can you fly with chicken pox?

[Bo'sMom]

No, my child got the shingles from a VERY MILD CASE of the chicken pox. Those who get a regular case of the pox are very LESS LIKELY to get the shingles and probably won't!
And by the way she did have the shot and still got shingles anyway
maybe you should reread things.

Your statement that "those who get a regular case of the pox are very les likely to get the shingles and probably won't" is completely inaccurate. Shingles results when an adult loses their immunity to the varicella zoster virus which means that they have had to have had the virus in order to get shingles. The unanswered question right now is whether or not the vaccine will provide any beneficial effect for older adults in the prevention of shingles. Because the U.S. has used the vaccine for such a short time, that answer is currently unknown.

 

[fakereadhed]

I don't think anyone has addressed this yet- you are MOST contagious from the time you are exposed to the time you break out. Chicken pox is spread most easily as an AIRBORNE illness. Before you break out you sneeze and spread the virus. After the breakout, it is spread by direct contact with the sores. So, although spots make everyone on edge, the biggest risk on an airline(or any confined space) to spread to other passengers would be BEFORE you break out. I think that is why Peds gave the advice they gave. You can't tell you were contagious until you break out, but you might not have break out at all.

 

[debaudrn]

No, my child got the shingles from a VERY MILD CASE of the chicken pox. Those who get a regular case of the pox are very LESS LIKELY to get the shingles and probably won't!
And by the way she did have the shot and still got shingles anyway
maybe you should reread things.

That's the point. You have to have had chicken pox in order to get shingles!

From the Center For Disease Control website:
Shingles, or herpes zoster, is caused by the chickenpox virus that remains in the nerve roots of all persons who had chickenpox and can come out in your body again years later to cause illness. Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus which has been dormant (staying quiet) in your body ever since you had chickenpox. So, you get shingles from your own chickenpox virus, not from someone else.

I never said that if you get the vaccine you will never get chicken pox or shingles. I said that the vaccine isn't 100% effective. Unfortunately your daughter still got a mild case of chicken pox therefore she will now always have the dormant chickenpox virus in her system. That is what causes shingles - the dormant chickenpox virus. Everyone who gets shingles gets it because at some point in their life they had chicken pox and they now have the dormant virus in their system. I wasn't arguing with you I just asked you to re-read the posted information more carefully. If anyone still has questions they should contact their physician. In the interim a Google search of Chickenpox and/or shingles will lead you to many informative sites too.

 

[Nik's Mom]

You are right, debaudrn. Everything that I've read indicates that people who get shingles, have had chicken pox before. My Mom had a terrible case of shingles a few years ago, and had chicken pox as a child. She had shingles for a month!

By the way, if I saw a kid trying to the same plan as my family, I would be freaking out!

To the op, hopefully your little ones will be just fine.

 

[CleveRocks]

No, my child got the shingles from a VERY MILD CASE of the chicken pox. Those who get a regular case of the pox are very LESS LIKELY to get the shingles and probably won't!
And by the way she did have the shot and still got shingles anyway
maybe you should reread things.

OK, my wife the board-certified, actively practicing pediatrician read this one over my shoulder and started shaking her head and laughing. While there is no doubt about your daughter's experience, there is also no doubt that the severity of a case of chickenpox CAUSES a higher or lower risk of shingles. PERIOD.

According to Mrs. CleveRocks, M.D., FAAP, any exposure to the virus that causes chickenpox can lead to a case of shingles later in life. Whether this exposure comes from infection by the virus and thus getting chickenpox the old-fashioned way, or being exposed to the virus through immunization with Varivax, makes no difference in the likelihood of getting shingles later in life.

The virus that causes chickenpox is a nasty little bugger. Once you are exposed to it, it lies dormant in your dorsal root ganglia (structures right next to your spinal cord). In some people, the virus activates later in life and "expreses itself" in your body as shingles.

So to Goofy 28, in your daughter's case she got the vaccine, got a breakthrough (mild) case of chickenpox anyway, and then developed shingles. Okay. But just because that happened to her does not in any way mean that she got shingles BECAUSE it was a mild case and/or BECAUSE she got the vaccine.

There's informed, scientifically-derived medical fact, and then there's anecdotal experience that leads to uninformed sweeping generalizations.

 

[SueM in MN]

This is not accurate at all. They aren't prime targets for shingles because of a mild case of chicken pox. They are prime targets for shingles because they had chicken pox. It doesn't matter if it was mild or severe. You carry the virus forever once you have had chicken pox no matter if you have a mild case or a severe case.

