Can you really only get chicken pox once?

[littlelamb]

Dd had chicken pox early this year and it took out her whole room at nursery. It took about 2 weeks for her to recover completely and was generally a bit of a nightmare. She is now at a new nursery and there have been 2 reported cases of chicken pox today. Is she at risk? She has come home very pale and quiet, has a slight temperature and has been feeling a bit off for a few days. She is lying on the sofa almost asleep which is very unlike her (she is 4.6). ALso, does a breakout at nursery put ds at risk? He is 6 months

i think if they have a mild case they can get it again

Both mine have had it a few times, though not a very bad dose.

DS had it twice...
The first bout was very mild - and he was still being bf, so my immunity fought it off, rather than his.
His second bout was less mild, but still only a few spots. I think he probably had some immunity from the first time, but not enough to see it off completely.

Sorry to hear your DD is off colour. I was told that if they have it mildly the first time, particularly if they are very young, then they can get it again.

Perhpas your DD is going down with something different - there are some nasty cough and cold viruses around our way just now.

I have had it several times. Each time was pretty bad.

Oh bugger it. When you say mild, do you mean not very many spots? She did only have a few last time, tbh it was worse before the spots appeared, and she was very much like she is now. Great . At least being on maternity leave means none of the dreadful rescheduling I had to do last time. Have just had a look at her back and there are 3 spots which weren't there this morning...

dd2 had it twice (about 1 years old and then at about 7 years old) both times as bad. Spots all over and in ears etc.

oh well, bang goes the theory i was told.

Yes my friend has it a few times each time quite badly.

No .you can only have it once. The virus is then stored in the nerves and can come out later as shingles.You can catch c.p. from shingles or c.p.sufferer but you can't catch shingles from anyone.Having c.p. gives life long immunity to c.p. but some other illnesses look a bit like c.p. like hand,foot and mouth.

I agree that once you've had it, the research show that it 'hides' in your nervous system, and can reappear later as shingles.
However what is your evidence that you cannot catch chicken pox twice if you did not build sufficient immunity the first time?
The GP was sure that DS had it twice.

I am afraid you are wrong SnowCrystal. I have had chicken pox several times. The doctor referred me to an immune system specialist as it is rare to have it several times, esp as an adult. The specialist said it is rare but not that rare.

Each time mine has been chicken pox. I have had shingles too and they are very different conditions.

OK .I suppose the teaching is that you get lifelong immunity but common sense prevailing if someone had definite immune system deficiencies after the initial infection maybe they wouln't recognise it but I dont know if there is evidence to back it up.

I do think a lot of people confuse other viruses with cp though. mine have had hand foot mouth and it looked a fair bit like cp so I can see how it would happen.

when you get it twice, would that mean you didn't get immunity from it the first time so if you had been blood tested after the first cp you wouldn't have shown immunity (if that makes sense?)

DD has had CP twice.

No you can get it more than once, usually if the first exposure is a mild exposure. Often the second outbreak is usually (but not always) a huge outbreak.

I am one of a small number of people who cannot become immune to chicken pox despite having had it several times...
oth, there aren't that many of us and as others have said, there are lots of viruses that cause similar symptoms without the distinctive spots, obv, so she probably has one of those.

Well how come I have had cp twice and I was 24 the second time and it was diagnosed by the same gp both times (plus I was 16 weeks pg the second time which was a nightmare)

Was the gp wrong the second time or was the gp wrong the first time?

I have not had shingles though

some information here

this is an example of hand foot mouth blisters here. dd currently has cpx and they look similar enough to be confused I think
(but am not doubting the stories on here of people who have had cpx twice)
when dd had hand foot mouth, she actually had the blisters all over her bum and legs as well as hands and mouth, poor lamb. my locum gp diagnosed it as excema. caused by the heat. in november. even though ds also had mouth ulcers. which said gp couldn't see. therefore we must have been inventing them. rofl at moronic level of competence sometimes displayed by my locum gp.

anyhow, here's the link www.visualdxhealth.com/images/dx/webInfant/hand-Foot-and-MouthDisease_12541_lg.jpg

I've had chicken pox twice, once as a child then again as an adult. Only had spots as an adult with no other symptoms which seemed to confuse my GP.

I've had it multiple times.

DS1 (11) has had it twice, possibly three times (third was mild enough to not be entirely sure).

Just realised I answered the op with "No" and then went on to say you could get it more than once. I of course meant "yes'

I had chicken pox twice. And shingles once

never had cold sores or herpes....