Ok ladies tell me what you know about Chickenpox

So I get a letter from DS school yesterday...a child in the K4 class has chickenpox, now my son is in 1st but they are all in chapel together, opening together, and closing together,also this child has siblings in K5 which means the teacher was exposed and she's the sunday School teacher of my 5yo...so we have exposure to this child all around. My oldest was vaxed for chickenpox but not the 5yo. I'm not too concerned with my older two but my real concern is for my almost 3 month old baby and my DH who despite constant exposure from his brothers as a child has never had CP. What should I do? Is there anyway I can prevent my family from getting it? What about the baby? Also how long before I know if it's been brought into the house? Anything else I need to know? Thanks ladies for all your help!

 

The Pox will begin to present around 14 days after exposure. At this point, your family already has them, or they don't. So there's no way to prevent it now. The only thing you can do at this stage of the game is to keep the little one completely away from the older siblings. They can't even be in the same room without risking exposure. But again, since the disease is contagious long before it is evident that someone has it, it's more likely that if your older children brought it home, the baby already has the virus.

If your baby developes symptoms, I'd schedule an appointment with the pediatrician.

Here's an overview:
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/chickenpox-varicella-topic-overview

 

Just wanted to add.. even though your hubby has never had pox, he may have had the virus. My dr said most people who say they never had it they actually have, a simple blood test can look for antibioties for it.

When Rylee got the shot, she got the pox from it She was fevering and seriously sick. Reagan was barely 2 weeks old, so out of concern we took her to the dr. He said that since she had gotten them from the shot that they were a mild case and not contagious. He was right.. but since your situation isn't from the shot then it's a different story.

 

My dh had to have a blood test because he never had the chicken pox. He had the virus and we didn't have to worry since at the time my daughter got the pox. She had already beeing vaccinated but got them anyway.

I have a friend whose son ended up in the hospital last week due to his reaction to the vaccine.

anyway, I had them and it was gross..lol. Lasted about two weeks. I did not have any complications.

Honestly, I think it best for a child to get exposed young. have that kid breath on yours! lol. That's better than a vaccine or getting it when he is older. (possibly getting it older because the vax wears off.)

 

I'm with Ava. Believe it or not, the baby getting it at this stage might not be a bad thing. They can't scratch as much, etc. As stated before, you are contagious BEFORE symptoms appear. So if your son DOES get it, chances are the baby is already exposed.

Both of my girls have had it. Rachael's best friend came over and held Phillip when he was about your son's age, then her mother called two days later to inform me that the girl had chicken pox! (She had NO WAY to know that when she came over!) Of course, she had been holding the baby, etc. I was concerned, because we had a family at co-op that I knew had never had chicken pox, nor had they had the shot. It was a large family, with kids in their teens. I did warn her, and she told her children to stay away from my baby for a while. Phillip did get maybe two or three pox, but that was it. The doctor wants me to give him the vaccine, "just in case", but I'm not willing to. I know he can be tested, but the doctor doesn't want to do that unless I was willing to vaccinate him if it came back negative and I won't.

 

Amie, thanks for the link. I'm not worried about my middle son getting them or the older child it's inconvenient but beyond that it's not really that dangerous in most cases. I just really don't want to go through it with the baby. I guess I"ll just hope and pray the baby doesn't get them because at this point the boys were already exposed so I'll just keep checking them. Anyone know how long before I can say we are in the all clear for getting them?

I'm going to have hubby make an appt with his dr and see if he's got antibodies for chickenpox and if not his dr should be able to make suggestions on what to do for him.


I'm very glad that I didn't send my K5 child out to school...he would have been in the same class with this child most of the day! He's just not cut out for school type learning though so He's home with me for as long as he/we want it. My older boy though just doesn't do well here....he prefers the classroom.

 

Usually two weeks after exposure. If 3 weeks goes by and they don't have any, you're probably ok. On your older one though, you might have to look hard for them because his case will probably be very mild because he was vaxxed. Both our boys have had them. Tanner's was mild because he had the first vax awhile back. Aiden broke out exactly 14 days on the nose. His was worse, no vax (declined it), but it was still tolerable. Since your hubby is not elderly, I wouldn't worry too much if he does get them (unless it poses an issue with his job or something). Adults get them worse, but I wouldn't be too scared.

