chicken pox at disneyland...

[Mugglemama]

my son became symptomatic 11 days after we left disneyland. i'm pretty sure he contracted them at the parks because of the timeline, and the fact that we've only been around a few other kids since then(we homeschool), and they are all kids who have either already had chicken pox, or received the vaccine (we don't vaccinate anymore due to my oldest child being injured by a vaccine), and the incubation period is something like 10-21 days.

it's kind of ironic, because my oldest child, the only one of my 4 children who had already had chicken pox up to this point, actually caught chicken pox at disneyland 11 years ago when she was just 5 years old, can you believe that?!

so, now my 10 year old has it. which means my 7 and 3 year olds will likely follow suit soon. i don't mind getting them through the pox, but i'm hoping having 3 kids with simultaneously doesn't turn out to be as tough as it sounds like it could be, lol.

i'm curious how many other people have had a similar experience (contracting pox at the parks). the trouble with chicken pox is that they are contagious before you even realize your child has them!

 

[Sherry E]

What are the exact symptoms, Mugglemama? Just in case anyone else starts feeling weird and doesn't know why! It is odd that you mention that, because a few folks on here have mentioned seeing many sick kids at DLR (vomiting here or there) and certain family members becoming sick. I wonder....

 

[Mugglemama]

What are the exact symptoms, Mugglemama? Just in case anyone else starts feeling weird and doesn't know why! It is odd that you mention that, because a few folks on here have mentioned seeing many sick kids at DLR (vomiting here or there) and certain family members becoming sick. I wonder....

well, it started with nausea and no appetite, along with a slight fever (so slight, that when we were at the restaurant and he began complaining of the nausea, i felt his head and couldn't be sure that he was feverish - and after 16.5 years of being a mommy to 4 kids, i consider myself an expert at being able to detect a fever simply by touch, lol!).

the next day, there was an odd blister on the side of his ring finger, which didn't really strike me as weird. i certainly didn't think of chicken pox right away because my older daughter, when she had it, started with the spots all over her tummy first (and as far as i know, that's most common - trunk, armpits, behind the ears, etc.). a few hours later, there was another one of the blister things on his upper arm, and that's when i began to suspect chicken pox.

today, the third day, he probably has about 70 spots all over his tummy, chest, back, neck, face, arms and legs. but he doesn't feel itchy at all, and he seems to be feeling alright except for a headache that he just mentioned this very second.

it's interesting that you mention so many people said they encountered sick children at disneyland, wonder if chicken pox played a part in any of that?

 

[disneegrl4eva]

although it didnt happen in the parks, when my dd was 14, we went to London and 2 weeks after we came back she started breaking out with the spots and so I took her to the doctor...what irked me was that the doctor misdiagnosed her and said she had impetigo she had spots EVERYWHERE YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE...the poor thing was out of school for 3 weeks total

Sherry in answer to your question...usually the symptoms start anywhere from 10 to 21 days after being infected...they usually start with a general not feeling well type of symptom alongside a fever...then they start to develop red, itchy bumps that are fluid filled and they eventually crust over...but again more than likely these kids that are sick at DL is probably not due to having chicken pox but there may have been plenty of carriers... one thing that is bad is if your immune system is low to begin with it can cause you to catch them by being near a carrier...and the way the weather has been it doesnt surprise me that kids are getting sick..chicken pox are HIGHLY contagious...however, if you come into contact with someone who has chicken pox and you havent had them before and dont come down with them then you are pretty much a carrier...so in answer to your statement Sherry, the liklihood of kids being at DL with chicken pox is pretty unlikely because of it taking the 10-21 days for it to break through...

 

[LavenderPeach]

It is odd that you mention that, because a few folks on here have mentioned seeing many sick kids at DLR (vomiting here or there) and certain family members becoming sick. I wonder....

LA LA LA LA I'm not hearing this! We've had to keep my son practically in isolation for the past 3 years to make sure he could get rid of the trach and the ventilator he had and now that he's free of most of his medical equipment I've been trying to be brave and take him out places -- including DLR in November! Ahhhh......germs! The paranoid germaphobe that I've been trying to surpress is coming back! *sigh* I know I can't keep him cooped up in our house for the rest of his life so we'll have to tough it out but I've been trying not to think about it too much.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

LA LA LA LA I'm not hearing this! We've had to keep my son practically in isolation for the past 3 years to make sure he could get rid of the trach and the ventilator he had and now that he's free of most of his medical equipment I've been trying to be brave and take him out places -- including DLR in November! Ahhhh......germs! The paranoid germaphobe that I've been trying to surpress is coming back! *sigh* I know I can't keep him cooped up in our house for the rest of his life so we'll have to tough it out but I've been trying not to think about it too much.

