Pregnant and nursery outbreak- slight panic!

[nc345678]

I am currently 19 weeks pregnant and also have a DD age 3 who attends nursery. Tonight at pick up, a very worried looking nursery practitioner has taken me into the office and told me that they have had to contact public health due to a 'co-infection' outbreak of both Strep-A and chicken pox and that I would receive a letter. Public health have advised that they notify me. I asked if my DD had been exposed to the child/children with the viruses and she confirmed that yes, she had last week and that I should notify my midwife immediately. I have sent my midwife a text but won't get a response until tomorrow.

My DD doesn't appear to have any symptoms of anything at the moment but I am conscious that she may not yet be symptomatic. Should I be worried? And should I keep her off nursery for the foreseeable? Any advice would be appreciated!

Hello, well unfortunately things like this happen. At this age germs do spread very easy, Did nursery do a sanitize protocol for the areas that your DD will be? I would sanitize any items that have gone to nursery and back home. If you are uncomfortable with the situation right now don’t send DD back for while. Do you know how many kids have been exposed? You would have to worry about them transferring it further if they did catch it. Strep A takes about 5 days to show in system in caught, chicken pox is around 2 weeks. Not sure about date of exposure.

The big question is whether or not you have immunity to chicken pox. Have you had it as a child? They might want to do blood tests to check if you're not sure.

If you've had chicken pox then there is likely nothing to worry about.

Yes, sorry I meant to add I did have chicken pox as a child.

You're fine if your had chicken pox. And strep a us just tonsillitis which antibiotics will clear

This seems very dramatic of your nursery? Your midwife will not in the least bit care to be honest - if your DC get poorly then follow the normal things you would do.

If you want to reduce risk to yourself and your unborn baby, keep child out of nursery for a few days. You could wear a N95 mask until your child is in the clear, and keep your house well ventilated. Let your partner do bedtime for a few days. Strep A can be spread through airborne means. Also clean surfaces well. It might be easily cleared with antibiotics but it's better to avoid illness in pregnancy if you can.

Also having had chickenpox before doesn't mean you won't have it again, albeit probably in mild form, my mum caught it off me and she'd had it as a child.