 

Thanks Jen, I checked my oldests torso front and back yesterday and again this morning, I'll check him again today and so on...I keep checking the younger one too...if they show signs then I'll worry about the baby but if not then we'll just run with it I guess. I was told in the letter that the stomach/back area would be the first to have spots so that's where I"m looking.

 

Yeah, if my memory services me correctly Tanner's appeared first on his stomach and then his back. Same with Aiden, but then he ended up with most of his on his scalp. Aiden's wasn't terrible, but you certainly could see the difference between the two of them. It also took about a week for all of them to scab over. I didn't even notice Tanner had any spots until one morning he woke up and asked "What are these red itchy spots on my belly?". LOL

We went through a LOT of illness last year...compared to some of the other things we had (mono to name one), I will take CP any day of the week. :lol:

 

We had the great chicken pox attack one July several years ago. My son Bill was required to attend daycare before we adopted him so he got them there. He and two other foster kids had them from head to toe and on the 14th day my twins broke out with them from head to toe! It was a long month.

 

Can a gent answer too?

While they say you can get chickenpox only once, I'm living proof that you can have it more than once. Apparently, the first time it was a mild case; the second time, it was full-blown.

From what I understand, the most important thing is to stay away from any pregnant women you may know - especially anyone in the first trimester. Yes, you should also play it safe with the baby and look for spots every few hours. One of ours had CP when he was very young. He was pickled with them, but it worked out just fine.

Your husband should also get checked out by a doctor if he gets it. It can be more serious in adults.

 

My oldest son and youngest son both were vaccinated but last year the oldest did get chicken pox. It was mild, a small fever and about 15 bumps. The younger one who played with him all week never got them. Strange, because I always thought that the vaccine prevented childern from getting them at all.

 

Yes Steve you are welcome to answer too...I'm so used to this forum being full of ladies! My fault next time I'll be more careful choosing my titles. Hubby has a dr appointment Tomorrow afternoon and they'll check at that time to see if he has antibodies for CP if not they said they can start him on the vaccination series and it should prevent him for getting them or at least make it milder if he does get them.

Thankfully I don't know any pregnant women so we are good there, and I'm hoping that since I've had CP before and I'm breastfeeding that I can keep the baby from getting them at least for now...I don't mind so much if he gets them when older but right now I'm just not up for a miserable baby.

 

I debated whether or not to answer this, but I am going to. I don't want anyone to get scared, but then again I do. When my nephew was 21 years of age, he was over at his nephews house who exposed him to cp. He said don't worry, I never had them, had been exposed before and never got them. He got them and less than a week he was dead. It doesn't happen verry often, but there are about 100 cases in the US each year. I'm glad to hear that your hubby is going to the doctor. I'm sure the dr. knows the seriousness of this disease. We have taken this disease seriously ever since.

 

Thanks Ohio Mom. I know it's more serious for adults than children...and that's why he's going, I am also concerned as I said about my little baby...not so much the older children, though if they get it we will call the dr and make an appointment to go in and be seen to be sure that nothing serious is going on. I'm just hoping and praying we don't get it in the house.

 

This happened to me as well. Got them twice! Apparently my mom soaked me in a cool bath, which is something you are not suppose to do. A cool bath doesn't allow them to come to the surface, where a warm bath does. So, they stayed dormat for awhile and then came back!

 

Oh, I also want to add...if anyone in your house DOES get it, the best thing that worked for the itching for us is Dermaplast! It's a spray you can get at most pharmacy's or drug stores. It's what doctor's give new moms when they "tear down there" while giving birth. LOL They give it to them to spray "down there" so the stitches do not itch. It's also great for cuts, scrapes, and chicken pox! :-D

 

It can also cause sterility in men/teenage boys.

 

hmm..dermoplast, never would have thought of that one. Good thing I still have some from when the baby was born. I was going to buy calamine lotion because that's what my mom did for me when I had them for almost 3 weeks.

 

Aveeno baths, too!