OT: Chicken Pox

[FSUSammy]

Hi everyone! I know this isn't common but my DH never had chicken pox as a kid. Since our DS was supposed to get the chicken pox vaccine at his 12 month appointment we had to delay that so that my DH could get the vaccine first, just in case our DS was to have a reaction and catch the pox from the vaccine. Well my DH got the vaccine 3 weeks ago and a few days ago he started with some spots. The got worse and worse and worse. So he went to the doc today and they confirmed that he has the chicken pox. He's is in the 1% of people that get a reaction to the vaccine. Well the doc said it can take anywhere from 1-3 weeks for it to clear. Which of course is going to come REALLY close to our Thanksgiving trip to Disney. I had chicken pox when I was 5 and I can't remember for the life of me how long it lasted.

If any of you all have had kids that got chicken pox naturally how long did it last?

 

[Principessa1284]

I had a moderate case when I was in elementary school, and I distinctly remember I was out of school for a week. I also remember itching like mad, and I still have scars from the ones that I was able to scratch when mom or dad wasn't holding my hands down. Hopefully you won't have to do that with hubby . But in all seriousness, adults can get it WAY WAY worse than kids - my cousin got it as an adult in his mid 20's and was in the hospital for 3-4 weeks.

I hope he gets better soon!!

 

[dis75ney]

I never had the chicken pox as a child (lucky recepient of a natural immunity), but I remember when the pox went around my second grade class. Most kids were out a week to ten days, depending on how severe the blistering was...

I did get a slight case of the pox when I went for a immunization booster at age 24, and I think I had all of four pox marks for about a week. Didn't itch at all...in fact, I didn't even notice anything until my DH pointed it out to me...

 

[1LuckyMom]

Think mine only lasted 7 days when I was young. Has DS gotten the shot yet? You might want to just let him get them naturally. My youngest got the shot at 12 mos. and this year (she's 10 now) she got the shingles, a booster shot and now the shingles again I wish I had just let her get the chicken pox to begin with.

 

[FSUSammy]

Has DS gotten the shot yet? You might want to just let him get them naturally. My youngest got the shot at 12 mos. and this year (she's 10 now) she got the shingles, a booster shot and now the shingles again I wish I had just let her get the chicken pox to begin with.

Nope he hasn't gotten the shot yet. His doc wanted us to wait for DH to get his booster which is supposed to be on the 16th. I just called them for advice on letting him catch it naturally vs. getting the vaccine and they said that is up to me that there is no difference. I'm not gonna prevent him from catching it because ultimately I think its better for him to get it naturally especially at an age where he can't really scratch it to make it worse.

 

[caspersmom83]

It lasted about 10 days and is pretty brutal to get as an adult. I would get my son the vaccine if I was you.

 

[daisyduck123]

I had a horrible case when I was 5yo....I missed the first 2 weeks of 1st grade because of it.

 

[WantToGoNow]

So why did your dh get the vaccine? If he had gotten this far in life without getting them, he probably would have been fine. My dh nor myself have had the chicken pox. My oldest dd got them in 1st grade - she missed a week if I'm remember right (has been a long time as she is 24 now). My ds7 got the vaccine at his 12 month appointment and started breaking out 6 weeks later - he had a mild case and it lasted about a week. Dd4 had the vaccine at 18 months and has not had the chicken pox. I made it through childhood and 2 kids with the pox without getting them - I'm not about to go get the vaccine.

 

[bigfish2215]

I'm 32yo and never had them either. My big sis got them when we were kids (maybe 2nd or 3rd grade) she had them really bad they were even under her fingernails Yuck!!
The hard part is working with the public, a lot of the ederly are out shopping with shingles. If you haven't had chicken pox you can catch them for someone with shingles. My doc wouldn't give me the shot to prevent them b/c I was too old. That's was the hard to take too old?? But he did give the shot to my kids. And now I'm 2nd guessing that b/c more kids and teens are getting shingles, b/c they didn't have a "real" case of the pox. Good Luck!!

 

[amandaraye]

My DS woke up with them on his 2nd birthday, which also happens to be Christmas Eve Talk a bout a pathetic sight, seeing him sitting with his stocking looking like that. Poor little guy.

Anyway, he had them bad for about a week, then once they dried up he felt fine, just looked a little strange . He subsequently gave them to Mommy (moi) who had never had them as a child. Mommy then ended up being rushed to the ER due to a good ol' case of Apendicitis which then ruptured. It was a bad few weeks

Would have been nice if my mother mentioned I had never had them when I was a kid

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I'm 32yo and never had them either. My big sis got them when we were kids (maybe 2nd or 3rd grade) she had them really bad they were even under her fingernails Yuck!!
The hard part is working with the public, a lot of the ederly are out shopping with shingles. If you haven't had chicken pox you can catch them for someone with shingles. My doc wouldn't give me the shot to prevent them b/c I was too old. That's was the hard to take too old?? But he did give the shot to my kids. And now I'm 2nd guessing that b/c more kids and teens are getting shingles, b/c they didn't have a "real" case of the pox. Good Luck!!

