Question of Doctors/Nurses Re: Chicken Pox

[moburg]

My DS (18 mo.) woke up Friday morning with a fever of 100.5. We attributed it to teething, since he's cutting two or maybe three new teeth at the moment. He was acting fine in every other way. We sent him to day care anyway, no, we shouldn't have, but we did. Too late to do anything about that now.

But, today he's starting to get a rash on his chest, stomach, back, and face. Seems fairly mild at the moment, but reddish with some small bumps. The pediatric nurse on call just said to watch him over night, and if the rash is worse in the morning, take him to the ER or pediatrician, but in any case, no day care tomorrow.

So at this point, we are not even sure it's chicken pox, but it could be. He had the vaccination, but we're reading that 10-15% can still get it, although it will be a milder case that it would/could be without the vaccination.

But the more important question we have at this point is how he could have gotten it, and if the rest of us (who have already had it in our youth) could have passed it to him, and if we could still pass it to someone else? DW is a nurse and could have unknowingly come in contact with it from a patient at the hospital. If an adult who had CP as a child is exposed to it, can they still be a carrier to pass it on someone else, and if so, how (contact, airborne, etc?) and for how long after exposure?

If it is CP, he would have been exposed to it before he was visiting with his Aunt (who had it as a child) on Thursday night. But she is now across the country visiting friends with young kids, and I want to find out if she could possibly pass it on to them? And then there is the concern with Grandparents and shingles, which I hear is related to exposure with chicken pox? And he was with 3 of his 4 grandparents yesterday and today.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kidzmom3]

sounds more like coxsackie virus. Hand, foot and mouth disease. It is pretty common in the summer months. Is there anything in the throat?
The only ones I would be a little concerned for are those that are pregnant. Its very rare, but there can be problems including miscarriage.

 

[moburg]

sounds more like coxsackie virus. Hand, foot and mouth disease. It is pretty common in the summer months. Is there anything in the throat?
The only ones I would be a little concerned for are those that are pregnant. Its very rare, but there can be problems including miscarriage.

Not much coughing or sneezing yet. No rashes on his hands or feet either. We won't rule anything out at this point. The pediatric nurse of course could not diagnose over the phone. So we'll just see where he's at tomorrow and go from there.

No one around is pregnant, so no worries there.

 

[RNMOM]

First, stop beating yourself up about this. It is spread by droplets that get coughed, sneezed or handed to us. It can remain on surfaces and be gotten as easily as by opening doors. Do you, your wife and you son go to church, the daycare, stores, movies, anywhere others are? You can pick it up that easily from all those little ones who are contageous but haven't started having symptoms yet. This is why so many of us get it, we spread it before there are even the first symptoms.

Chickenpox usually begins with a mild fever and small bumps that change to red bumps, get cloudy then break open and crust over. This should all occur in a 24 hr period but new bumps will be starting too. Mark a couple of the original ones with a small mark like a ball point pen and watch them. If they don't change it might be something else. In anycase, when you call his doctor in the am, let them know he might be contageous. They will not want him sitting in the waiting room with others.

Itching is a problem for some kids so dress him lightly and keep him as cool as possible. Lots of baths help the itching and keep him occupied so he doesn't scratch as much. Use some Aveno bath or even put baking soda in the water to sooth. You can also blend up some plain oatmeal, put it in a nylon stocking and soak it in the tub with him...same as the aveno. Keep his nails short and wash hands often to avoid any infections from scratching.

There is a lot of information so do some looking about. Web MD is a good place to start. Good luck and welcome to the fun of parenthood!

 

[laurie31]

Okay, I'll try to help.

Yes, if it is chicken pox, it should be much milder and shorter duration than if he had not had the vaccine.

(my DD#1 got chicken pox and only had a few lesions, and was only sick for about 3 days. Compare to normally having hundreds of lesions and being sick for over a week. I think the vaccine was worth it. Plus DD#2 never got them.)

Where could he have gotten it? Anywhere. Seriously. WalMart, the grocery store, church, anyplace at all where you went out in public. It is most contagious the day BEFORE the lesions appear, so anyone could innocently go out in public and not know they have them. It remains contagious until all the lesions have crusted over. You could not have given it to him unless you have active shingles. You cannot pass it on to others.

The Aunt: if she had it as a child, she is not in danger from being around your DS, and she cannot pass it on to others unless she herself actually has active virus. Exposure to chicken pox does not cause shingles (but exposure to shingles can cause chicken pox - confused yet? LOL) The incubation period can be 10-21 days. Meaning someone who is exposed could develop symptoms (and be contagious) beginning on day 10 until day 21 following the exposure. If no symptoms have developed by day 21, you are in the clear.

