Chicken Pox in DD's class....with only 14 days to go

[annie1995]

Good Luck in staying healthy! Pixie dust headin your way!

 

[mickeysaver]

I haven't read through the thread yet, but call your pediatrician!!! The chickenpox vaccine, Varivax, is 70 to 90% effective in preventing chickenpox, but now, they realize that it works best if a booster dose is given. If you get a second Varivax for your daughter, she most likely will not get Chickenpox, even after the recent exposure. We are now doing a booster of Varivax on all the kids that are 4 or 5 years old, those that are 11 years old, and anyone that is college bound that has not had the chickenpox. Here in GA last year, we had a huge population of our middle schoolers that caught chickenpox, even though they had one vaccine after their 12 month birthday. Maggie

 

[slduck]

Sending yoiu lots of I didnt' know that immunity wore off for chicken pox. I knew Pertussis needed a boost. (We had an outbreak here last year)
Dh currently has Shingles. We have a 3 month old and a 4 year old in the house, so we are holding our breath.

Good Luck!

 

[jennifer293]

gosh, what on earth is the point of the vaccine?! I guess as people have said at the very least if they get Chicken Pox it'll be mild. I had such a SEVERE case. My little sister had it first...the neighbor came over and kissed her on the cheek...whilst she had the pox... great don't know where those parents were! My sister was supposed to be a flower girl, my mom had made the dress and everything. She had to let the stand in (and terribly inferior might I add ) flower girl have her dress. Just for fun my poxed little sister would chase me around trying to kiss me...a week later I had 105 fever and I was COVERED in pox. Spent two days in the hospital. I was 11 I think. AWFUL. I remember I thought that it was a right of passage in childhood. My mom actually had friends who brought their kids over while I was sick just to get their kids exposed to "get it over with"...that seems so WRONG to me somehow! I mean the parents actually said "GREAT, can I bring Tommy over...we just want to get it over with..." WHAT?!

sorry, didn't mean to hijack the Pox post...still wounded by my experience!

HAHAHA My aunts did the same thing with all my cousins..LOL My sis and I had it at the same time when we were like 8 and 10 and I remember our cousins coming from like 2 hours away and all the local ones as well being at our house so they could catch the virus...I never understood it either, I would never do that to my kids!!

I am the type of mom that if someone tells me their kid has a sniffle I STAY FAR AWAY with mine.

 

[Luv2CDisney]

UPDATE! 9 days to go and my DD is still ok. I still have my fingers and toes crossed! I think is the you all have sent our way! Keep it coming!!



..... 9 days to CBR.....

 

[pixie dust 112]

Here's some more!

 

[Luv2CDisney]

OK....5 days to go til we are on a plane to Disney....NO sign of the chicken pox
Don't let anyone tell you that the doesn't work. So far I just love the stuff!

 

[pixie dust 112]

OK....5 days to go til we are on a plane to Disney....NO sign of the chicken pox
Don't let anyone tell you that the doesn't work. So far I just love the stuff!

Well then we'll keep it coming! Can never have too much!

 

[SkcMom]

Just a little more for you!!! I hope you have a fabulous time. The boys that I nanny for have chicken pox right now and they are driving me crazy!! Good thing I love them to death!!

 

[coastergirls]

We are in the UK and we don't get the vaccine for chickenpox. The only people likely to get the vaccine are pregnant women exposed or people who are ill and have been exposed. But only if getting the chickenpox will make them really ill or likely to die.
The dread pox always appeared in my childrens pre school nursery a few weeks before we were due to fly to Disney. I usually had to keep them off until we flew.
Had they developed it we would have been unable to fly and the holiday would have been cancelled. As we had more children it got worse because we would never have enough time for all 3 to get it and be clear.
I have deliberately exposed them to it and they never got it. Then out of the blue the 2 youngest got it at the same time while we were away for a few days. The littlest one was covered from head to toe and the middle child had 3 spots. Neither was really ill . The eldest caught it from them and the spots appeared the day of her 6th birthday party.
I had spoken to everyone before the party and everyone was happy to send their children . They felt that they had to get it sometime. I have to say by the next day she looked awful she was covered from head to toe there wasn't an inch on her body that wasn't covered. She has been left with a few scars. The upshot of it was a few weeks later the remainder of her class that hadn't had the chickenpox caught it. Fortunately everyone was OK nobody really ill.
Over here we have no real choice we accept the fact that our kids will get it at some point and quite happily expose them to get it over and done with.
I hope everything goes OK for you and that you have a lovely spot free holiday.!!

 

[kg66]

Oh I am so wishing you a great vacation, Chicken Pox free!
You can never have 2 much pixie dust. 2 years ago we did the Land & Sea, and on our last night at CBR(the night before we boarded the cruise) our then 3 y.o DD came down with a killer earache at 11:30 pm . We called the front desk and they told us where the nearest after hours clinic was. I called them and they said they'd see her if we left now, because they closed at midnight. My husband showed up as they were locking the door. They said they were closed through the door, dh pointed out that it was 5 to 12, and they just shut out the lights. The pharmacist came over, opened the door, sold him some sudafed and motrin, and gave her a new teddy to take on her cruise. At least somebody had some "magic" left in them that day. Good luck and keep us posted. Just in case you need more.

