OT: chicken pox or HFM disease?

[turkey1031]

I had hfm last month. I thought I was coming down with the flu because I felt so weak. I could barely walk to the kitchen. Had a fever that weekend. Then I noticed the spots on my hands. The next day they were on the bottom of my feet. I didn't think they were painful. They were just uncomfortable to walk on. I just kept washing my hands so that hopefully I didn't pass it along to anyone at work.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

OP back! The plot thickens!

Yesterday the skin on my son's fingers, beginning at his fingertips, starting coming off in sheets. Googling "skin peeling and hand foot and mouth disease" yielded a lot of hits - apparently it can happen with some strains of the virus. I also read that HFM is different in older adolescents & adults than in younger children - it can itch terribly in older adolescents & adults.

So now I'm leaning toward HFM. I've never heard of skin peeling off like this with chicken pox. It's also beginning to happen on his feet, too.

I guess I would rather him have HFM than chicken pox. Not knowing may drive me bonkers, but as of yet my son doesn't want to have blood drawn.

I also asked my doctor's office to check my son's immunizations, and according to the state's database, my son HAS had the chicken pox booster. I know he had to have something(s) before he began middle school, but I didn't think it was that. I'm going to get a copy of his immunizations from the state.

 

[cole6179]

HFM has been going around like crazy around here since May. If he had a sore throat, I would lean towards HFM. My kids had it (a second time) and then I got it. (We all had the mouth sore version yrs ago and this time had no mouth ones) I'd had a sore throat for a few days and then I was soooo tired for a day that I could barely move and after my feet had spots and peeled.

My ds had spots on his feet and his butt. He hardly wanted to walk or sit. Poor guy. His feet peeled badly ALL summer after that. Like down to bright pink skin. He was miserable if we tried to go to the pool.

I know another friend said her daughter's fingernail randomly fell off. Someone asked if she'd had HFM and she said she sure did a few weeks prior. Guess it happens.

 

[Twende]

In the long run (if it is chicken pox) you are fortunate. Being exposed to someone with chicken pox will build your immunity to Shingles thus making it much less likely that you will get Shingles later in life. I wish I could spend some time with your child to build up my immunity. This Chicken Pox vaccine is not doing adults any favors. The Shingles rate is higher than it has ever been.

No, it's the opposite. If you had chicken pox you CAN get shingles. If you have never had chicken pox you cannot get shingles. And you can't catch shingles from another person.

aprilchem, I disagree with you. Although you are correct that in order to to shingles as an adult, you have to have had chicken pox or the vaccine. I should have stated that the adult bing exposed would only get this benefit if they had chicken pox.

There is new research showing that not allowing adults exposure to chicken pox, is increasing the rate of shingles. Being exposed to for a child with chicken pox will build the adults immunity back thus preventing shingles.


http://www.news-medical.net/news/2005/09/01/12896.aspx
Chicken pox vaccine associated with shingles epidemic

New research published in the International Journal of Toxicology (IJT) by Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D., reveals high rates of shingles (herpes zoster) in Americans since the government's 1995 recommendation that all children receive chicken pox vaccine.
Goldman's research supports that shingles, which results in three times as many deaths and five times the number of hospitalizations as chicken pox, is suppressed naturally by occasional contact with chicken pox.

Dr. Goldman's findings have corroborated other independent researchers who estimate that if chickenpox were to be nearly eradicated by vaccination, the higher number of shingles cases could continue in the U.S. for up to 50 years; and that while death rates from chickenpox are already very low, any deaths prevented by vaccination will be offset by deaths from increasing shingles disease. Another recent peer-reviewed article authored by Dr. Goldman and published in Vaccine presents a cost-benefit analysis of the universal chicken pox (varicella) vaccination program. Goldman points out that during a 50-year time span, there would be an estimated additional 14.6 million (42%) shingles cases among adults aged less than 50 years, presenting society with a substantial additional medical cost burden of $4.1 billion. This translates into $80 million annually, utilizing an estimated mean healthcare provider cost of $280 per shingles case.

