Chicken pox rash - spread rate

[PenApple]

As above, does it always spread like wildfire in the first few hours? Noticed first spot at lunchtime, now has a handful. All on face apart from 1 on arm.

Not 100% it’s CP as googling it seems to be spreading very slowly?

Photo attached of the worst one.

Doesn't sound like the typical spread of chicken pox as they usually start on the torso. Maybe start of hand foot and mouth

Ds1’s first spot was behind his ear and dd’s next to her eye. It looks quite chicken poxy to me.

In terms of spread really the second/third days were full on. First was more gradual.

It tends to come up in crops about every 4-8 hours I think. So not unusual to not see loads yet.

Could equally be something like hf&m

Do you have anyone of a slightly older generation nearby? My friend is a GP and her advice when she gets a call about suspected chicken pox is to ask a grandparent/older generation to look at it (assuming said person isn’t immuno-compromised obviously). She says the chicken pox blisters are really distinctive in real life and so if Granny who has seen it all before, thinks it’s chicken pox, it will be chicken pox.

Is there a reason you need to know urgently?

Hope whatever it is, the child recovers well and quickly.

He’s my 3rd so you’d think I’d know... the others had them years ago though & I think woke up with quite a few so no guessing.

I’ll see what he’s like in the morning, the main one is very chicken pox like but the others not so much really.

He had HFM last year so it’s not that, almost thought that was chicken pox though as he had it bad.

No reason for urgency just puzzled to what it could be is all, and will affect if we can go out etc. Whenever he is ill he gets viral spots on face and crotch, which seems to be every 2-3 weeks - but never like the big one on his arm.

And thank you!

How is it this morning?

Thanks for asking, he had a bad night very thick snot (sorry if you’re eating) and coughing and so upset. Piriton seemed to settle him.

Couple more viral like spots this morning on his face & crotch, but still a blister spot on his arm. So maybe he’s just going to have the 1 spot? Can’t think what else it could be.

Can get hf&m more than once.
Just a different strain of the virus

Ah I forgot about the different strains. Wish I knew for sure so I could know he’d had it or not, and whether to keep him isolated for longer or not.