Ok, now why did I get my dd the Chicken Pox vaccine??? I found out last night at the PTA Open House that the little boy who sits next to my dd in class was sent home yesterday with Chicken Pox as was one the the children in her advanced language arts class. I would have never know if we hadn't gone to Open House because no note was ever sent home. Well, dd woke up this morning and came to me and said, "Mommy, what are these red spots? They itch, but when I scratch them they sting and feel wet." So I called the doctor and guess what she has! So now I'm stuck in the house. Tomorrow is our community's annual Blues on the Beach event where there is a kid's fishing derby (we live at a lake), moonwalk, kid's games, live bands, food (my dh is doing all the cooking and has to get up at 3:30 tomorrow moring to smoke the pork), arts and crafts, and my dd was supposed to sing on stage as well. Dh and I have been working on this for weeks and I am the one in charge of the kid's games and moonwalk and now I can't go! I don't know what I'm going to do about it. I can't ask my parents to watch her because my Dad has never had the Chicken Pox and at his age he would be very ill if he caught them. Then early Sunday we were supposed to go to Fernbank to see the mummy exhibit and Sunday late afternoon is my dd's first Brownie meeting with her new troop. Then next week a friend of mine from Florida is suppose to be coming and bring her new husband and girls and I haven't seen her in a year and a half and this will be the first time she has come to my house here and I may have to cancel on her. Then we were suppose to go to the Georgia National Fair with friends next weekend as well.

Sorry about all the complaining, it's just that I am so disappointed because I am going to miss so many things that I was really looking forward to. Now I just hope and pray that my ds doesn't get them.

By Kate on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 10:23 am:

Stacy--So sorry you and your daughter have to endure this! I'm confused though...you did or did not vaccinate your daughter against chicken pox?? From your first sentence it sounds as if you DID get her vaccinated, and she came down with pox anyway. If that's correct, how old was she when she was vaccinated? Good luck!!

By Melanie on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 10:51 am:

Bummer!!! They say if your child does get it after being vaccinated, it should be a mild case. I hope that's true for your daughter. (((HUGS)))

By Tunnia on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 11:22 am:

Kate- She was vaccinated at age 5. I'm not sure that the Chicken Pox vaccine is beneficial in the long run and I fought her getting it, but she had to have it for entrance to school if she didn't catch it before then so right before she went to kindergarten she got it. BTW, the other two children who have it had the vaccine as well.

Melanie- I hope you are right and it is a mild case and short lived. She doesn't feel too bad, just itchy, but the timing is just awful with so many plans for the next two weeks.

By Feona on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 04:42 pm:

Ds was sent home with the chicken pox the other day. Doctor said he just had heat rash.

Hope dd feels better soon!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 06:55 pm:

Oh, I'm so sorry. Sounds like you had a big weekend planned, too. I spent October 1993 home with kids who had chicken pox. First one, then the other. Mine haven't had the vaccine, since they both got it before I had made up my mind about it.

By Annie2871 on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 10:35 pm:

You know, chicken pox are not contagious once she breaks out. They are contagious right before they break out. At least that is what every doctor always told me. Call your doctor and see. If this is true, just put clothing on to cover up all the spots on her body and go have fun.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 11:45 pm:

My daughter had too many spots to have covered them up. They were on her face and hands, too! What we did was go to the McDonald's drive-thru and then park by Lake Michigan to eat it! LOL!

By Dawnk777 on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 11:46 pm:

Yes. Chicken pox is very contagious.
Chicken pox can be spread through coughing, sneezing, and close contact.

It is contagious until all of the blisters on the skin are scabbed over.

Symptoms will usually show up between 14 to 17 days after contact with the virus. If a child in a family breaks out in chicken pox, brothers and sisters will probably begin having symptoms 2 weeks later.

Certain people should not come into contact with chicken pox:

pregnant women who have not had chicken pox
small babies
people with cancer
people with AIDS
people with weak immune systems
people on steroids
People who have already had chicken pox become immune to virus that causes chicken pox. They will not get it a second time.

People who are not immune to chicken pox who come into contact with the virus will almost always get chicken pox.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, October 3, 2003 - 11:47 pm:

Chicken Pox FAQ

By Tunnia on Saturday, October 4, 2003 - 01:16 pm:

Thanks for the info. From what the doctor told me she was contageous for 24 hours before the spots showed up and will be contageous until the last one scabs over. The virus is airborne and can last from 5-10 days. The incubation period for people exposed is 7-21 days and she could have a mild case since she has had the vaccine.

So far the case does look mild. The last time I put the calamine lotion on her I counted 38 spots. Not bad at all! She's itchy, but that's to be expected. She doesn't feel bad otherwise and is mad because I won't let her go outside and play. I figure that even though she feels ok she still has a virus and I don't want her to get worse. Anyone know if it would be ok for her to go outside and ride her bike and run around? We have plans for the entire month of October and by my calculations my ds (if he gets them) should come down with the Chicken Pox in time to cancel our trip to the Highland Games and also my birthday camping trip. *sigh* I don't want to count those chicken pox before the hatch though so I am going to be optimistic and hope that the vaccine works better for my ds than it did for my dd (he was vaccinated two and a half years ago). I was so sad when dh left for the festival today. I did so much work ahead of time only to turn it over to others and not get to see the fruit of my efforts and dd told me this morning that "Chicken Pox are so disappointing". LOL I have to agree!

