CHICKEN POX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi got home to from playgroup with my son who is 2 1/2 and found a few spots on his belly.i knew it is the CHICKEN POX.he is ok at the moment.any one got any advice on how to get through this with out losing my mind!!!!

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Cut nails,Buckets of calamine lotion, bicarb of soda in the bath water the ever present calpol for temp, PIRITON at bedtime with pre recorded ER for sanity!!!

Twins (2 1/2) have it at minute and are covered.

Good luck it gets worse before it gets better

Sorry

Suffering along with you!

Marmite

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thank never heard of using bicarb of soda in the bath.my mum told me to put oats in a stoking in the bath!!!

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If your son or anyone who is in contact with him is on oral steroids or high dose inhaled steroids please seek urgent medical advice!

Otherwise... can't really add to the advice you've already been given. Don't let him scratch if you can avoid it because it can scar. You may have to tie mittens to his hands!

Hope he's better soon,

Em H

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thank emilyh do you now if flixotide 50mg(for a 2year old)is a high dose.t was on 20gm prednisone over xmas should i tell gp?

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Hi again tys mum,

I don't have any direct experience of prescribing for kiddies (Cathy, can you help?). The BNF suggests a dose of 50 - 100mcg twice daily, increasing up to 200 mcg twice daily if needed, for children aged 4 - 16. (It doesn't suggest a dose for under 4s, because the drug isn't licensed in that age group, but don't let that worry you too much because there is a lot of experience in prescribing it for kids). Based on the suggested doses, I would guess that for a 2 year old 50 mcg (twice a day?) is quite a large dose. However, Flixotide has one of the lowest rates of systemic (body-wide) absorption compared to the other inhaled steroids, so in theory it shouldn't cause too much suppression of the immune system to make getting chicken pox whilst on it a big problem.

In terms of your course of pred at Christmas, the official recommendation is that anyone who has had a course of oral steroids in the last three months and is exposed to chicken pox should consult their doctor and be considered for intravenous antibody treatment to prevent them getting the condition. However, a short course of low dose pred is obviously much less of a worry than if you had been on continuous high dose pred for a while.

To be safe, I would suggest you have a word with your GP, perhaps by phone if that's easier, and just double check that they are not concerned. The worry is that if the immune system has been suppressed by the effects of steroids, there is an increased (but still small) risk of developing some of the rare but dangerous complications of chicken pox, such as infections affecting the lungs or brain.

All things considered, though, it's probably quite good in the long run that your son has chicken pox now and gets it out the way, rather than having it when he's older and it can be more unpleasant, especially as he is asthmatic and might require courses of oral steroids in the future. I just hope the two of you get through the next few days without too much stress!

Take care

Em

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PS

Anyone who is on oral steroids continually or regularly, if you are not sure if you have had chicken pox or have had it only mildly, you can ask your doctor for a blood test to check on the levels of your antibodies in your blood, to see if you are immune.

There is also a vaccine for chicken pox, which might be useful for groups who are at risk. However, usefully, it can't be given to people with severe eczema or who are on oral steroids or have been recently, so it might not be that useful to a lot of people on here!

Em

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update!t looks like he has now got an ear infecion.he has started becoming very chesty and a temp of 38.8 so i think i may take him to see gp in morning!

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Tys Mum, call your GP and check about taking him in cos there may well be others in the waiting room who reasons descibed below should not be exposed to Chicken Pox.

Bex

Ps what is the advice about coming into contact with shingles i have never had shingles but my SiL has it and I am using it as an excuse to avoid her like the plague.

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Helpful advice from my gp this week please bear in mind it was the nice mental one who likens MRSA to trifle and it was over the phone so as not to infect entire town during emergency surgery so sensible dr's on here feel free to correct!!!!

""if you haven't had chicken pox you can get it from someone with shingles and if your on steroids and have had chicken pox you can get shingles from those with chicken pox or you could just get shingles anyway if you are run down or even don't have any medical problems and if your daughter starts coughing with a hacking unmistakable cough or seems really unwell then ring us (because she's had a short course of pred too at xmas) in case the nasties have got in her lungs and she needs antibiotics""

""Oh and before you go you can't use too much calamine and don't take her near a hospital or you'll end up killing the already sick people bye""

Happy days

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thank everyone for your support. fingers cross for tomorrow.

o no he has started agn!

no rest for the wicked.

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Chicken pox facts!

Both shingles and chicken pox are caused by the same virus, varicella-zoster virus, a form of herpesvirus (but not the same as the one that causes oral or genital herpes!)

Chicken pox (or varicella) is infectious by exhalation of droplets containing the virus for up to 21 days before the rash appears, which is why you must tell your doctor if you have contact with anyone who goes on to develop chicken pox.

Shingles (zoster) is generally less infectious than chicken pox - you only usually catch it from direct contact with the fluid from the vesicles. You can't pass it on before the rash has appeared or after it has dried up and crusted over. I would still avoid people with shingles if you are on oral steroids though.

If you pick up the virus from someone with chicken pox or shingles and become infected you will get chicken pox.

If you are on steroids and you get chicken pox you are at increased risk of getting bacterial infection of the spots (especially if you scratch!) or pneumonitis (infection of the lungs) or encephalitis (infection of the brain) in rare cases, which can very rarely be life threatening.

Contact with chicken pox whilst on steroids can be treated with infusions of human antibodies (IV immunoglobulin) to give immunity (passive immunisation); if chicken pox does develop in people on steroids they can be treated with antiviral drugs like aciclovir to improve the course of the illness. Whether these things are done, and when, is usually decided on by your doctor by considering the dose of steroids you are on and how marked the contact with the person is.

Shingles is a reactivation of the infection in someone who has previously had chicken pox. Shingles isn't caught directly from another person, it occurs in someone who has already had chicken pox, usually at a time when the immune system is low. Once you have had chicken pox the virus can hibernate in the nerve endings for years. When it reactivates it usually only involves a small well demarkated area of skin - the area supplied by the specific nerve where the virus has reactivated. Unfortunately, having shingles once does not protect you from getting it again. It is more common in the elderly and those who are on immunosuppressants.

Well that is just about everything I know about chicken pox and shingles! Hope it helps!

[KateMoss]

Another Chicken pox fact!

Did you know that the chicken pox / shingles virus looks like a fried egg?

( I did learn something doing A level biology!)

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I wasn't offered zovirax for my shingles - just a smile from my GP,some pain killers and told to go and get some Calamine! I still have residual pain in hip area and I had shingles in 1995!

Kate

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update

we have been to see the gp today.t has got lost of spots in his ear.but his chest i clear thank god!!!!!!yet needs lots of tlc and choc ice cream

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And another chicken pox/shingles fact!

It's thought that we often undergo re-activation of the chicken pox virus from where it hides in the nerves, but our immune system beats it to a pulp so it goes back into hiding. When the immune system's not so good, if you're run down or are on immunosuppressant drugs, then sometimes the virus gets the best of the immune system and you get shingles.