DD might have chickenpox after having Covid over Easter, worried!

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DD looks like she might be coming down with chicken pox, she is seven and never had it. My concern is that she had Covid two weeks ago, it was mild but I'm so worried it will be tough for little immune system to handle and am in a bit of a flap about it. She has a history of being hospitalised with viruses so I'm just feeling really worried. Does anyone have any experience of chicken pox straight after Covid? Thanks!

we had it the other way around! DS (6) had chicken pox and then caught Covid about 3 weeks later. He felt a bit rough with both, but nothing that wasn't managed with Calpol and cuddles

I really, really don't understand the British attitude towards chickenpox.

People refuse to vaccinate against it (even though you can get the shot at Boots), don't agitate for the NHS to provide vaccines against it, and then proceed to go into a panic when their child inevitably catches it.

Like, either a) decide that it's a mild disease and therefore you don't need to vax against it, or b) decide that it's a scary disease and get the vaccine. Being scared of CP and still not vaccinating against it is just weird and makes no sense.

(I know this post is going to get slammed for being "unsupportive," but seriously, Mumsnet is always full of posts by parents watching their children get CP and going into a panic and it's just so ridiculous to watch from the perspective of those of us who live outside the UK.)

We were planning on having her vaccinated this summer. She has SEN as well as hospital trauma so needles are a really big deal for her, and as I know how upsetting it will be for her I wanted to wait for a couple of calm weeks over the summer to build her up to it. It took three visits to the GP to get her to have the nasal flu spray.

Thanks Flock, its good to see it wasn't so serious. Currently waiting for DD to wake up to see if there are any more spots!

My toddler had covid and chicken pox at the same time and was totally fine!!

@greenteafiend you have to pay for the chicken pox vaccine that's why!!

plus I know a few who did pay for the vaccine but thier kids still got pox so a bit pointless!

Being scared of CP and still not vaccinating against it is just weird and makes no sense.

The chicken pox vaccine costs £160 - that's why!

Showing your privilege there. Not everyone has the cash spare to get the vaccine.

My 2.5 year old had chicken pox straight after a virus. (Not covid this was a few years ago). He was fine. Lots if spots and looked awful but he wasn't actually too bothered, some calpol and cream to sooth the itching.

Also my nephew was the same, hospital with infection then chicken pox a week later. But chicken pox was straight forward.

OP if she does have it my DC found the 'PoxClin' mousse effective at soothing the spots. And DS preferred the calomine cream (in the tube) to the lotion (in the bottle).
And Piriton (or other over-the-counter anti-histamine) for the itching helps a lot too

How old is your dd?

I know a 3yo who had chicken pox and Covid at the same time. She spent one afternoon on the sofa with a bit of a temp, and was a bit itchy with the spots but that was about it.

Hope your dd gets off equally as lightly

Yes, my dd had chicken pox very soon after covid. She is a teenager but hadn't had chicken pox previously (and yes, I wish that we had paid to have her vaccinated but we didn't).

She was not really unwell with covid but really very poorly with the pox. It's a shitty virus. I hope that your dd feels better soon.

Hi there, over Easter my 6 month old DD had Covid and Chicken Pox at literally the same time and I was really worried about the same thing. She had a few rough nights but on the whole coped well - I called the doctor and they weren't worried and gave the usual signs to look - It never got to that point of having to call again thankfully. Always worth speaking to the GP if you're worried though.

Ps I'm sorry you're having a tricky time with it and that your little one has had to go to hospital before. I totally understand that worry and it's completely valid and understandable 💕 big hugs, hope DD feels better soon.

DS2 had chicken pox at 9 weeks old. A bit spotty, his first dose of Calpol and otherwise fine. I was alarmed a couple of weeks earlier when I had a spotty 2yo and a 7wo baby.

Generally the younger the better, but 2 months old was a tad younger than I'd have liked!

If you have to take two three days off work to care for your sick child with CP then that would most likely cost more than the £140 it costs at Boots.

I appreciate that there are still many that sadly still can't afford £140 for the vaccine but equally there are many that can afford £140 for the vaccine and simply don't bother but are then shocked / scared when their children do get CP.

CP can be a serious illness in both children and adults and it surprises me that so few children are vaccinated against it in the UK.

Fair enough, I understand that there are some people for whom said amount is a struggle.

