Possible exposure to Chickenpox over Christmas

[GeorginaA]

In a bit of a dilemma. My SIL has just phoned to let me know her dd has gone down with chickenpox (we're supposed to be spending Christmas at hers). Chances are her dd should not be infectious by the time we go over, but her ds might be (no signs of him having had it yet I think).

My ds hasn't had it (although I'm not too bothered if he does get it - we'll deal) but the problem is I know I am not immune (I recently had the blood test to check as part of blood tests for planning for next child). There's also a chance I may be pregnant this month (but I won't be able to take a test until 2 days after Christmas). We also are planning to put the house on the market mid-January to move closer to dh's work.

So what do I do? I really want to go there (and planning Christmas here at such short notice is just too awful to contemplate!) but am a bit worried about me getting chickenpox (I just can't afford for me to be ill at the moment). On the otherhand, it seems silly to cancel just on the offchance her ds may get it and on the offchance that I may be pregnant.

Has anyone had any experience of having the serum (blood product antibodies to protect against chickenpox) after being exposed to chickenpox while pregnant? Any other thoughts/advice?

I'd phone your GP and ask his/her advice if I were you.

GeorginaA, take a look at
this - as it says, most pregnant women have no problems, but it's best you know the risks. a few Christmases ago when I was single, I had flu (the real thing, not that thing that men get and say they're dying ) and decided against going home to see my parents, because my dad has emphysema and it could be very serious. It was the loneliest, worst Christmas ever but I'm glad I sacrificed it for him
have a good time, whatever you decide to do

only thing i could suggest is to take homeopathic varicella. The worst time to be pregnant with chickenpox is at the end, but still would be best avoided if you are pregnant. How old is her ds? If he's under a year he'll probably still be protected by maternal antibodies. Otherwise, if you think you are pregnant I would be careful (to put it in context I'm usually fairly relaxed about exposing the kids to these sorts of things).
HTH

I also would suggest speaking to your gp. There is a vaccine but I'm not sure of it is "live" and therefore unsuitable for pregnant women, also whether it is 100% reliable. I don't think I would knowingly like to expose myself to it in your position although the risk is probably quite small.(Nephew may not catch it at all or may be past the infectious stage)Regardless you do still run the risk of catching it later from your ds should he come into contact with it elsewhere.

Good luck with your decision but take some comfort from the fact that your SIL has had the decency to forewarn you. Mine let me walk into a family gathering with her 2.5 year old just coming out in spots, knowing that our 18 month ds had not had it and not even thinking whether I might be pregnant at the time. I'm afraid I was not impressed.

LizS

Difficult decision GeorginaA. I agree with LIZS - top marks to your SIL for warning you. A few years ago we went to visit friends, who knew they'd been exposed to CP, and came out in spots that day. It completely ruined our summer - both boys had it and were VERY poorly and miserable with it, and one got a secondary infection. Plus we spent the whole time in quarantine from our friends, because it wasn't around in our small town at the time, and we didn't want to spoil everyone else's summer.

My sister's dd had chicken pox this time last year, although ds had not yet shown signs. I talked to NHS direct as well as others who said that if ds had not come out in spots be the end of the incubation period then it was fine to visit them (I was 8 months pregnant). In the end his spots came out and the whole family were insistent that I didn't see them; we went over in January instead

Yes, I've decided to phone the GP tomorrow and see what he says - at the least I suppose I could get a GP pregnancy test (you can do the blood test ones sooner, right?) and I could make a decision based on that.

Have looked into the vaccine before but you have to wait 3 months afterwards before you can try to conceive, and my GP wasn't too keen and wanted to read up about it carefully before letting me have it. In the end I gave up as I thought it was too much hassle and we wanted to try for another asap. As it is, it's taken 4 months already and I wish I'd had the vaccine now! Oh well, live and learn.

My MIL and FIL are visiting Wednesday too so I might be able to gauge how much trouble I'll be in with the family if we do back out.... [gulp]

Well I phoned the doctor today - she didn't really offer much advice either way. The doctor's pregnancy test wouldn't really be very accurate at this time and she's concerned it might give me false reassurance.

The serum isn't available from the surgery I'd need to be referred to the antenatal department of the local hospital.

And I've just realised I forgot to ask if it was particularly high risk at this early stage of pregnancy (if I was pregnant) - I was so good at writing down all the things I wanted to ask before I rang too

So really, still not totally sure what to do.

Have a look at the link Bundle posted, it says

"You can be given an anti-serum (antidote) which may stop chickenpox developing. This contains antibodies to the chickenpox virus. It is best given within 4 days of coming into contact with the virus. However, there may be some protection even if you are given anti-serum up to 10 days after contact with the virus."

So you can have the serum if necessary after you do the pregnancy test 2 days after Christmas.

That site also says that there is a risk to the baby up to 20 weeks pregnancy with the greatest risk being between weeks 13 and 20. The risk is 1/50 chance of abnormalities.

Yes I did see the site. I do worry though because the serum is created from blood products and I don't really want to have it unnecessarily.

That and I am a born worrier

It's a shame it doesn't state whether it's just 1/50 during weeks 13 to 20 or whether that's the average risk. Is it a lot less risky in the first month for example (I assume 13 to 20 weeks is brain and eye development or something which would make it so risky)...

ARGH... the timing just sucks, quite frankly.

GeorginaA, what a tough one for you to decide. I got chickenpox at college when I was about 20 and it was pretty severe, not a nice illness as an adult even if you don't have pregnancy to worry about. I had two completely sleepless, itchy, sore throat/neck nights when even an icy shower felt lukewarm on my spotty back

My impression was that the risk was 1/50 over all.
You'll only need the serum if your christmas test is positive and you'll be in a better position to discuss it with your GP. As the incubation period is 10-21 days, you won't get it til after you know you're pregnant if you do get it at all. I would say your SILs DS is almost guaranteed to get it as he's in constant contact with his infectious sister. In fact, the odds are he'll get a worse case of it than her.

DS1 and 2 played closely on at least 4 occasions with CP children and failed to get it over the summer.

Oh, it's a tricky one!!

As an update we decided to go anyway. Still no sign of her ds getting it so we're keeping fingers crossed.

My period started on Christmas Day so it was a moot point anyway Still, on the plus side it meant I could get nice and sloshed and enjoy all the pate and brie on offer... and I shall just keep telling myself that.

Well, I hope you had a good time anyway GeorginaA. At least you didn't cancel and then find it was unnecessary.

Thanks SoupDragon! We did have a lovely time - a bit too much travelling really, but was worth it as ds loved playing with his cousins - we hardly saw him all day as he was busy playing chase or peekaboo! Very relaxing (well at least the non-car bits).

Argh - her ds woke up with the spots this morning.

Eeek!

Still, best to get it over with I guess and you/DS may not get it anyway...