Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

When chicken pox isn’t mild - 13 month old hospitalised - anyone else ?

26 replies

oopsiedaisydoo · 28/05/2023 13:16

Hi,

My 13 month old daughter has chicken pox (thanks for 3yo bro 🫣) . Yesterday she was hospitalised with a secondary infection in her groin due to infected pox , dehydration and just generally being very very poorly , she’s currently on fluids -and antibiotics. I’ve honestly never seen her so poorly and looking at her I can’t even recognise her because she is covered in infected spots all over. She is also on morphine 😞

i honestly cannot believe chicken pox can be this severe , especially when the NHS website states that chicken pox is a ‘mild illness ‘ .

i guess , I’m just wondering whether anyone else has been in this situation with their little one and ending up in hospital ?

my heart is breaking for her - can’t sleep or eat because she looks and is acting so poorly.

don’t want to start a vaccination debate but I really really would of have my daughter vaccinated (have to pay ) if I knew it could be this severe . Although I know its not given to under 1’s so she probably wouldn’t of been able to have it in time anyway .

thanks for reading if you got this far 🙏

OP posts:
phallusfallacy · 28/05/2023 13:45

DD ended up hospitalised with double pneumonia as a complication from CP at 18 months. She's now a strapping sporty teen.

truffleshuffle12 · 28/05/2023 13:46

My son had horrific chickenpox a few months ago. They got infected and he just spent the whole time sleeping and screaming in pain if anything touched his spots, he was so ill. Fever of 40+. He didn't have to be admitted to hospital because the antibiotics started helping really quickly, he'd had a complete turnaround in 48 hours and was back to his normal self.

Hope it goes that way for you too!

DeerWatch · 28/05/2023 14:19

My son had CP at age of 2, GP said worst case he had seen. The spots were everywhere with just a pinprick between each. He is now 22 so can't exactly remember what he was prescribed but it made him sleepy and allowed him to drink which he wasn't able to. The GP phoned that evening to check and said if he hadn't drunk anything he would have been admitted to hospital.
He then came down with Kawasaki Disease six weeks later so we had a rough few weeks with that and CP.

Sorry your little girl is so bad, it is a relatively mild illness in majority of children. My others were fine with it.

ThePoshUns · 28/05/2023 14:33

My son had CP at 8 weeks old. It was horrific, he looked like he had been dipped in boiling oil. It was over 20'years ago and still upsets me now.
I'm Australia they routinely vaccinate against it and I wish they would here too.
So sorry that your LO is so poorly, I hope she is on the mend soon.
DS had no long lasting effects other than some scarring on his back and neck

CottonSock · 28/05/2023 14:35

My eldest was poorly with it, I vaccinated my second. It's an option if you have another child.

crumpet · 28/05/2023 14:38

went into hospital with D’s when he was 2 weeks old, and was there for a week. Awful experience, but he is late teens now and the only scar is on the sole of his foot. Good luck, you are in the best place x

FernGully43 · 28/05/2023 14:56

I hope your daughter feels better soon, op.

Here in Germany, chickenpox vaccine is part of the routine vaccinations and I was grateful for not having to go through it with my son.

Soontobe60 · 28/05/2023 14:58

Same happened to my granddaughter. After a couple of days, she was much much better! Kids bounce back remarkably at that age xx

Shopper727 · 28/05/2023 15:03

In most children chicken pox is mild. In my 3 older children they hardlY had a spot between them really (all had separately) my youngest son caught it from ds3 and was absolutely covered, miserable ended up on antibiotics due to the severity of them - someone said to me they are worse if you catch them from a sibling not sure if that’s true but he’s the only one who did and the one who had them worst, although he’s the kid who has everything worse!

from a nurse perspective I’ve nursed many children (over 17 years) with infected cp it’s not nice and I really feel for them, so miserly and sore and there’s really not much can be done to keep them comfy, bar lots medication really. Op I hope your little one is on the mend soon, it’s full on being in hospital with a baby so I hope you’re managing to eat and rest a bit etc too.

Missingmyusername · 28/05/2023 15:04

I was very ill for two weeks as a child with infected chicken pox. Lost weight as had the spots everywhere, my mouth and my eyes. I can’t remember it, hope your little one will be ok soon.

I made sure DD was vaccinated against MMR and chicken pox.

smooththecat · 28/05/2023 15:07

We have a vaccine, but the UK has decided not to use it. Probably cost, but also to protect those children who become unvaccinated adults and older adults who need re exposure. Not a good decision in my opinion. The lurking virus can cause significant problems later in life.

chopc · 28/05/2023 15:13

My son was hospitalised with severe chicken pox aged 18 months which scarred him for life . He has more pox on his face than what most people have on their whole body. And every single one scarred.
Must have just been his skin and I am grateful he made a recovery but .....