I'm a school nurse and I just don't like to see inaccurate information like this distributed among the public. I'm just trying to correct some misconceptions or misunderstandings about this vaccine. I hope this helps.

Infection Control and former Public Health Nurse here.

Once you have had chicken pox, the virus retreats into a part of the nervous system called the basal root ganglia. If you are lucky, it stays there, dormant (sort of asleep) for the rest of your life. If you are unlucky, it becomes active again at some point and travels along the nerve that is served by that basal root and causes numbness, itching, pain and blisters along the area served by that nerve. That's what is called shingles. Anyone who has had chicken pox in the past can get shingles.

No vaccine is 100% effective. The main purpose of the chickenpox vaccine is to prevent people from getting chicken pox at all. One of the things that they found on studying people who had received vaccine is that those who had received the vaccine had less severe cases of chicken pox if they did actually get it.
There are a lot of reasons why someone might not be 100% protected after receiving a vaccine (besides that no vaccine protects everyone). One reason might be factors about the person themselves (like is their immune system working at total effectiveness). Another factor might be the storage of the vaccine. The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine is very picky about how it is stored -especially temperature and not going thru any freeze/thaw cycles. If a lot of people from the same area got vaccine and still got the disease, one of the things to look at would be whether they got their vaccine at the same place and whether it was/is being stored correctly.
Here is some factual information:
CDC (Centers for Disease Control) website - General FAQs regarding varicella (the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles)
CDC website - General FAQs regarding shingles.
CDC website - Chicken pox Vaccine related FAQs.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

w

Infection Control and former Public Health Nurse here.

Once you have had chicken pox, the virus retreats into a part of the nervous system called the basal root ganglia. If you are lucky, it stays there, dormant (sort of asleep) for the rest of your life. If you are unlucky, it becomes active again at some point and travels along the nerve that is served by that basal root and causes numbness, itching, pain and blisters along the area served by that nerve. That's what is called shingles. Anyone who has had chicken pox in the past can get shingles.

No vaccine is 100% effective. The main purpose of the chickenpox vaccine is to prevent people from getting chicken pox at all. One of the things that they found on studying people who had received vaccine is that those who had received the vaccine had less severe cases of chicken pox if they did actually get it.
There are a lot of reasons why someone might not be 100% protected after receiving a vaccine (besides that no vaccine protects everyone). One reason might be factors about the person themselves (like is their immune system working at total effectiveness). Another factor might be the storage of the vaccine. The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine is very picky about how it is stored -especially temperature and not going thru any freeze/thaw cycles. If a lot of people from the same area got vaccine and still got the disease, one of the things to look at would be whether they got their vaccine at the same place and whether it was/is being stored correctly.
Here is some factual information:
CDC (Centers for Disease Control) website - General FAQs regarding varicella (the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles)
CDC website - General FAQs regarding shingles.
CDC website - Chicken pox Vaccine related FAQs.

Ewww.

I've had all my shots and STILL got the mumps. NOT looking forward to the possibility of shingles, too.

Double ewww.

 

[Karenj2]

sorry, this is a sidebar, and since the OP has probably left for her vacation already, i'm not going to weigh in one way or another... The OP has made all of the contingency plans she can.

Anyway, my brief CP story is this: when my Dsis and BIL got married, they had two ring bearers, but one of them was being VERY fussy, etc. We chalked it up to being young, until midway through DSis's honeymoon, when we found out from BIL's mom that the ring bearer had CP. And, you guessed it - BIL had never had CP, and came down with it ON THEIR HONEYMOON. UGH.

Here's to staying healthy! Good luck!

 

[mommytomy3]

Just thought I'd update.. we got home Monday night (5/1) no chicken pox on the trip and none as of yet! yay!
I was reading some of these posts- someone asked dd's age- she is 9..in 3rd grade.
I just so happened to see 3 other families from my town with 3rd graders.. I asked one if they had seen anyone else from town, and she said that she spoke with another mom from a family in town that was also in wdw, but that they left early because their ds got chicken pox! (4th grader)

well, thankfully we made it through, and had a great trip (in spite of my 8 month old crying all night and waking by 5 am everyday, LOL!and my 2 year old at the peak of the terrible two's!!) It was fun yet stressfull at the same time- hard ages to travel with for the younger ones, but perfect age for my DD! and our flight home had some commotion- passengers getting into an argument and police waiting for our plane when we landed!
Yet I m already looking foward to next year!