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, October 4, 2003 - 02:39 pm:

I guess I would keep her in the house. For me, it was October and they were 1 and 4 at the time. So, it was easier to keep them inside. I know my mom kept me inside that whole week when I had them. I was 6. I remember at the end of the week not feeling too sick and was jumping on a bed while my mom was on the phone with someone! Not sure how I got away with jumping on the bed, since that really wasn't allowed when I was a kid! LOL!

(When old enough to be left alone, we would jump on the beds and then quick put them back together before my parents could tell. They probably could anyway! LOL!)

By Kaye on Saturday, October 4, 2003 - 03:38 pm:

Being outside in the sun and such will help her recover actually. Just don't let her be near others who haven't had them. When my dd caught them she missed her first brownie meeting. My boys got it exactly two weeks from when she first broke out. it was no fun, but hey at least you don't have to worry about if the vaccine will work now

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, October 5, 2003 - 12:08 am:

My kids got them exactly 2 weeks apart, too. It was kind of a dull month. We did miss our new member Sunday at our new church. We had to call our sponsor and tell her we couldn't make it. We just got installed the next Sunday. It was 10 years ago this month, actually.

By Kaye on Sunday, October 5, 2003 - 11:15 pm:

LOL ours was 4 years ago this month. Must be something about Oct and the pox!

By Kay on Monday, October 6, 2003 - 11:54 am:

A friend of mine had her child vaccinated, and apparently the batch was bad, because every child from that office who received one, got chicken pox right after. Talk about frustrating!

By Oliviasmom on Monday, October 6, 2003 - 04:15 pm:

I guess I have a different frame of mind...chicken pox are more dangerous as you get older. I would prefer my kids to get them at an early age! My dd had them at a year & a half. My DS hasn't had them yet!

It's one of those things I have in my mind - we're gonna get it sooner or later (Lice too! ewe) - might as well be sooner when it's only a one time thing!

By Babysitbarb on Tuesday, October 7, 2003 - 11:15 pm:

My daughters are 14 and 11 and have never had the chicken pox or the vacine. They have been exposed many times but, still have never gotten them. My husband even had the shingles which gave them a big chance of getting them and they still didn't. I never got them the vaccination because I have heard of so many cases where people have gotten them even after getting the shot.

By John on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - 10:31 am:

I was born in an age before the chicken pox vaccine and unfortunately got them when I was young.

A couple years ago I got shingles (which is caused by a flareup of the dormant CP virus).
It was VERY painful and I was laid up for over a week and it was several weeks before I was myself again.

Shingles can flare up in older people and can be VERY serious when someone's immunity is depressed.

http://www.healthandage.de/PHome/gm=1!gid2=1146

Fortunately my little one is vaccinated from CP.
I'd never want him to get shingles when he is older.

http://www.drgreene.com/21_510.html

By Kate on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - 12:27 pm:

Sorry, John, but there is no proof that the varicella vaccine prevents shingles later in life. They are still studying that aspect and trying to get the data, but frankly since it's so new, it's impossible to tell now. The vaccine has been in use in Japan for about 25-30 years now, but that just means a person could now be 25-35 years old and shingles just hasn't hit them yet. Many people don't get shingles for the first time until much later in life. The jury is still out on this one.

By John on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - 07:58 pm:

From
http://www.drgreene.com/21_510.html

"...To date, those who have received the vaccine have a much lower incidence of shingles than those who actually had chickenpox over the same time period...(Redbook: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, 2000)."


From:
http://www.state.ma.us/dph/cdc/epii/chickenpox/varfacts.pdf

"..Studies show a 3 to 4 times lower incidence of shingles in those who have been vaccinated, compared to those who have natural varicella infection. In addition, "booster" shots of varicella vaccine may protect adults from shingles."

From
http://www.vzvfoundation.org/templates/newage.htm

"First, there is a marked increase in the incidence and severity of shingles and PHN in older persons, and this increase is correlated with an age-dependent decline in their cellular immunity to the varicella-zoster virus. Second, individuals with normal immune systems rarely experience more than one episode of shingles, and we think that this is because an episode of shingles generates a substantial and prolonged increase in cellular immunity to VZV. It seems as if one episode of shingles immunizes against another attack. Third, several studies carried out by Dr. Myron Levin and others have demonstrated that live attenuated Oka/Merck varicella-zoster vaccine can induce a substantial and prolonged boost in cellular immunity to VZV that is similar to that produced by an episode of shingles."

Information on the national Shingles Prevention Study underway by the national institutes of health:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/shingles/

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, October 9, 2003 - 08:34 am:

The vaccine was not in use when my kids were young, so they have had chicken pox. I and my sisters had it as well. One of my sisters gets a recurring shingles outbreak, always in the same place on her leg, and it has left scars.

By Melanie on Thursday, October 9, 2003 - 10:14 am:

How is everyone now, Stacy? Any signs that your ds has caught it?

By Tunnia on Thursday, October 9, 2003 - 04:06 pm:

DD ended up having a very mild case, thank goodness. She had only slightly more than 30 spots total and they were fairly small. She went back to school on Tuesday. So far no sign of them on my ds, but the 17 month old I watch for a friend four mornings a week now has them. She only had her shot five months ago and she has it a lot worse than my dd did. I took ds to the doctor today because he has strep again (we just finished the antibiotic for his last bout of strep last week!) and a sinus infection and the doctor looked him over really good and said he didn't see any signs of Chicken Pox so maybe we'll get lucky, but I won't feel we're in the clear for a couple more weeks. Thanks for asking!