Hand food and mouth or chicken pox - second opinion?

[DSawyer]

14 month old DD developed spots on Tuesday. Nursery confirmed two cases of chicken pox already.

By Wednesday, the nappy rash she had since last week had dramatically gotten worse and blisters appeared on her bottom. We were concerned by the rash as skin was broken and very raw so DH took her to GP who said chicken pox. Cream prescribed for the rash.

DH noticed the cream is a steroid cream said it should not be used on broken skin or for chicken pox. Pharmacy confirmed this and recommended sudocrem.

We’re now on day 4 and the blisters haven’t spread. They’re still on her mouth/chin; hands, knees and bottom. It doesn’t seem to be spreading as I’d expect chicken pox to spread.

Would you get a second opinion or trust the initial GP diagnosis? My trust in them has obviously fallen seeing as he prescribed the wrong cream.

We’ve informed the nursery it’s chicken pox but would want them to know if it’s actually HFM as it’s also contagious. Will also need to know whether she’s ok to return to nursery on Monday if she’s feeling herself by then even if she has the blisters. (She’s still currently miserable with it though - sleepless nights and lots of cuddles needed).

Advice welcome!

Sounds very much like HFM but sometimes it's just impossible to tell! I wouldn't bother another gp as there isn't much they can do and the treatment is the same, cuddles and rest and lots to drink. Hope she feels better soon! X

Thank you!
Shes doing so well during the day but horrendous at night. I’ve only just left her room as she wants a literal hand hold through out the night.
Hoping she will be better for nursery on Monday 🤞 but at least DH enjoys looking after her & has some holiday days remaining still.
Thanks! X

The main way we could tell my daughter had HFM was afterwards, when her nails went weird and peely. So keep an eye out for that! Initially we thought it wad chicken pox, but she came down with CPox the same time as her siblings 2 years later and the rash was similar, not the same, and no nail weirdness after CPox.

Chicken pox is itchy hfm isn't, chicken pox is small spot type blisters, hfm is more flat red blisters, in my experience hfm gives a nasty temp. Often the blisters are in the mouth, up the nose, soles of feet and palms in hfm whereas chicken pox will spread all over. Sounds like hfm to me with it not spreading x

Definitely sounds like hand foot & mouth, I had a horrible rash on my bum, it was so sore I couldn't bear to wear knickers or have anything tight on. I spent a week of my holiday wearing a nightshirt stuck in my caravan. It got so bad I ended up at A & E where I was given steroids & antihistamines. Get some calamine cream or you can get Calamine & Witch Hazel cream on Amazon which cools & stops the itching.

I agree it sounds more like hfm than chicken pox but obviously the GP ought to know!

It matters because with hfm they can still attend nursery/school if feeling well, while with chicken pox they can't.

I'd go back to the GP but ask to see a different one at the practice of possible!

When ds had chicken pox, he started with 3 spots, then nothing for 5 days. At the end of the 5th day he was covered! CP can be a bit of a slow burner.

Chicken pox doesn’t always spread everywhere btw, some people don’t get covered in spots, some do.

Chicken pox was apparently doing the rounds at DS nursery but when he caught it, it was HFM, so I think it gets misdiagnosed as CP a lot. Afterwards his feet went peely. Worst of the spots were genital area.

He’a getting his CP vaccine on Monday so fingers crossed we will avoid that one altogether.

Thank you all for taking the time to read and respond!

@DinosaurOfFire nails look normal so far but will keep an eye out

@sarahc336 she had a temp day 2/3 bought down by calpol but doesn’t seem to be too itchy!

@Nat6999 that sounds so nasty! No wonder she’s fussing. We’ve been giving her nappy off time and using pull ups as she’s less fussy in them. we have calamine luckily as the pharmacist says it’s like gold dust at the moment!

@CoalCraft yes the only reason we’d want a second opinion is to judge when she’s okay to go back to nursery. She wasn’t done yesterday but already much happier today. Hopefully she’ll be fine by Monday.

@LightUpTheWoods @tabulahrasa good to know it’s not always the classic symptoms like I remember. Day 5 today and the spots on her face are clearing.

@Skinnermarink didn’t even realise there was a vaccine! Makes sense though! Will ask HV about that.

thank you all again xx

It’s only available privately though OP, costing us £140 through Boots which is a huge expense for us but less than we’d have to spend taking the amount of time off from our jobs to get DS through the pox.

They’ve started to clear up now but these are the blisters / spots.

@Skinnermarink worth it! She’s already had 10 days off nursery since I’ve been back at work due to croup and now this!

Oh that’s HFM op, no doubt in my mind.

Definitely looks like HFM to me. My youngest has chicken pox at the moment. Not badly but they are on her torso and face. Those photos you've posted look exactly like she did when she had HFM.

DH took her back to GP today after she developed a new rash all over her belly more like scarlet fever than chicken pox (ended up being a general viral rash).

Second GP still thinks chicken pox 🤷‍♀️

Thanks for all the responses!