Hopefuly, if he does have them, it will be over in a few days and he won't be too miserable.

 

[minkydog]

My sympathies to you. Christian got chicken pox when he was 3 and DD17 was 10. Both of them had the shot, but they got it anyway. I have to tell you though, DS23 had chicken pox before they had shots and he was utterly miserable. The other two sailed through with a minimum of discomfort.

Don't worry about spreading chicken pox. You can't spread it to other people. People with chicken pox spread it to other people. And often they or their parents don't even know they had it. I exposed the entire group of 40 kids at the library story time--I had no idea DS23 had it. He didn't have any rash that morning. But by evening he had them all under his shirt. Nothing else showing. But he was contagious just the same. Oh well.

Okay, just keep him hydrated. Most kids do fine with chicken pox. When you take him to the ped tomorrow be sure that you poke your head in the door and let them know you're bringing in suspected chicken pox. They will want to isolate him immediately so it doesn't spread to everyone in the waiting room.

 

[moburg]

Thanks everyone. Helpful information. It sounds like we're all safe from passing it on, if it is CP. I was mostly worried about my SIL and the contact she is having with her friends kids. We'll schedule a doctor's appointment in the morning and find out for sure what's going on.

Thanks again!

 

[TiggerStac]

don't forget if you think it is chicken pox to mention it when making appt.

My middle son caught chicken pox while we were at WDW a few years ago (he broke out w/in 10 days of getting home, and only other place had been was daycare, no one else got it, until after the incubation period from my son). Anyways, I thought it was chicken pox, i talked to on call pedi and she said confirmed it was what it was. They had me take pictures just in case, so that they could document the case in his med record. No need for him to be seen, nothing they could really do. He did have has 15 month check up about a week after. She said to keep that appt, but he should be scabbing over by that point. She said to let them know when we checked in that he had chicken pox and they would bring him right back to room, to minimize the other childrens exposure that were in the waiting area. And that is exactly what we did. He was scabbed over, but they still wisked us back to room immediately. He was suppose to get his first chicken pox shot on that visit...not for him, we have documented case by MD.

 

[crazyme5kids]

I work in a childcare center and we have had a few cases of coxsackie. We have also had a few kids with rashes due to a virus that seems to be going around.

 

[RN2003AZ]

Sounds viral... faver with a face and trunk rash is sometimes classified as roseola. There's nothing to do for it, just let it run it's course.

 

[golfgal]

Chicken Pox usually just starts out with a few pox and spreads over time. It doesn't generally start out all over. Can you post a picture of the rash?

 

[barkley]

both my kids got the vaccine-both came down with mild cases.

your child could have been exposed anywhere. daycare is a prime candidate, even if it appears none of the other kids have come down with it so far (and a sibling with mom during pickup could have been coming down with it, while their vaccinated younger sib never does which can make it look like the daycare has'nt had any cases as yet).

with ds, honestly-if dd had'nt been diagnosed with it a weeks earlier and i was familiar with what the pox looked like, i likely would have dismissed the 3 or 4 pox he ended up with as mosquito bites, and might have sent him to daycare (he never ended up feeling anything more than itchy-which he does with mosquito bites). with both kids the doctor verified it was chicken pox, but both ended up with less than half a dozen pox, none of which did the major scabbing over (they honestly looked like larger than normal mosquito bites, and ended up with fairly small scabs).

 

[Pembo]

DD got the shingles and she had the cp vaccine. It started with throwing up, then a fever, then the rash.

GL to you...the only person I know that she "infected" was me. Yep I got about 4 pox from her...no I never had the cp when I was a kid and got the vaccine as an adult.

 

[pooh4evr]

I am gonna back up RN2003 and say roesola- DD#3 had the same symptoms- she acted fine ate fine slept-- had a mild fever then a day or so later rash like the one described. good luck!

 

[moburg]

I talked to the Peds nurse this morning, since they didn't want us bringing him in if we we concerned about chicken pox. The rash was looking better and temp was 99.5° this morning, so the nurse pretty much ruled out chicken pox. From looking at WebMd, it could be Fifth Disease. I don't know. Except for the flu-like symptoms, everything else was about right. Rash on face and body, spread by coughing and sneezing. But DS only has an occasional sneeze.

The Peds nurse just recommended using a lotion, and said by the time the rash appeared he was no longer contagious. So hopefully, if temp is down a little more tomorrow, he can go back to day care.

Thanks again everyone.