None of the people I know in the UK would have struggled to pay for it though, and none of them got the vaccine.

I mentioned something about how you can get the vaccine at Boots etc., to a couple of people when the subject of CP came up, and was told "Ah, But You See, The NHS Does Not Vaccinate Against Chickenpox!!!" in the sort of tone I'd imagine that North Korean schoolchildren use when explaining the law of the land as laid down by the Dear Leader.

It was like they believed that it was inherently wrong to vaccinate against something that hadn't been officially endorsed by the bloody NHS.

DS had covid and a bad case of croup at the same time - he is really prone to croup and we often end up in hospital for steroids and oxygen.

I was really worried he got them at the same time because they're both viruses affecting the throat and chest.

He was no more ill then he usually is with croup, thankfully! Although he was wiped out afterwards- took him longer to recover- probably due to having 2 viruses so close together.

plus I know a few who did pay for the vaccine but thier kids still got pox so a bit pointless!

The CP vax is basically 100% effective in protecting against severe CP. It does not prevent very mild cases (my kids got these super mild cases as well--almost no symptoms), but then very mild cases are not much to worry about. Having seen kids getting horribly ill from full blown CP and/or ending up with really unfortunately placed, visible pockmarks makes me really question anybody who doesn't get the vaccine, unless they really cannot afford it.

By the way, many years ago, the MMR was all set to become the MMRV (with "varicella" ie chickenpox being thrown in), and then the Wakefield scandal happened and the govt decided it didn't dare to add anything else to the MMR in case this caused uptake of the vaccine to fall even further, and a separate chickenpox vaccine was judged too expensive. So you can thank Andrew Wakefield for that one.

Unfortunately you can't tell how bad she will be. Just avoid ibuprofen, use piriton and get one of the gels or mousses from the pharmacy. Hopefully she'll get a mild dose.

In terms of vaccines I'd got my DC booked in to have the chicken pox vaccine. Eldest obviously came up in spots the day before I'd booked and passed it on to youngest. Part of the problem with the vaccine is that CP is so rife in this country that most children have it before we think about vaccinating. We actually don't give it on the grounds we're protecting the elderly. Apparently to have it in the environment and get exposure via your children and grandchildren means you are less likely to get severe shingles. However, there are also shingles vaccines so.....

Hopefully she will be ok. I think covid can lower the immune system.

I know several adults who have had covid and then gone on to have shingles without much time in between.

For those saying the vaccine was £160, it cost us £120/130 only a couple of years ago so worth shopping around to look for somewhere cheaper. My vaccinated children haven’t gone on to have chicken pox. My youngest was too young to be vaccinated and got it quite mildly but the spots were everywhere and took a long time to heal. You can get the first dose from 12 months (13 months if you get MMR first) so before they have too much of a chance to get to associate needles with anything unpleasant, and the second vaccine is only six weeks later.

Yep, rushed us the better part of £400 to get two DC double vaccinated, and that was in a city where we could choose from more than one local provider. That amount is simply out of the question for many.

I think it's a decent point that people don't always think critically about why the NHS has chosen not to include it in the routine schedule, but it's also true that so many families are simply priced out of the opportunity. Which is awful, when you think about it.

I appreciate that the vaccine is expensive for some but it also needs to be weighed up against the possibility of five to seven days of wasted nursery or childcare fees, unpaid leave from work, and then repeating it with another child in the household. Sometimes it’s actually the cheaper option.

Whilst I know that CP can be serious and unpleasant, even then - it is managed at home and the child gets through unscathed fairly quickly in the overwhelming majority of cases

long term - very very little likelihood of long term issues

so from the nhs perspective, there is very little reason to offer this as a vaccine

and I agree. From the perspective of a parents who’s daughter had it badly

It's worth remembering that vaccinating children against chickenpox reduces immunity to chickenpox and shingles in adults. That's why it's not one of the standard childhood vaccinations.

Kids in our family all had chickenpox then covid - they were rough with the CP and less so with covid. Hope she's not too poorly OP.

It’s because it’s not cost effective. You are more likely to end up in hospital with shingles than cp (probably because you are more likely to be older when you have shingles) so it costs the NHS more.

Countries with private medical care (eg America, Germany etc) tend to vaccinate children against cp (they have the quadruple vaccination of MMRV) because they make more money off shingles, and they make money from the vaccines so it’s win-win for them.