Chicken pox

[Kmg]

I was rather surprised at today's "tip" encouraging you not to avoid people with chicken pox. I just want to point out that chicken pox is not always very mild. My boys had it last summer, ages 1 and 3, so relatively young - it's supposed to be easier. And they were both utterly miserable, and quite ill, with high fevers etc., for quite some time. We knew we had been exposed, so avoided contact with others before the spots even appeared, and then the illness lasted so long, it felt like it completely wiped out the summer. It was an 'ideal' time for us - we didn't miss any major events or any school or nursery time, but if I had deliberately exposed them at that time I would have felt dreadful at inflicting that upon them.

So you may want to think again before deliberately putting your child through this.

Thanks for yoyr advice; ds has it quite badly, poor thing so any hope of escape to playground has been shelved, but your comments are really appreciated!
Thank you!!

Help - my daughter has got chicken pox! Are we really not allowed out until the spots have scabbed over? It looks pretty mild at the moment - only one "blister" type spot on her neck but a few red ones on her back and legs.

Her school have just said keep her off for 2 weeks but NHS Direct sys that the spots are usually not contagious once they have scabbed over - usually in about 5 days. I expect I am going to have to keep her off (and me from work) for at least a week but do we really have to stay in all that time??? Practical realistic advice please.

The advice to stay away from others until the spots have scabbed over is pretty standard, I think, due to the danger to pregnant women if they catch CP. I'm not sure if shingles can be triggered off by being in contact with someone with CP, as well - I've never really understood the CP/shingles connection!

You may find that your DD comes out with a fresh crop of spots every day for a few days, and might be a bit unwell. It can last up to 14 days although it seems to be an illness that varies incredibly from one child to another. My 14 yr old looked like something from a horror movie yet the 4 yr old had half a dozen spots, tops. Everyone enjoys telling me that it was so mild, she'll get it again.

If your DD feels okay, then you can always go out to the park at quiet times, or to the supermarket when it's not busy - you still have to eat, after all. HTH

Hi Tinker, both my boys have just finished with their chicken pox. Until all the spots have scabbed over they are contagious. My youngest had SO many, it did take a while. My son went back to school 11 days after the first spot appeared, and they were all scabbed over.

yes the staying in can drive you up the wall (look at the current thread of things to do indoors in winter, for lots of good ideas). Towards the end when they were just spotty and not ill we went to the empty park for some fresh air.

I hope she doesnt get too poorly, and that you cope OK!

Tinker
We're a few weeks out of the contagious time, and my ds was pretty ill with it for a few days. The spots do take 4 or 5 days to come out, so wait and see. I took advantage of ds feeling pretty low, and strapped him into his old buggy and went for a mercy dash around local village with him strapped in to grab what I can. Also took him down to the park when it was quiet.
Do you have any friends who want their kids to get CP? Invite them over! Also, if any friends children have had CP, they'll be safe to play with, too.
It's a pretty hellish time, and I didn't have to give up work to care for him!
Go to chemist to get ready made mix of aqueous cream and calamine. Seems to work. Also buckets of calpol and piriton if you can get it down them!
Good luck. ds was back in the swing of things about 10 days after the first spots appeared.

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Robinw, I'm not trying to start a fight, and I know you said "most babies are ok when they get chickenpox", but I'd just like to reassure anyone who might be in the position of having a baby with cp. My youngest was 6 months when she had it, and her cousin was 2 weeks - in other words, she came into contact with the disease when she was 2 days old (a family party, my sister was there to show off the baby - how glad she was the next day when my cousin phoned and told us her son had just come out in the spots!). Both babies were fine - in fact my niece hardly suffered at all. My 2 year old felt much sorrier for herself than my 6 month old.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. It's day 2 and, unfortunately, she doesn't feel ill, she's full of beans! I'm pulling my hair out already with at least another week to go. At least when she feels crap she just sleeps, now it's just "Mum, will you play with me?".

Just another question, what causes the scars? Is it scratching the blisters, the red spots or the scabby ones? I've got a scar on my face and I don't want her to get them if she can avoid them.

Thanks

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The scars are caused by the scabs being removed before they are ready to fall off themselves. That could be by a child picking them or, as in my 14yr old's case, by being rubbed off when her face was in contact with her pillow. She is really quite badly scarred and although it's been over a year, I still find it distressing to see her with pock marks on her lovely face.

DD was in contact with someone I've since found out has developed cp (the day before the spots therefore infectious).

Two probs - we've got a much needed skiing holiday booked for next week! AAArrrgghhhh! What do we do. We can hardly cancel because she's not ill, what do we do?? But then if she got ill while we were there we'd have a terrible non-holiday, plus probably be trapped there! Dh thinks I'm mad to give it a 2nd thought & won't even discuss it!

2nd problem - life as normal? On the one hand I don't want her to be a walking desaster area, infecting everyone. On the other hand there are no guarantees she will catch it. If she had cp I would obviously 'quaranteen' (sp??) her, but the thought of locking us away for weeks, missing Christmas parties etc when there's nothing to show she MAY get ill seems a bit much, any thoughts on what we should do?

Inky when was your daughter in contact with friend, and how far into chicken pox was the friend? Might be easier to work out dates then. If its only just now, you may get a clear week, maybe feeling poorly at the end of the holiday and then spots appear when you come home.

BUT if she does get it badly it will be awful for you all, and the airlines wont let you on with chicken pox, and you would have to stay out there, so would have all that to rearrange and organise. Is hubby up to thinking about that?!

