Chickenpox in partner *picture*

[isthisright22]

Hi,
Tuesday evening my partner (31) started having flu type symptoms, Wednesday eve we noticed the first lot of bumps. He has barely left the sofa since then. He is saying at the base of his head it hurts to touch/lay down on it. Quite a few of the spots look like they have pus in them rather than clear liquid, hes still going hot & cold, he just really isn't well. Over the last few days I've spoken to 111 plus normal gp who both said he isn't able to have antivirals unless it's shingles. I just don't know what else i can do. He was ill with covid in January but has said he would rather have covid ten times over than this, said he's never felt this ill in his life.
Have attached a pic to see what you think, any advice appreciated.

Has he had chicken pox before, even as a child? If he's never had chicken pox it can't be shingles.
The spots don't look typically like shingles, does he have spots on the other side of his face too?

I think he needs to be seen, sounds pretty ill and like you say they don't look like pox, more some kind of infection (or even molluscum)

Please get him seen by out of hours GP, three back of head/neck thing alone warrants it

Has he done a Covid test? GP would want to know

He believes he's never had it before but his mum thinks he did have it just very mildly. Yes, he is covered head to foot.

He's done a lateral flow test which was negative

Call 111. Chickenpox is one of the viruses that can cause encephalitis.

I've had shingles before that looked like this so this was my first thought.

Has he been in a hot tub recently?

It's not shingles as he's covered, shingles are in a cluster and usually only on one side of the body.

They look like infected chicken pox, and they can be severe. He needs to see someone, call 111 for an out of hours appointment.

No good advice for you but they look awful! Poor thing. He definitely needs to be seen face to face as he's feeling so poorly!

Hugely frustrating that your partner was refused antivirals. It’s a bit late for him to start taking then now but a private GP would have prescribed them. Chicken pox can be very serious in adults so please contact 111 again.

It looks infected or drying up. Dbro had cp as an adult and felt really unwell too.

I’ve had chicken pox as an adult (not shingles) and it was awful and they did look like that those look angrier than mine. He needs to be checked for infection.

Now ex dh got chicken pox the day I had dd1. He'd have been early 30s, they looked just like those in the photo. He was really poorly, spent the first week in bed couldn't move. I was much fitter than he was even though I'd had a long back to back labour.

Thanks for all the replies, phoned 111 again just waiting for a call back which could be 6+ hours. Its the painful head that worries me, he says the spots no longer itch they just really hurt.

My husband was pretty much like this, the spots prob a bit worse. He caught them from our youngest who had a few spots and no other symptoms. He was so poorly, it really knocked him out and he had about a week in bed. He had to have medication from the doctor as they were infected. He was rough for about three weeks. He'd never had chicken pox as a child.

My husband just got over this as our kids brought it home from school. He was shivering with fever for over a week...popping paracetamol every 4hrs...eventually moved on to calpol because he was having an upset tummy with all the pills. It was awful. He aslo had the spots inside his mouth. Said it was the worse he'd ever felt. His dr did prescribe antivirals which seemed to help. Aside from that it was bed rest lots of fluid and paracetamol for the fever. The kids had a couple miserable days and bounced back immediately

I wonder if it’s caused viral meningitis hence the sore head. I’d probably have him checked at A&E. He may well benefit from the antivirals even at this stage. Or monitoring/fluids/pain reflief until he’s a bit better.

Did he get better?

I have the same issues, please tell he got better soon afterwards.
Did it requires a special medicine?

I had chicken pox like this as an adult, never felt so ill and was covered in spots. It helped to take regular pain relief and sit in a tepid bath but it really is an utterly miserable virus when you have it badly. l found calamine dabbed on the spots gave a little relief but if you are worried speak to your G.P in case the spots have become infected. He should feel better when they start to scab over, although they are then very itchy, and he must try not to scratch to avoid scarring. I got better after about 3 weeks but felt run down and low for a while afterwards.

@Sepehr if you're an adult with CP for the first time,you need to call the GP / 111. It can be serious in adults and there are antiviral medications that you can take to reduce the impact.

If you've had CP before, or may have done without symptoms, are the spots all over you or in one area on one half of your body? If yes, it's more likely to be shingles and you also need to contact the GP / 111 urgently as the anti viral are only effective if taken in the first few days of spots appearing.

I had shingles a few years ago and it was absolute agony, and I ended up with post hepatic neuralgia which causes an itching crawling sensation, I still get that ocassionally now.

Virasoothe spray works to stop the pain of the rash a bit. Do not take ibuprofen.