Just wash his hands like a freak!!

I'm concerned about getting sick at the parks only because I'd hate for a trip to be ruined that way!

 

[Mugglemama]

LA LA LA LA I'm not hearing this! We've had to keep my son practically in isolation for the past 3 years to make sure he could get rid of the trach and the ventilator he had and now that he's free of most of his medical equipment I've been trying to be brave and take him out places -- including DLR in November! Ahhhh......germs! The paranoid germaphobe that I've been trying to surpress is coming back! *sigh* I know I can't keep him cooped up in our house for the rest of his life so we'll have to tough it out but I've been trying not to think about it too much.

i'm a germ-freak too, lol. my son, the one who now has the chicken pox, got a horrible flu when he was 3 from sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for an injury to be treated. ever since then, dh and i have been really nutty about the germ thing, too. at disneyland, i carry purell (although this time i forgot it in the car), and i have my children wash their hands probably close to one dozen times during the course of a day at the the parks.

unless you avoid immunizations, your little guy probably has had the chicken pox vaccine, no?

 

[evilprncess96]

My DS ended up with the Norwalk virus from Chuck E Cheeses. We no longer allow any of the family children to go there....it was nasty! My DH ended up with Chicken Pox for the second time last summer. That too was miserable. Whiney children I can totally help out, Whiney DH.... not so much!! Good luck with the Pox. It sounds really gross, but for DH when the itching really started we put him in a tub with oatmeal. It helped.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

My DS ended up with the Norwalk virus from Chuck E Cheeses. We no longer allow any of the family children to go there....it was nasty! My DH ended up with Chicken Pox for the second time last summer. That too was miserable. Whiney children I can totally help out, Whiney DH.... not so much!! Good luck with the Pox. It sounds really gross, but for DH when the itching really started we put him in a tub with oatmeal. It helped.

dont scare people ....yes, it is true there have been people who have contracted the virus more than once but it is very VERY rare...your husband was a lucky little devil wasnt he

 

[disneyfaninaz]

Make sure you take some antibacterial wipes, like Wet Ones, in the parks with you. I had my DD use them before every meal. None of us came home sick. You can buy travel packs of them at Target.

 

[evilprncess96]

We were very worried as most adults who contract it again actually end up with shingles instead of pox. But my DH is just special that way!

 

[Mugglemama]

dont scare people ....yes, it is true there have been people who have contracted the virus more than once but it is very VERY rare...your husband was a lucky little devil wasnt he

i actually read somewhere today that being exposed to kids with the virus, if you are an adult who already had the chicken pox, usually boosts your immunity, protecting you further from shingles. so hopefully that's the case at our house!

my dd16 had the chicken pox when she was 5. there is typically one blister that festers a bit more than the others...a "mama" blister, if you will. anyway, it's the one that often starts the whole rash, and just seems bigger and nastier than the rest of the blisters. her "mama" blister was on her tummy. and you know, it didn't heal like the other ones did. it just stayed red and present even after her chicken pox were long gone. 6 months later, I KID YOU NOT, that "mama" blister flared up again, got all icky, and she broke out in another body rash that looked like a 2nd case of chicken pox. within 24 hours, every spot and blister disappeared completely, and the "mama" blister FINALLY healed after that. 6 months later! isn't that wierd?

 

[LavenderPeach]

i'm a germ-freak too, lol. my son, the one who now has the chicken pox, got a horrible flu when he was 3 from sitting in the hospital waiting room waiting for an injury to be treated. ever since then, dh and i have been really nutty about the germ thing, too. at disneyland, i carry purell (although this time i forgot it in the car), and i have my children wash their hands probably close to one dozen times during the course of a day at the the parks.

unless you avoid immunizations, your little guy probably has had the chicken pox vaccine, no?

Uggg.... don't get me started on how germy hospitals are. DS has been in and out of the hospital his whole life but he spent 10 1/2 weeks there one summer because he kept getting all kinds of nasty germs while he was there. I cringe when I see people letting their kids play on the floor at the hospital.

I will definitely be carrying our purrell to DLR when we go and also Wet Ones (thanks to a PP on these boards mentioning their benefits).