Is health insurance really good, to cover you for Drs etc.

You're right at the end of the day she might not catch it, but it is very infectious and quite likely. My ds was very ill with it recently.

Suedonim
my daughter got badly scarred on her face when she was about 5 - she's 13 now. For years she had a fringe to cover the worst of them - but now she has grown it out. I know they are there - but we just don't see them anymore except as part of her. But I do regret them.

Incidentally, does anybody else have the experience of meeting someone for the first time and thinking what an odd looking person - and then as you see them over time they just appear normal? It's happened to me three times - and yet I look at these three people now, and can't think why I felt so strongly in the first place.

I guess the moral is you get used to appearances.

My GP suggested asking your pharmacy to get Calomine Cream instead of lotion (it doesn't dry the skin as much)

Bexm, definitely agree, it works so much better and doesnt make as much mess as the lotion.

c'mon people, time's running out for me and I'd really appreciate your advice. Anyone whose child has had chicken pox - was it a bolt from the blue or did you know they'd been in contact withthe infection. If you knew they might get it, did you hide them away just in case or did you carry on as normal until they definitely got ill?

Plus, is there a chance I might be infectious too, and theefore do i need to avoid people too?

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Thanks, Copper, for your reassurance. It's only just over a year since my DD had CP but the scars are less deep than they were. I know they won't go completely but to know they will improve is a help. Oddly, or maybe fortunately, she isn't upset by them, it's me that has found it hard to deal with. It's better that I'm upset rather than her.

Inky, my 13 yr old DD had CP out of the blue. There were no cases in school or even at our GP's surgery. But when we thought back, she had been to Alton Towers with her school at the crucial time and suspect she picked it up there. It was unfortunate timing as both my DD's were due to be bridesmaids a couple of weeks later - arrrrgggghhh! Luckily, we made it, phew!

Inky - we did put ourselves in quarantine. We spent a day visiting friends and they came out in CP the next day. Because CP was not currently in our town, and it was the summer holidays, I didn't want to ruin anyone's holidays, so we did avoid all and sundry, unless they had already had CP. It did ruin our summer, as the incubation period is so long and can be varied. But in the end I felt justified. Both boys got it (at the same time), and it was obviously a particularly nasty variety, as they were both extremely poorly with it. But we succeeded in not passing it on to anyone locally.

It was good to have 'got it over with' without missing any days off school or nursery, but I would have felt guilty if I'd deliberately exposed my boys to the illness, or if they'd infected others, and then been so ill.

Inky
Be honest with your GP and your insurance company with the situation, and find out exactly what would happen if cp appeared the day before you went or while you were out there. I think it's best to be honest, esp with insurance co.
At what point will you be in the all clear ie 21 days after you've been exposed.
My ds was exposed to cp 3 or 4 times before he caught it. Must admit, got a bit sick of having to quarantine him all the time, so deliberately avoided public places and babies etc to be safe.

Just a note on the subject of shingles. I had it 2 years ago, and having looked after ds with cp, I came out in it again.

Thanks for your messages. I don't expect anyone to make the decision for me, I just wanted a few opinions to help me get things into perspective. I'm worryoing that I'm totally over-reacting, as I've been looking forward to the holiday for so long, and as dh is so laid back about it, so I just needed a few impartia; but experienced words of wisdom on the topic, which I've now got.

I've been told so many different figures about the infectius time I'm a bit unsure about when to quaranteen them from. I think I will though - like you said kmg, I'd feel guilty if anyone got really ill as a result.

Hi Inky My ds has been exposed at nursery at least 4 times, and once it was just before a holiday to the Caribbean. I reckoned there were worse places to get stuck in, so we went anyway. He never did end up getting chicken pox, so you can't be sure that being exposured will end up in an infection. The nursery says that incubation is 10 to 14 days - don't know if this just adds to the confusion

inky - as someone who hads a skiing hol ruined by cp i should be the first to say cancel, but actually i wouldn't. My dd's entire circle of friends had had cp, she'd played with them all as I was quite happy for her to get it- but for months as they all did, she didn't. Then as soonas i started keeping her away from potential infection ( cos of the hol), she did. We went skiing three days after the spots appeared, which looking back was a bit irresponsible, but I'd been told at that time that as long as the spots were covered we were Ok. Actually this isn't true, but I've since comforted myself by thinking of how many people must fly at the most infectious time ie when the spots haven't even come out? I kept her away from folks as much as possible and as I said she wasn't allowed in the creche. However, we were sharing a chalet with friends with a two year old. Thet were fine about them playing together, as the other girl wasn't going to get cp on hols and like most parents they knew she'd get it sometime. But amazingly she didn't and these girls couldn't have been closer - they bathed together, kissed, shared food... so I guess what I'm saying is it'd be a shame to cancel and then find she doesn't have it...She wounldn't get it for two to three weeks after poss infection, so if you think you'd be home by then I think you're covered anyway. good luck Incidentally, where are you skiing?

Inky, one of my twin dd's got cp entirely out of the blue- noone we knew had it. Despite sharing everything and only being just over a year old, therefore still sucking and chewing everything her twin didn't get it. (And I am absolutely positive she did not have even one spot, as I examined her frequently!) Then about 18 months later we stayed with friends, arriving the day after their ds erupted, again they shared everything, bathed together, played closely etc, and no chicken pox. The HV said it is possible to acquire maternal immunity (I had it extremely badly as a child). The dd who had it was not distressed or particularly itchy, tho' VERY spotty. She does have 2 scars on her face (nowhere else. Typical!) but they are fading.