Chicken Pox

[Fidgetsmum]

I've got a 6 wk old boy, and a three yr old whose nursery seems to have a number of chicken pox cases. I'm therefore expecting my daughter to get it fairly soon. So because I have no brain having given birth so recently (!), please can I have advice on what to have ready/medecines etc to get in the house/be prepared for for when my daughter does come down with it? I'm struggling to coordinate getting myself dressed in the morning, let alone feeding a hungry baby every 2-3 hrs and then potentially caring for a poorly little girl.

Any advice to get prepared greatly appreciated (although horror stories of no sleep for 7 nights in a row etc might not be helpful!!)

[Tara]

It may not be all bad - I think the younger they are the greater chance you have of it being a faily mild case. My daughter had chickenpox last year (18 months old) and it was fairly midl and didn't seem to bother too much. I got some piriton syrup in (I think that's what it was - over the counter anyway) for the night time.

[sanity girl]

Hi, my almost 3.5 year old daughter and 3 month old boy got it just before christmas and neither seemed very bothered by it. I just dabbed a bit of calamine lotion on the spots and also did a few baths with oats in (tied up in a muslin square and swished around, you can also dab the muslin directly on the spots).

[candj]

Piriton, calamine cream, baking soda for baths if it's really bad.

[Fidgetsmum]

Thanks. I had it when I was 9yrs old and remember it being horrendous so assumed it'd be the same for Fidget. Shall stock up and get ready for the onslaught!

[chantelle]

my 2.5 year old just had it and it was incredibly mild. no fever, just 20 spots or so, many of which faded and he had only five or six scabs. I used calamine lotion on them. good luck.

it was definitely worse for me when i had it at 8.

[Sanne Panne]

If they don't get it before school age it may be worth vaccinating them... you can have it done privately for about ?75. In the US and Canada it's part of the standard vaccination programme. We did it when our daughter was just under 2 but I completely understand that most people don't mind their kids just getting the disease when they're small. Just worth considering if they don't catch it before they get to the age when they'll probably be really miserable!

[nicolemodesti]

My 2.5 year old has it at the moment and nursery is where he caught it!! It started on Tuesday evening when I noticed that he had a couple of spots on his back that looked like an insect bite. We had a very restless night that night with a lot of sweating then a few more spots the next morning. I took him to the doctor who gave me piriton, paracetomol and calamine lotion. Also used Oilatum for bath time and have started using Aveeno tonight. By Thursday night he started itching but has been quite good with it. He hasn't complained once or made a fuss and been very perky. Although he doesn't particularly like the calamine as complains it is too cold. His granny warms it up for him by placing calamine in a bowl, then the bowl into a hot water bowl - bad mummy doesn't do that! We are at the scab stage although it seems to be quite bad on his scalp.It has been worse for me with seeing all the pox come out but I think that's because you worry they are suffering. Good luck!

[melbourne groover]

Get the Calamine and Aqueous creme, it is a wetter formula and stops the itching longer - Top tip from previous forum thread a couple of years ago. We found it was much better than the standard Calamine!

[buggie]

A friend's little one had chickenpox when she was only 2yr old and raved about Eurax cream - think it comes as a lotion as well.

[new mother]

There is a vaccine these days but not available on the NHS, I don't think. I need to investiagte for my baby asap.

Secondly, make notes if your (fenale) child gets it only very mildly - the full immunity might not be there going forward and it can be very dangerous in that girl's later pgcies. All pg women should be very aware of cpox, avoid it if possible and know their cp history.

[Fuschia]

Eurax cream is fab. Piriton liquid. Oatmeal for the bath

Bf is quite protective against CP so hopefully baby won't get it

x

[Princess]

Just to second New Mothers point about girls and immunity. I have had cp 6 times. Blood tests in my first pregnancy showed I have no immunity. It wasn't too hard to avoid it in my first pregnancy as I wasnt interacting with many kids etc. Now I am pregnant again, it is a real nightmare. We've had to pull my son out of nursery as they've been overrun with it since before Christmas and I am cautious with any groups we go to as everyone seems to be talking about someone they know with it! As far as vaccines are concerned my midwife has only told me about one they will give me if I do get it. It's not a cure though and there are huge risks associated with it. Is this the same vaccine you refer to?

[Keef]

Our daughter had it in november aged about 18 months. It looked terrible, especially in the nappy area, but she didn't seem remotely bothered by it.

[Sanne Panne]

No that's probably not the same jab - anything they give you after you already catch it is probably not a real vaccine anyway, just a cocktail with antibodies I would assume (since you don't seem to build up immunity when you get it, a traditional vaccine may not work as all it does is stimulate your body to make antibodies).

The regular vaccine is pretty much risk free like all of the standard childhood vaccinations.

It must be so stressful to be pregnant and have to worry about chicken pox, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this :(

Princess Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Just to second New Mothers point about girls and

> immunity. I have had cp 6 times. Blood tests in my

> first pregnancy showed I have no immunity. It

> wasn't too hard to avoid it in my first pregnancy

> as I wasnt interacting with many kids etc. Now I

> am pregnant again, it is a real nightmare. We've

> had to pull my son out of nursery as they've been

> overrun with it since before Christmas and I am

> cautious with any groups we go to as everyone

> seems to be talking about someone they know with

> it! As far as vaccines are concerned my midwife

> has only told me about one they will give me if I

> do get it. It's not a cure though and there are

> huge risks associated with it. Is this the same

> vaccine you refer to?

[Saffron]

You CAN receive the standard vaccine after exposure. If you (or your child) has been exposed you have 3 to 5 days to receive the standard chicken pox vaccine. This is expected to result in a 70-90% reduction in the likelihood of developing the active infection. I don't know if there is a different vaccine for pregnancy. However, there is an antibody formulation (varicella zoster immunoglobulin or VZIG) that can be given to infected individuals who are severely immune compromised, eg newborns or people with leukemia etc.