And yes, he did get the chicken pox vaccine. I just worry about even colds with him though because it causes all kinds of trouble (stuffy nose leads to gagging which leads to vomitting - not fun).

Sorry to hear about your son getting sick though. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

 

[sammatt]

Mine got them there, too, about 2 1/2 years ago...and he'd had the vaccine! Go figure!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

My DD got a mild case of chicken pox about 3 weeks before our cruise this past March. We have no idea where she contracted them from. She had had her first set of vaccines for it. Now she's glad she has to get one less shot.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Yikes, that is one suvineer you don't want to bring home from DL!! We homeschool too, sure cuts out on all the illnesses they bring home from school. But sadly you still get in contact with all the "goodies" in other ways!

My son had his booster last year for the chickenpox. I was actually one of those lucky people that had them TWICE as a child. Once when I was 4, and again when I was 12. The second time was NASTY too! I still wonder about my immunity to them!

Hope he feels better soon!

 

[JaneJetson]

my son became symptomatic 11 days after we left disneyland. i'm pretty sure he contracted them at the parks because of the timeline, and the fact that we've only been around a few other kids since then(we homeschool), and they are all kids who have either already had chicken pox, or received the vaccine (we don't vaccinate anymore due to my oldest child being injured by a vaccine), and the incubation period is something like 10-21 days.

it's kind of ironic, because my oldest child, the only one of my 4 children who had already had chicken pox up to this point, actually caught chicken pox at disneyland 11 years ago when she was just 5 years old, can you believe that?!

so, now my 10 year old has it. which means my 7 and 3 year olds will likely follow suit soon. i don't mind getting them through the pox, but i'm hoping having 3 kids with simultaneously doesn't turn out to be as tough as it sounds like it could be, lol.

i'm curious how many other people have had a similar experience (contracting pox at the parks). the trouble with chicken pox is that they are contagious before you even realize your child has them!

Sorry if this is a dumb question...but how was your oldest injured by a vaccine?

 

[Mugglemama]

Sorry if this is a dumb question...but how was your oldest injured by a vaccine?

it's not a dumb question at all. when my oldest had her dpt booster at 5, within less than 24 hours she developed these really awful symptoms in her legs. it began with her knees seeming to bend backwards (can you imagine how painful? she was screaming in agony...). to make a long story short, we obviously kept taking her to doctors to figure out what was happening, and within about a week we were told that it was an "adverse reaction" to her dpt shot. we were told that we should count ourselves lucky that she could walk at all, and hadn't been left permanently disabled.

we were told this happened because the person who administered her shot, did so in her leg. apparently, the dpt shot is never supposed to be administered in the legs of a child who is already walking.

she recovered, to a degree. but her knees and ankles still cause her pain and don't seem to function properly. she's 16 now.

this event prompted us to do as much research about vaccinations and injuries that have occurred as possible during the following 4 years, at which time we decided we were not allowing any of our children to receive any more immunizations. we must have read a million pages of reports, studies, literature, and personal tragedies.

by the time we reached that decision, our two oldest children had been fully vaccinated already. we have two younger children who are now 7 and nearly 4, and neither one has ever received a vaccination. it was a scary decision. but i am very glad now that it is the decision we made. my youngest two children have never had so much as an ear infection, and neither one has ever needed antibiotics.

i think all parents make the best decisions they can, and i totally support parents who DO choose to vaccinate as much as i support those who choose not to. as far as the chicken pox vaccine is concerned, i opted out of that one even for my two oldest children who received all of their other vaccines.

 

[PinkBudgie]

My twins got the chicken pox shot and one of them still caught it anyway. The other one never did.

I'm thinking one thing at DLR that may lead to kids getting sick there is, standing in line. You put your hands on the railing while standing in line for an hour, then kids will put their hands in their mouth or eat something without washing hands. The tricky part would be to keep small children from putting their hands in their mouths.

 

[jenpace]

Make sure you take some antibacterial wipes, like Wet Ones, in the parks with you. I had my DD use them before every meal. None of us came home sick. You can buy travel packs of them at Target.

Yes, "Wet Ones" specifically. I was reading a post not too long ago that was discussing how Purell (and products like it) only kill bacteria leaving viruses untouched. Given the fact that killing all bacteria also gets rid of the "good" bacteria that help fight viruses it leaves Purell users wide open to nasty viral infections.