After a child has had varicella (chickenpox), the virus becomes dormant and can reactivate later in adulthood in a closely related disease called shingles--both caused by the same varicella-zoster virus (VZV). It has long been known that adults receive natural boosting from contact with children infected with chicken pox that helps prevent the reactivation of shingles.

Based on Dr. Goldman's earlier communications with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Goldman maintains that epidemiologists from the CDC are hoping "any possible shingles epidemic associated with the chickenpox vaccine can be offset by treating adults with a 'shingles' vaccine." This intervention would substitute for the boosting adults previously received naturally, especially during seasonal outbreaks of the formerly common childhood disease.

"Using a shingles vaccine to control shingles epidemics in adults would likely fail because adult vaccination programs have rarely proved successful," said Goldman. "There appears to be no way to avoid a mass epidemic of shingles lasting as long as several generations among adults."

Goldman's analysis in IJT indicates that effectiveness of the chickenpox vaccine itself is also dependent on natural boosting, so that as chickenpox declines, so does the effectiveness of the vaccine. "The principal reason that vaccinees in Japan maintained high levels of immunity 20 years following vaccination was that only 1 in 5 (or 20%) of Japanese children were vaccinated," he said. "So those vaccinated received immunologic boosting from contact with children with natural chickenpox. But the universal varicella vaccination program in the U.S. will nearly eradicate this natural boosting mechanism and will leave our population vulnerable to shingles epidemics."

For decades it was thought shingles increased with age as older individuals' immune systems declined. However, Goldman's new research shows this phenomenon seemed primarily due to the fact that older people received fewer natural boosts to immunity as their contacts with young children declined.

Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D. served for eight years as a Research Analyst with the Varicella Active Surveillance Project conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS). The project was funded by the CDC.

About Gary S. Goldman, Ph.D.: Currently serves as Founder and Editor-in- Chief of the peer-reviewed medical journal Medical Veritas (www.MedicalVeritas.com). Has recently authored five manuscripts concerning varicella, herpes zoster, and capture-recapture published in the European journal called Vaccine.

Research published in the International Journal of Toxicology, 24(4):205-213, Universal Varicella Vaccination: Efficacy Trends and Effect on Herpes Zoster. Also, Vaccine, 23(25):3349-3355, Cost-benefit analysis of universal varicella vaccination in the U.S. taking into account the closely related herpes zoster epidemiology.

Source:
http://www.actox.org/
Posted in: Medical Research News
Tags: CDC, Chickenpox, Epidemiology, Healthcare, Herpes, Herpes Zoster, Shingles, Toxicology, Vaccine, Virus

 

[tina.tina]

I remember having chicken pox as a child and my mom swears my sister and I had it at the same time. Plus, our cousins caught it from us.

I am highly allergic to poison ivy and had a rash (a few years ago) all over along with some really weird looking spots which were mostly on the side of one thigh but random ones were all over. My doctor swears I had chicken pox and poison ivy at the same time- even though I had already had it once.

Dear OP, I agree. With the peeling, it sounds like your DS has HFM. I hope he feels better soon. I agree with soothing baths suggested by PPs and using coconut oil- it's very soothing used as an all over lotion (and it's great for your hair).

 

[julieanddanny]

When you says he was so sick before spots and the his throat hurts - my gut totally says HFM. That's exactly how I saw it with my son (as a toddler).

 

[laughinplace199]

I work for a pediatrician (I am not a nurse) and we give a booster shot for the chicken pox shot. This practice started several years ago. I wish I could remember what age they give that booster, I am blanking out on it.

There will be issues like this cropping up as people continue to opt out of vaccinations. I am not saying good or bad, just it is what it is.

My older kids are now 15 & 13, and I want to say they got the booster around 6 yrs old? I could be wrong though. But now that makes me think...I don't know if my 7 yr old has had the booster. I better look that up!

 

[RN2003AZ]

I am a RN in a pedi office. First dose of varicella (chicken pox) is at 12 months with a booster dose between ages 4-5 years. Some teens have had titers (blood levels to check immunity) drawn before going off to college and we have found some that haven't converted to an immune status. Those kids will get another booster dose and then a re-draw in a few month. Some people will NEVER convert. There is a lot of HFM going around right now. Some strains can present with sores on the abdomen and back and look similar to pox. Hope this helps!