 

[mrsmom]

I am so glad you had a good time. and i am glad your dd was able to enjoy the trip and not get sick while she was there.
Kim

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

OP - Good to hear that your trip went well and you appear to have dodged the chicken pox bullet.

As a teacher I got them 4 years ago at 28 after I was spiy [sic] on by a kid who's [sic] family doesn't beleive [sic] in vaccinations.

I don't mean to be rude, but PLEASE tell me that you are a preschool teacher and not someone teaching kids who are old enough to read and write.

 

[CleveRocks]

Mommytomy3, EXCELLENT news about your trip and the lack of chickenpox! Glad to hear it.

 

[Keokagal]

Remember, we have the vaccines to prevent the disease(s) because people did die, and often, not just to prevent discomfort. A bad case of CP can cause meningitis and death. Please do not purposely expose children to CP. The consequenses can be deadly. The vaccines are not a ruse of the pharmaceutical companies, really (some drugs are for sure!).
Peace and Good Health,
An Old Pediatric Nurse.

 

[TSM1993]

I would just assume the shot will work and have a great trip! If she should break out, then deal with it and drive home or stay an extra night or 2. My kids had the shot 9 years ago and have been exposed countless times. As far as your husband is concerned why not send him to the Dr. for a shot asap! Why risk getting them? Can't remember how long it takes to be effective though. Good luck and have a great trip!

Shots do not keep you from getting them. They minimize(sp) the amount of chicken pox you get. I got the shot for my son thinking it keeps him from getting them then one day about a year later maybe less. He had all these small marks on him. Took to the Dr and he said was Chicken Pox. I said but he had the immunization(sp) for it and thats when he told me about how they can still get them but instead of 1000 little marks he would only get like 200.(just using numbers as an example.

 

[vanessat]

A couple of months ago my two dds (4 and 6) got chickenpox two weeks apart exactly. They had not been vaccinated, but both got mild cases of CP. No other child in either class was infected, even though very few have been vaccinated: the CP vaccination is not very popular around here. On the contrary, to my surprise, there were three moms of my daughters' friends who actually sent their children to play over with my girls in the hope that their children would also get chickenpox at a young age! (They did not even get infected!)

 

[Snow_White]

My husband has a severely compromised immune system and the thought of somone boarding an aircraft with a contagious disease literally makes me ill, so I'm really glad the trip went well and no one got sick.

 

[mommy*RN]

I would just assume the shot will work and have a great trip! If she should break out, then deal with it and drive home or stay an extra night or 2. My kids had the shot 9 years ago and have been exposed countless times. As far as your husband is concerned why not send him to the Dr. for a shot asap! Why risk getting them? Can't remember how long it takes to be effective though. Good luck and have a great trip!

Hi, I haven't had a chance to read through all the posts, so I don't know if this has been brought up...

I work in a peds office (yes, I am the meanie nurse who gives your kids their shots). I just wanted to let you know that even with the varicella vaccine given, anyone is at risk of getting the virus if exposed. You can actually GET the chickenpox from the immunization because it is a live virus. The purpose of the immunization is to stop as many cases of chickenpox as possible, but to also "lessen" the symptoms for those who do get the virus. The same goes for adults who had the chickenpox as children. Unless a titer is drawn to determine your immune status, there is no way of knowing if you still have immunity to the disease.

For the OP, I would suggest monitoring your child for chickenpox soon before your trip and then on a daily basis. Pox will usually appear first in "hot spots" such as the armpits, knee pits and in the private area. If she shows no signs of illness just keep reminding her to use good handwashing anytime she coughs or sneezes into her hand or touches her eyes, mouth or nose. Also if she isn't already doing it...you can teach her to cough and sneeze into her arm instead of her hand. If she does have an outbreak of chickenpox while on vacation you may be required to find an alternate means of transportation back home. Airplanes are notorious for their recycled air and by coughing or sneezing while having an outbreak she can essentially spread the virus to everyone else on the plane.

I agree with pp that I did read that contacting your local Health Department to find out other information is a very good idea. They are your best resource when it comes to communicable diseases...

I hope your child remains oubreak free, AND mostly I hope you have a wonderful vacation!

 

[mommy*RN]

Hmm, it seems I SHOULD have read the other posts. Sorry if I was beating a dead horse! Glad you had a good vacation!