 

[laceemouse]

HAHAHA My aunts did the same thing with all my cousins..LOL My sis and I had it at the same time when we were like 8 and 10 and I remember our cousins coming from like 2 hours away and all the local ones as well being at our house so they could catch the virus...I never understood it either, I would never do that to my kids!!

I am the type of mom that if someone tells me their kid has a sniffle I STAY FAR AWAY with mine.

The reason people WANTED their kids to get it as kids is that if you get the CPs as an adult it is even worse! I had it in college and it was a nightmare! High fever, vomitting, COVERED in pox, the worst. It used to be believed that kids always had a milder case. Two of mine had the CPs before the vaccine came out, two had the vaccine. My oldest has had shingles (rare for a child) but none of the others have had them, and the two who got the shot have not gotten the CPs.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

HAHAHA My aunts did the same thing with all my cousins..LOL My sis and I had it at the same time when we were like 8 and 10 and I remember our cousins coming from like 2 hours away and all the local ones as well being at our house so they could catch the virus...I never understood it either, I would never do that to my kids!!

I am the type of mom that if someone tells me their kid has a sniffle I STAY FAR AWAY with mine.

Some people used to do this to ensure their kids caught it young. It is my understanding that CP is much more dangerous for adults. One question I have about the vaccination - - does it give you the same immunity later in life that you would have from actually having CP as a child, or are you going to have a greater risk of contracting CP as an adult?

 

[BuffaloGal]

Since she had the vaccine, if she does get it it will be a very mild case. They are going to start recommending boosters for the chicken pox vaccine, but I'm not sure when that is going to take effect.

I think that sometimes people forget that humans are not all alike and they do not all react to everything the exact same way. Like the pp who had it 9 times, my dh has never had it yet he is immune. And trust me, he's been exposed quite a few times since he is a Pediatrician, and his titers came back verifying immunity. Your dd may not get this illness at all, but even if she does it will probably be very mild and won't affect your vacation at all. Good luck!

WHOA THERE!! If she gets it, she can't go out in public, much less to a theme park no matter HOW mild the case is. Chicken Pox is AIRBORN spread. As in just by the air you breathe. It doesn't matter if you have 2 legions or 102. She can try to get her pediatrician to administer a shot of immunoglobin, but if the child actually gets it, she's just out of luck. You have to remember that there are kids from Give Kids the World and Make a Wish at WDW who have altered immune systems and Chicken Pox could literally be deadly.

 

[Luv2CDisney]

..............2 days to go and so far so good!!!
You guys have been great.....the is the BEST. It is working!!

 

[Vickie46]

We just got a postcard sent from church that said all the 4 year olds have been exposed... they have probably eight 4 yr old classes... and I called and the child was in her class at that.. they all come together at the 2nd service so they have all been with her.. anyways.. they now say they are coming out with a booster shot in 2007 for my daughter to get in January!

 

[VirtuallyMe]

Some people used to do this to ensure their kids caught it young. It is my understanding that CP is much more dangerous for adults. One question I have about the vaccination - - does it give you the same immunity later in life that you would have from actually having CP as a child, or are you going to have a greater risk of contracting CP as an adult?

I don't think the immunization has been around long enough. My 18yo was too old for it, my 14yo missed the cut off by a few months- so the answer really isn't there because it hasn't been around long enough to say. I can say that most kids who are getting it post vaccine are having much milder cases then my oldest two kids did when they got it pre-vaccine

They have now released a shingles vaccine for older adults- I don't know much about it but was interested in it- I'll have to corner the drug rep the next time he comes to our office again- My grandmother is losing the vision in her right eye thanks to a case of shingles that infected her eye. Had the vaccine been there 5 years sooner and she got it- she'd still have her sight at 84 yrs...

I'm also the one who has had both shingles (as a child 2 times) and chicken pox as an infant through adult hood- 9 times and will wait for youngest dear son for hopefully my 10th and last time...

I know one poster mentioned chicken pox being airborne- and it is- it is very important that you know that you are actually contagious before you usually know you have the virus (pre-pox) and remain contagious until all lesions have crusted over (usually 2 weeks for severe cases). You really can't assume others have had it or won't be affected- and in hospitals today- they put those with chicken pox in special isolation rooms.

Shingles on the otherhand isn't airborne and is only spread through contact of active lesions- that are exposed- so usually if clothing covers the affected area that is generally only on one side of the body following a nerve group in one area- then you are fine as long as the infected person washes their hands well, uses hot water when washing clothing and doesn't share towels -etc -AND keeps the area covered.

I'm glad to hear that the op's child is so far free of symptoms- chances are she won't get it- and hopefully all the extra pixiedust is doing the trick...

 

[dzorn]

I feel your pain! Strep is going around our school like crazy!

Both DD got notes from class a week apart.

Denise

 

[vgrandy]

I'm 33 and got the chicken pox vaccine 6 months ago when I started working in child care. As an adult getting the vaccine for the first time you have to have 2 doses 8 weeks apart. My doc said in order to get vaccinated as an adult you have to prove you haven't had the chicken pox before (at least in this specific office). I had a test done during pregnancy that showed no immunity so I was all set. Just wanted to let you know if you haven't had CP or you have older children that missed the vaccine you can still be vaccinated.

Victoria

 

[pixie dust 112]

..............2 days to go and so far so good!!!
You guys have been great.....the is the BEST. It is working!!

Here's a bit extra to get you through the next few days and through vacation! Have a fantastic time!