Chickenpox

[kirinm]

8 year old has chickenpox. Always intended on getting the vaccination but never managed it. Spots started appearing on Thursday 17th. I’m hoping this is officially day 3 as she is struggling. She’s exhausted as she’s not sleeping due to the itching and she’s constantly crying saying she’s in pain.

Shes having regular calpol (for temp), antihistamine and calamine lotion. Is there anything else we can do?!

also, if we are day 3, can we expect more spots?!

No idea on timings etc sorry but get her some poxclin, stuff seems to be working like magic for the itching for my kid

Poor thing. Yes, could have more spots still. Next time you intend to do something that prevents unnecessary suffering just do it.

That’s quite harsh, the vaccine is expensive and until recently not many people got it.

It’s an unnecessarily shit thing to say. Hope it made you feel better about yourself.

It’s ‘unnecessarily shit’ to subject her to so much suffering when this could have been avoided. Did you honestly think you would just get away with it?

The MMRV vaccine is offered free and proactively on the NHS.

Once your child has recovered (and I recommend calling 111) go out and get all the free vaccines available on the NHS.

Even if you pay, it's just £90 to protect your child from multiple, possibly debilitating illnesses.

My friend paid for the vaccine for her child. They have since had chicken pox twice.

@kirinm I hope your DD feels better soon.

Oat baths and poxcilin.

I say this kindly, HFMD is FREQUENTLY mistaken for chickenpox (even by GPs, even by A&E doctors). A severe case of HFMD is as nasty as chickenpox. The chickenpox vaccine isn't perfect, but if you have had two doses, to get chickenpox TWICE afterwards would make you worthy of writing up for a medical journal, it would be highly unusual in a healthy child. It's likely at least one or both of those rounds of chickenpox were actually HFMD - which most people catch several times during childhood. My toddler is 30 months and has had presumed HFMD three times. However, you can only definitively tell chickenpox and HFMD apart with a PCR test, which the NHS rarely bother doing.

Which is all to say... If you aren't sure your child has had chickenpox, get the vaccine.

I’ve read not to give ibuprofen for chicken pox. I’ve also heard the mousse is good. Hope it passes quickly.

This. Sage sdvice

Poxclin or virasoothe is supposed to be good to put on the spots. My dd liked a cold wet cloth to press on the itchy spots. Hopefully they start to scab over soon

MMRV has only recently been added to the schedule and OPs child would not be eligible for the free vaccine. I imagine her child has had the vaccines she was eligible to get

Poxclin, oaty baths (oats in a muslin, squeezed in the water and used to dab too) and calpol. Poxclin really helped mine while they had CP. Please remember no ibuprofen.

She can get it via her GP, and if the child had had all vaccines, the she would have been vaccinated against chickenpox.

She would have to pay for the chickenpox vaccine. It is not free for her child's age group.
MMRV has only been added for younger children not children age 8.

It's shitty to put your child through something that you meant to avoid but didn't get around to organising. You know you should've sorted the vaccine as otherwise why mention it in your original post.

How does your sanctimonious comment help the OP deal with the current situation? She didnt get the vaccine, just like the vast majority of children in the UK up until recently. My kids weren't vaccinated for CP and have both had it as younger children. They had all the other free vaccines

Some of these comments are vile. OP, porridge oats really do work. I put some in an old cut off pair of tights and dunk them in the bath and under the taps as bath fills. Then gently dab and squeeze over the spots. It does help with the itching.

Agreed - oats in an old pair of tights in the bath even soothed my 11 month old when she had a bad case. I’d assumed it was a bit of a myth but it really worked.

That’s very rare. Your friend should contact the provider to fill in a yellow form.

It must feel amazing to be such a flawless and perfect parent. Your lucky kids.

MMRV has never been offered to children who are now 8. It’s only recently been added for younger children.

You owe the Op and apology for your rudeness given her child has never been eligible for the MMRV.

and it’s £75 per vaccine (and two required) in most places. £150 is a shit load of money for many families (not to mention it wasn’t a commonly known thing given it wasn’t given in the NHs)

Hello @kirinm so sorry to hear about your DD. My sons had it last summer, the eldest really suffered with it and he did get some more spots while others were starting to heal etc. Some of his spots seemed really sore, you could see the redness spreading outwards almost like a ring so he ended up on antibiotics as the GP said they were infected. I don’t want to worry you, just informing you so you can keep an eye out etc.

We used the poxcilin mousse type thing and virasoothe but to be honest the calamine lotion seemed to help the most and really dried the spots up. I know some people say not to use this anymore but for us it really really helped. My eldest DS was off school for 2 weeks, my younger DS was not as badly affected he only had a few spots but eldest was covered.

I really hope your DD recovers swiftly and well.

Your bar for perfection is incredibly low