pox please!

[Marzipanface]

Slightly confused...

For the last fortnight my mum has been staying with us as she has been quite unwell. She developed quite a nasty case of shingles but seems a lot better now after lots of antivirals and antibiotics. The doctor warned her that it may be possible for her to transmit Chicken pox to my three year old DD but that it is quite hard to catch. Mum has kept rash covered and away from DD.

For the last week my DD has had a dry cough and I noticed yesterday she was scratching her bum. On inspection she had what looked like two bites then I realised she had four similar red spots on her chest area. Other than that she seems totally fine. A few hours later her temp went up a bit then I noticed the spots had turned into yellow blisters and that she has a few around her hairline, a large one under her ear and one on her leg.

I am guessing chicken pox? My DD is rarely ill so not sure what I should be doing.

This morning nothing has really changed apart from the spots look almost as if they are drying up/scabbing over! In total she has about ten spots. When I had it I was covered head to toe!

So, could this be chicken pox or something else? How long before spots appear?
I am pregnant but had the pox when I was younger so I am ok aren't I although I have an immune system disorder which when pregnant goes into remission but am normally treated with high dose steroids.
Can my mum get shingles again from DD?
DH has a rashy face, feels terrible - although insists he had CP when he was a child. Is it poss to feel poorly when in contact despite having it when you were younger?
I am guessing I can't take her anywhere if there is the slightest hint she has the pox such as shops/park etc? Doctors surgery a no-go?

I would ring the doc (nhs direct today) for some advice. It does sound like your dd has chicken pox - it is unrecognisable to the untrained eye (my eye was trained when dd2 got it, as she caught it from dd1) until the spots come out properly.

You are usually a bit under the weather before the spots come out, with runny nose/cold symptoms and apparently are still contagious until the spots scab over. So your dd may be nearly better already, as long as no more spots appear.

My dd1 went to playschool with a spot (i didn't know what it was...) on a wednesday and was healed up enough to go again the following tue, so it can be that quick.

You are right, you mustn't take her out. They may find her another room at the docs, but there is no point in her going, there is nothing they can do, i don't think, but from what you say i think you need some advice for yourself.

Hope you're all okay.

And give her calpol if she feels ill, you can use bicaronate of soda in a bath, if she's itchy. X.

Okay. Thank you for your advice Jane. Yes she has been a bit coldy all week.

When my wee boy had CP, I was told to use calamine cream not the lotion. Doesn't go all that dry way. x

Although it is rare, you can get CP more than once. Was told that when i phoned nhs 24 when my wee boy had them.

Only about 2% of people will get shingles again, unless they have a suppressed immunity (cancer treatment, HIV, etc) and it can then go up to about 20%. So it is highly unlikely your DM will catch shingles off your DD.

CP can vary in severity. Right now DS1 is covered in spots, but has had no temperature at all so far - we are on day 3. DS2 may or may not catch it as he may or may not have had it before. He had random spots (only a few at a time) appearing over a period of 5 weeks, GP thought they 'could' have been CP, but if they were then it might be too mild a case to confer immunity. DS1's second bout of spots came through about 24 hours after I noticed the first ones, and have now increased rapidly in number since then.

I'm more concerned about you tbh - I think there may be some contra-indication between chicken pox and steroids and especially if you're pregnant, you really ought to seek advice quite quickly in case it could be dangerous for you.

Sorry - do call your GP urgently tomorrow, in case you need to take preventative action.

Your dd should be fine.

here

but I'm not sure how it works if you have already had the illness.

Just ring and find out - it'll save me you worrying!

If you've had CP before then your fine in regards to being pregnant. You mean with your immune disorder it retreats in pregnancy so you dont need your normal steroids?

Then it sounds like it wont be an issue, you have immunity to CP already. Like what DIY said it will be highly unlikely for your DM to get another bout of shingles so soon after the last episode without underlying immune suppression issues. Do get proper medical advice but I dont think you need to worry

As i understand it from my GP, your mother can not catch shingles again from your DD's chickenpox. Shingles is the reactivation of the CP virus from when DM had CP herself. You do not catch shingles. Once someone has had CP or been exposed to the virus, they can develop shingles and can have it more than once without being in contact with CP again.

Thanks all. The spots have popped up on her back and shoulders and are quite itchy.

Sleds Thanks for that information. I am not actually taking steroids anymore. I stopped when I was a few weeks pregnant. I am now 21 weeks.

I will call docs tomorrow anyway.

DD1 had CP when I was pg