I would refute the too old thing - I was 35 when I got my vaccine. I would insist on it, if I were you. Sign a waiver of liability, if you have to, but I woud demand it.

I never had CP as a kid and had no titre for them, and was a healthcare provider, to boot - talk about lucky that I never caught it. That's why I had the shot. The hospital I worked for offered, at the time, it for free and I took advantage of that.

 

[holly7347]

I think it really varies so much from person to person but I've always heard it is harder the older you are. When I was in first grade chicken pox went through our entire school right before Christmas break. I remember they cancelled the Christmas play and started break a couple days early and everyone was fine to return back to school in January. I didn't hardly get sick at all and was outside playing during Christmas break. My neighbor on the other hand was very sick and stayed in all break.

I delayed my DD's vax's as long as I could hoping they would catch chicken pox naturally and not need the shot. But now that the vax is more common it isn't so easy to catch chicken pox naturally so when they turned 3 and were ready to start preschool I had to get them the vax to enroll them in school. If I had the chance to expose them to it naturally I would give it a try.

Good luck to your DH I hope he is better in time for the trip.

 

[FSUSammy]

He got the vaccine because both my son's pediatrician and my DH's primary doc said he should get it first in case our DS was to get a reaction and give it to his dad. My DH is a rare case though apparently only 10% of people never get the chicken pox or vaccine and of those that do end up getting the vaccine only 1% ever get the pox from it. Plus my DH has a rare form of leukemia so we really didn't want to chance him getting it naturally.

 

[vgrandy]

I'm 32yo and never had them either. My big sis got them when we were kids (maybe 2nd or 3rd grade) she had them really bad they were even under her fingernails Yuck!!
The hard part is working with the public, a lot of the ederly are out shopping with shingles. If you haven't had chicken pox you can catch them for someone with shingles. My doc wouldn't give me the shot to prevent them b/c I was too old. That's was the hard to take too old?? But he did give the shot to my kids. And now I'm 2nd guessing that b/c more kids and teens are getting shingles, b/c they didn't have a "real" case of the pox. Good Luck!!

I got the vaccine at age 33 so you are not too old. I did have to prove that I didn't have antibodies- I was tested during pregnancy. I work with children and have since been exposed so I am happy I got the vaccine.

Victoria

 

[1LuckyMom]

FSUSammy
Hope all is well with DH. Keep us posted on what happens with DS and HAVE A GREAT TRIP !!!!

 

[Melrosgirl]

My dh had to get the vaccine a few years ago for the same reason as yours. (He never had it as a child either.)

A week after he got the vaccine, he got the cp also. ALl up and down his arms. They weren't bad at all. If you didn't know it was cp, you would have thought it was acne or something. Barely itched him. Lasted 2 weeks. (and once the sores are there you aren't contagious.)

My kids never got the cp though when they had the cp vaccine.

 

[Melrosgirl]

So why did your dh get the vaccine? If he had gotten this far in life without getting them, he probably would have been fine. My dh nor myself have had the chicken pox. My oldest dd got them in 1st grade - she missed a week if I'm remember right (has been a long time as she is 24 now). My ds7 got the vaccine at his 12 month appointment and started breaking out 6 weeks later - he had a mild case and it lasted about a week. Dd4 had the vaccine at 18 months and has not had the chicken pox. I made it through childhood and 2 kids with the pox without getting them - I'm not about to go get the vaccine.

I think the key words in your quote are "probably would have been fine." Sometimes you just don't want to take the chance. My dh's doctor told him he should get a blood test first to see if he had an immunity to it. They ran the blood test and saw he had no immunity to it (I'm not sure what they actually check to confirm this). Said that was pretty rare and he had seen cases of adults ending up in the hospital with cp later in life and it's horrible. So he opted to get the immunization. 20 cp marks on his arm (his reaction to it) was nothing compared to being in the hospital as an older adult. It's a personal decision.

 

[MaleficentFan]

I see the previous mention of shingles... any way to possibly prevent them is wonderful in my book. I had a VERY mild case of chicken pox as a child... and my mother tried to make sure my brother and I had them so we could get it done and over with. So lucky me, what did I get as and adult... SHINGLES! Oy vey... they are a misery. The itching is bad enough... but the nerve pain on top of it! UGH. And to make it so much more fun... I had shingles for Christmas! Merry Christmas to me! It was a humorous sight I'm sure... I had shingles along the right side of my rib cage, back and front. They were so painful and sensitive that I couldn't wear a shirt. So here I am at home wearing sweatpants, slipper socks, a sports bra, mittens and a scarf (I was freezing) trying to decorate the Christmas tree. Put two or three ornaments on the tree, lay down in the fetal position and moan like a wimp, repeat ad nauseum for two hours until the tree is done.