Newborn exposed to chickenpox

[misshoohaa]

Hi all.
Looking for reassurance and advice. My 15 day old baby was exposed to chickenpox on Wednesday and I'm freaking out!
We were visiting a friend, and one of the children who was also there has since come out in pox. My baby was on the other side of the room to the infected child but the mother of the infected child did hold my DD.

Do you think my DD will catch it? She is breast fed so I'm hoping that will help. I had it when I was younger so would any of my immunity help her?

I googled newborns and chicken pox and wish I hadn't.....

I did ring the HV today to discuss but yet to hear back.

Possibly best to phone NHS Direct or OOH for advice and what to look out for.

Hopefully he has sufficient immunity through breastfeeding.

you need to get gp advice

I know what a worry this is OP, my 2 day old was exposed by my visiting children who came down with the pox a few days after visiting us. The midwife said all we could do was wait a fortnight but she would hopefully have immunity from being breast fed. She didn't get chicken pox (and still hasn't aged 4!) Check with your GP but for me it was just an anxious wait.

DS2 caught chickenpox from his brother when he was a week old. I was bf but he still had a mild dose. Was perfectly fine, is now 9 and never had it again.
I have since learnt it can be dangerous in newborns , so if any spots appear, I would take him to the GP. I think they can give them an injection of immunoglobulin to lessen the impact.

DS1 came out with Chickenpox when DS2 was 2 weeks old - we were very careful - DP did everything for DS1, I did everything for DS2, we did plenty of handwashing, and no shared blankets or towels.

DS2 (also BF) was fine.

Chances are you're fine from a one off, non-touching contact with an infected child.

Mine caught it from her brother, she was about 2 weeks old when exposed and 4 weeks when she had it. She was fine, a very mild case and she seems to be immune now. Do seek advice though, sometimes they give very new babies preventative anti virals depending on exact age. The main issue is if you are immune, if you are baby will probably have most of your immunity and get a v mild case or not at all.

I googled too: the scary stuff is if baby gets it at a v particular time and there is no maternal immunity, your daughter is not in that situation x

My twins who were 6 weeks premature (they were 6 weeks old) spent the day with a girl who came out in the pox the next day. Neither got it.

A friend's twins got chicken pox at 4 weeks, both were fine too.