Hohofortherobbers · 28/05/2023 15:13

I had ds vaccinated after being horrified at how badly my dd suffered aged 9 months Sad. A friends dd was hospitalised too, it can be so horrible, I'm sure we didn't have it so badly when we were children. Vaccinated ds has never caught it, but I do wonder if he'll get it as an adult now, I presume the vaccine may need to be repeated at some point?

TrishTrix · 28/05/2023 15:19

Rationale here for not giving vaccination routinely in UK:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers/

hospitalisation is unusual but not unheard of and miserable for all concerned. Hoping your kid makes a speedy recovery @oopsiedaisydoo

nhs.uk

Chickenpox vaccine FAQs

Find the answers to common questions about the chickenpox vaccine, including why it's not available as part of the routine NHS vaccination schedule.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers/

Mischance · 28/05/2023 15:23

I am sorry your DD is so poorly - she is in the right place now and getting the right treatment and I hope she will soon be back to her normal self.

One of my DDs had chicken pox hard on the heels of whooping cough and was very poorly. She had scabs everywhere, including in her bum cheeks, which was agony for her. I am thankful to say she made a full recovery, although the after-effects of the whooping chough on her chest have never fully left her.

The reasons for her not being able to have the whooping cough vaccine were complex and it was very hard decision for us.

sparklelikeadiamond · 28/05/2023 15:25

NHS rationale “there’s a worry…” umm could we see some data please? Countries like Australia and Germany don’t seem too bothered about this shingles risk in adults. They seem to be prioritising the children.

longstayer · 28/05/2023 15:57

I hope your child feels better soon. My child had very bad CP, just avoided hospitalisation but was left with hundreds of scars.

Like you I had no idea CP could be that bad or scar for life.

underneaththeash · 28/05/2023 16:06

My DS2 was in hospital with double pneumonia from CP at the same age.
we had DD vaccinated, but it didn’t provide full protection, but she had a milder version.

ThePoshUns · 28/05/2023 16:52

If I am lucky enough to have grandchildren I will gladly pay to have them vaccinated against it.

Original poster
oopsiedaisydoo · 28/05/2023 20:02

Thanks all .

Sorry to hear lots of little ones were admitted too 😞 I think DD will have lots of scars. Especially on her face 😔

It actually makes me feel quite sick that children can have this vaccination to stop them going through this (I know most have it mildly but dd is so so poorly ) but our country chooses not to because of reason previous poster said . To me however , it doesn't make much sense. No more babies here but if we were having more I would definitely vaccinate now.

Concerns now about encephalitis (inflammation of the brain ) . I just can't understand it , or struggle to, my healthy perfect daughter being so poorly with chicken pox. I feel there needs to be more awareness of the potential seriousness of the disease . And to think some people infect their children on purpose to get chicken pox 'out of the way' 😭 please don't do that

OP posts:
Bagofweasels · 28/05/2023 20:07

My youngest was hospitalized with it, she had just turned two at the time. Not sure why she got so poorly really, I think she was a bit run down from recent hand foot and mouth and other bugs she’d had a bit of a run of from nursery. All her spots kind of started to join up and she puffed up, she looked kind of swollen all over, she was in for two nights on iv antibiotics, she got better quickly once they got on top of it but it was really scary. Currently pregnant with DC3 and will probably get them vaccinated

stickybear · 28/05/2023 22:23

How is your DD doing now OP? I'm another one whose eldest ended up hospitalised with a secondary infection from chickenpox. He made a full recovery after a couple of days of IV antibiotics, and had a couple of follow ups to make sure there wasn't anything else going on. My youngest has had the vaccination!

cocksstrideintheevening · 28/05/2023 22:29

Yep, Dts were hospitalised, they were 4, queried sepsis but thankfully not. This was 15 years ago, I had no idea a vaccine existed. I would urge everyone to get vaccinated.

rickdeckardandhissheep · 29/05/2023 00:34

My now 25 year old DS had a chicken pox spot inside his mouth get infected as a one year old. He developed pneumococcal septicaemia from it. A pretty horrible lumbar puncture experience followed by IV antibiotics, and he recovered pretty quickly.

1dayatatime · 29/05/2023 09:00

My DS was also seriously ill from chickenpox 12 years ago and I made sure that my other children were vaccinated. I strongly strongly urge all parents to get their children vaccinated against chickenpox.

For under 5s the chances of death from Chickenpox is slightly higher than Covid and the chances of serious illness way higher.

I cannot get my head around the fact that the Government strongly promoted Covid vaccines for children yet do nothing about chickenpox and equally many parents rushed to get their children Covid vaccines but didn't bother with chickenpox. I guess it comes down to perception of risk and the reality of risk.

As for the NHS reasons posted for not having routine chickenpox vaccines in the UK in summary it is that we are willing to accept that some children will die or get seriously ill in order to prevent death and serious illness in the older generation. This is morally unacceptable and yet another example of children being thrown under the bus to protect the older generation.