Help Chicken Poxs Scare!!!

[purplepoet20]

A friend whos kids played with my boys on Saturday just sent an email to everyone saying that she found open chicken poxs on her daughter. My boys have not received the vaccination for poxs because they are allergic to the preservative in it. I figured one day my kids would get it after DS1 started school but not now.

I had them as a kid but the CDC website has me scared right now. It says that if you are in the 1st or 2nd trimester that it can cause birth defects, m/c, or for the mother to become very sick. If I already had them am I at risk again. Can the baby get it even tho I show no signs of it?

[Ribbons]

Purple, if you had chicken pox as a kid, you shouldn't get it again. It's possible, but pretty rare.

I had a very bad case of chicken pox when I was a toddler... I've been exposed to it on a few occasions since and haven't picked it up again.

Here's a good article on chicken pox and pregnancy: Chicken pox during pregnancy | BabyCenter (http://www.babycenter.com/0_chicken-pox-during-pregnancy_9329.bc#articlesection1)

[purplepoet20]

Just talked to my dad and he said I only had the red skin and fever but never had the blisters. But both my brother and sister had them at the sametime and they were sick for 3wks each and my sister was almost hospitalized because she was 1yo.

If I never had the blisters am I still immune?

[Mochagirl]

I have no idea if you're immune if you only had a very mild case, but I do know in most cases people only have it once. Maybe you should call your doctor? I'm sorry this is stressing you out :hugs:

[DoulaMama]

I would think that you had a varicella titer with your pregnancy bloodwork. They usually check rubella and cp. I would say that you most likely are immune. If you were over 1yo, were not nursing and had symptoms..I'd say you're fine, PP:)

[purplepoet20]

I didn't know they check for immunity in the bloodwork? Going to call now.

[Sunset]

I got chicken pox (blisters and the whole lot) at 19 weeks when i was pregnant with dd so i know exactly how worrying it is as it can be very dangerous for the baby, but the chance of baby catching chicken pox in the womb is only 2% so don't panic. If you had chicken pox as a child you will have developed antibodi's to it and have therefore nothing to worry about. Like others have said you can always ask to have bloodworks done to check for antibodies and if it comes back as negative you would then get given an antibody shot which works for 3 weeks. just remember that if you think there's a chance that you are not immune to chicken pox it's very essential to act quickly because as soon as the blisters appear it's too late for anything to be done other than to keep fingers crossed and pray for the best.

[atomic sagebrush]

If you already had them as a child you cannot catch them again. Some people make that claim but it's usually that someone THOUGHT they had mild chicken pox and actually had roseola or Fifth's and their parents just thought it was Chicken Pox.

I had the mildest case of chicken pox ever - I only had like 3 little pox and was barely sick at all, and I'm still immune to it. I do not believe the baby can get it unless you become actively ill because they are enclose in the amniotic sac and can't be exposed to the germs that way. Plus, your natural immunity will still protect them.

[atomic sagebrush]

Esp. since you KNOW your brother and sister for sure had it, I wouldn't worry. Good luck!!! Hope your boys have mild cases too.

[HappyLea]

I was just gonna create a thread but found this one. I was worried as my DS1 came to me with spots this monring and i think it is chicken pox, so far he has 5 on one butt cheek 2 on the other, 5 ontop/under his pit one on his leg and 2 on his other arm and 1 on his groin. I think he will get more, just need to work on him not scratching his butt.

I spoke to him and he said Caiden at school had them last week and he didnt hug Caiden but Caiden hugged him.

I spoke to my mum and she said i had chicken pox as a child, so baby and i sould be ok?

[purplepoet20]

So far my boys haven't gotten them... all their friends that they played with that day got them. After the baby is older I may take all of them to a poxs party because I don't want them to get them as adults.

[Sunset]

No offense, but if you're gonna take your kids to a chicken pox party and help the disease spread on then please remember to keep them at home from the very moment they have been exposed to the moment all the blisters have scabbed over (usually 4 weeks) and don't wait for the blisters to appear. Chicken pox has a long incubation period and is infectious even before the blisters appear so your children might come in contact with a young baby, pregnant woman who is not immune to chicken pox (like I was) or a person with a low immune system even before the blisters appear and it is not fair to take that chance because you don't want them to catch it as adults. Chicken pox is incredibly infectious so even being in a large room with someone infected for more than 15 minutes can result in the disease being passed on. I have no idea where I caught chicken pox from as I was never in contact with someone 'visibly' infected, but at some point I was exposed to it and it caused for alot of worry, extra medical exams, uncertainty and bitterness in my pregnancy.. My daughter could have been born with severe birth defects because i got infected while i was pregnant with her, it's not something I could ever risk happening to someone else :( 9 out of 10 adults are immune to chicken pox so I am pretty certain that at some point your children will naturally come in contact with the disease even if you choose not to take them to a "pox party". Where I live the government had to come out with warnings against pox parties last summer as it caused a chicken pox pandemic in my area. It makes me wonder if me getting infected could have been avoided if parents didn't intentionally take their kids to these parties and let them get exposed to the disease and then send them to school the next day and only keep them home after the appearance of blisters (at which point they will have been infectious for days and passed the disease on to lots of other kids/people who would then be unaware that they've been exposed and it all becomes a vicious cycle)... i don't mean to have a go at you or anything so don't take this the wrong way, I just believe alot of people aren't aware just how dangerous chicken pox can be to certain groups of people and it's important that we do our best to try and shield the vulnarable from getting poorly. There is very much a reason why you would be placed in a separate room to other people in an A&E department if you had chicken pox, the complications for someone with a low immune system could be very dangerous.

[purplepoet20]

I am more aware then you think...
1. My aunt got when she was 32 and 7mths pregnant. The baby was a premiee and had tons of issues but she lived. But my aunt spent 6mths in the hospital and lost both her legs above the knees and 1 arm close to the elbow. She passed away 15y's later from heart failure because her heart, kidney's, and liver were affected by it as well.
2. Two of my male cousins were 12 and 13 when they got it and it caused them to become infertile. They may have been young but since they were entering puberty when they got sick they can not have children.
3. My youngest sister was vaccinated but she got it at 13 1/2yo and it caused some major breathing problems that she still lives with.


My DS1 starts school in 2013 and if he doesn't bring it home by the end of the 2014 school year I am choosing to expose my kids to kids of families I know. So they could be sick during the summer. As a parent I have the right to expose on kids while they are young so they do not get it as adults. I am not going to order stuff from the mail from complete strangers, I am not going to go to a poxs party with people I don't know, and I am not going to be stupid about how my kids are exposed.


I am not a stupid person who is going to expose people to something without their knowing!

[Justjessica]

I can understand why you would be worried about your kids getting it when they are older.

I read the other week that one of the reasons why they don't really advise chicken pox parties any more is that in some cases of chicken pox rare complications can arise such as pneumonia,sceptacemia and meningitis. So whilst you are exposing them to the chicken pox you just have no idea how the disease will play out for your kids. Most kids will have a very mild illness and be fine. As someone who has had shingles which is the same virus and developed meningitis as a complication, it was not a lot of fun to be in hospital so long and be seriously ill from something that should have been relatively minor. I still suffer from debilitating headaches now years and years later.

Everyone has the right to do what they think is in their kids' best interest. I just know I would feel really bad if my kid developed a complication and I knew I'd deliberately exposed them to it. Equally you might feel bad if you didn't and they got it later in life and it was worse. Each to their own!