The current chicken pox vaccine should not be given to individuals who have recently had the MMR. So if you are getting the CP vacc privately, make sure you coordinate with your NHS provider, so as not to overlap too close.

The cp vacc comes in two jabs, given about 6 wks apart. Immunity of greater that 90% is thought to last around 10 years, so another booster in the teen years would be advisable.

I took my daughter for her jab at the MediCentre in Victoria Sta. They were really friendly. The cost was ?73.

And just a final note to say that there is a suspected genetic link to individuals susceptible to contracting chicken pox more than once. So if you've had it more than once, your children may too.

[Sanne Panne]

Now that's a useful post Saffron, thanks!!!

[Fidgetsmum]

I love the forum. So much more information that NHSDirect! Thanks very much indeed and good luck to princess.

[Princess]

Yes thanks Saffron. Your post is more helpful and clear than numerous conversations with midwives and GP's!

[ClaireClaire]

Hello

Came across this thread which is a few months old, but thought I would add a little note here to say that I had CP during my 2nd pregnancy at 26w. It was something I was concerned about all the way through, as I was sure I hadn't had it myself as a child, and of course all the kids at nurseries and playgroups around me were coming down with it. I spoke to GPs, midwives and nurses and of course no-one took me seriously. Everyone tried to tell me that "I must have had it", because 96% of the adult population has had it or whatever.

The most I could do was vaccinate my older child, in the hope that if she didn't get CP, then I wouldn't get it either. But no such luck, I still came down with it at 26w. Luckily baby turned out unscathed (and possibly with some CP immunity???). But I will say that it is much more unpleasant as an adult, and unfortunately two years later I still have scars :-(

My message is: don't let it happen to you! Check your immunity and if necessary get the vaccine (go to MediCentre at Victoria or Waterloo) BEFORE you get pregnant.

Claire

[Saffron]

So sorry to hear about your experience, Claire. It's soooo frustrating when MWs/GPs/etc don't take you seriously. I also find the statement by medical professionals that you must have had Cpox b/c 90-whatever-percent has had it, to be utterly illogical. If less than 100% of a population has had it, then by definition some individual will NOT have had Cpox of course. That was hugely negligent of whoever told you that, and I'm glad it turned out alright for your pregnancy in the end.

I had my 1 yo daughter vaccinated -- 1st of two jabs -- earlier this year. Then due to intervening circumstances, we didn't make it back for the 2nd jab. Now I think we have to start the course over if we want her to have max immunity, arrrgh. But at least she didn't come down with Cpox after her playmates did. :)

Friends' children have all caught Cpox in nurseries. Don't know any non-nursery babies who have had it (though I'm sure there are). I wonder if nurseries shouldn't do more to inform parents of the risks of Cpox and the availability of the vaccine either before or after exposure. Maybe some nurseries already do? I just didn't get that impressions from friends...

Part of me feels that if parents, schools and nurseries put more pressure on the government, we could one day have Cpox vacc as an option on the NHS. As it stands now, in low income families where both parents must work to pay the bills, children go into nurseries earlier and can be more likely to be exposed to Cpox earlier. These then are the families that are least able to afford (a) private immunisation or (b) days off work to care for a sick child.

[budur]

Once we got a baby I told my hubby to check whether he had CP since his mum did not remember. The cost of the test was pretty steep, more than ?100 privately, but at least we knew that he was fine. My friend who knew she certainly didn't have CP got herself vacinated once she had the baby so at least she is not worried now if the little one will get it. Now my daughter got it recently from the nursery of course, it was pretty horrid, back and nappy area especially but the worst only lasted a day or two with fever, she was then in a good mood again although scratchy.

The one that I recommend is a foam from boots, don't remember how it is called, but it is specifically for CP and they don't have it in pharmacies in ED. It was much easier to apply than the cream. piriton of course and a bath every day with baking soda as already suggested. Our GP would not see kids with CP (rightly so, you don't want to infect everyone around) for 2 weeks, just a warning, this wasn't a big deal since we were dealing with it just fine. But she got congectivitus as a side effect and GP just wrote me a prescription after a phone call which I picked up myself, so watch out for any things that CP may bring. Good luck and hopefully it won't be bad.

[Moos]

My son is now (I hope!) recovering from what seems to have been a relatively mild bout.

Eurax cream (much better than the acqueous cream with calamine we were first sold) and Piriton kept the itching under control. I took Buggie's advice re: doses of Calpol when he had fever (see her recent post on dosage and on when paracetemol, when ibuprofen). Also, if your child has bad spots or itching, it's recommended to wear loose cotton clothing, and change pyjamas and bed linen every day.

[Moos]

...and, inevitably, now the baby has it and looks like Plague Baby. Much spottier than his big brother was but not feverish so far. Am prescribing napping as long as he likes, feeding on demand, Eurax and will be trying oatmeal or bicarb of soda baths. Possibly a lobotomy for me, as I'm so bored. Oh wait, already had one...

Now, how strictly do I need to keep to the house? With my pre-schooler we just stayed in, as it would be impossible to stop him being in contact with others. But the little one can be kept in a sling or buggy and away from being able to touch or breathe on people. Of course we can stay in if we have to, but is it necessary?

Medical experts - your views?

[Pickle]

We went to the park when our boy had the pox. Not to the swings, just to the big open areas so he could get some fresh air and have a bit of a run around when he was at the stage of starting to feel better but still contagious - we just made sure he didn't go near any other kids etc. Use your judgement, but I don't think it's necessary to stay couped up inside, especially when it's a baby who has it as you can keep him away from others pretty easily.

P x