Pox!

6th

Just sharing more than looking for info but if anyone has words they wish to pass on then feel free.

My 4yo daughter has chicken pox, its our first of those kind of illnesses so I'm not looking forward to the next week (or however long it lasts?). Add to that the fact that my 18month old son will no doubt get them .... I love kids

Nevyn

Sabotage wrote: »

Just sharing more than looking for info but if anyone has words they wish to pass on then feel free.

My 4yo daughter has chicken pox, its our first of those kind of illnesses so I'm not looking forward to the next week (or however long it lasts?). Add to that the fact that my 18month old son will no doubt get them .... I love kids

You may find a few parents here looking to come visit you and get their kids infected

http://www.vhi.ie/hfiles/hf-150.jsp

What is Chickenpox?

Chickenpox (also known as varicella) is a contagious viral infection caused by the Herpes virus, Herpes varicella-zoster. It is characterised by an itchy, blistery rash and is sometimes accompanied by fever. After initial infection with chickenpox the virus lies dormant in the body's nerve cells and may be reactivated at a later date to cause shingles.

Who is at risk?

Chickenpox is a common disease of childhood, with most outbreaks occurring in late winter and spring. For healthy children, the virus is generally more a cause of irritation than a serious health threat.

However, some people are at risk of developing complications as a result of infection with the Chickenpox virus including:
• Children and adults with a weak immune system such as those taking corticosteroids, immuno-suppressive drugs or chemotherapy; post transplant patients; those with acute or chronic leukaemia; those with AIDS.
• People who become infected with Chickenpox as an adult.
• Pregnant women who have never had Chickenpox. Approximately 85% of women have antibodies to the Chickenpox virus so their foetus is not at risk of Chickenpox even if the woman develops shingles during pregnancy. However, for pregnant woman who are not immune, Chickenpox is a potentially dangerous disease and may cause congenital defects such as limb deformities, heart defects, deafness, cataracts in the foetus if it occurs early in pregnancy. The risk of congenital defects decreases as the pregnancy advances.
• A newborn baby whose mother develops Chickenpox in the days immediately before and after delivery the baby is at high risk of developing Chickenpox soon after birth.

For high-risk groups, infection with chickenpox can cause severe illness including:
• Secondary bacterial infection, especially if the blisters are scratched;
• Conjuntivitis;
• Otitis media (ear infection);
• Inflammation of the lung, particularly in adults;
• Meningitis or encephalitis (infection of brain cells);
• Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) - rare;
• Reye's Syndrome (a rare but severe illness affecting the liver and brain).

Medical help should always be sought if a person within the high-risk group contracts the chickenpox virus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenpox

Chickenpox is a highly contagious illness caused by primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). It generally begins with a vesicular skin rash appearing in two or three waves, mainly on the body and head rather than the hands and becoming itchy raw pockmarks, small open sores which heal mostly without scarring.

Chickenpox has a 10-21 day incubation period and is spread easily through aerosolized droplets from the nasopharynx of ill individuals or through direct contact with secretions from the rash. Following primary infection there is usually lifelong protective immunity from further episodes of chickenpox.

Chickenpox is rarely fatal, although it is generally more severe in adults than in children. Pregnant women and those with a suppressed immune system are at highest risk of serious complications. The most common late complication of chicken pox is shingles, caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus decades after the initial episode of chickenpox.

Salt baths, camoline lotion and phenegram is what I did with mine.
Once the scabs start drying up you know they are on the mend and just don't let her pick them off and damage the skin underneath.Takes about a week for that to happen. Oathmeal baths are also good for the skin there is a lush bathmelt that as oathmeal in it called a cerridwen's cauldron.

di11on

You should consider your kids as being very lucky children.

As I posted in another thread, I had Chicken Pox aged 19 in my 3rd year in college.... nasty nasty nasty. The symptoms really are worse the older you are when you get it.

Some kids only get a couple of spots and the symptoms can be really mild.

Also be thankful it's not an inconvenient time to get it... imagine you were off on your holidays or it was before Chrimbo!

So look on the bright side! :-)

deisemum

Pox parties

Most parents that I know like their children (who haven't yet had the pox) to be exposed to those that have the pox so they can get it over with.

You'll find once one child in playschool/creche/childminder etc gets it the rest of the children will soon get it.

crosstownk

As stated above, much better to get the pox as a child. My wife (then gf) got it when she was 25 and it knocked her back for 2 weeks.

Neither of our 2 wee ones haven't had the chicken pox yet but I'm hoping that it will come via school sometime soon - best to get it over with..........

shrapnel222

our eldest 3 went through 3 epidemics in his creche before getting it last year. it was pretty mild and apart from difficulties sleeping due to the itching, it was okay. Our little one on the other hand who was 6 months also caught it and had it much much worse, and nothing made any bit of difference (not that calomine ever has as it's more to soothe the parents than the children tbh). The only good thing was that he was too small to even scratch himself, but the blisters were huge and everywhere (litterally). it was a difficult few weeks but glad it's done and dusted now

littlebug

I wanna go to a pox party.
At what age does it get more serious? Neither of mine have had it (unless we just didn't notice)

Orion

My kids got it at 3 - some friends and cousins brought their kids around to play with them to get it too.

What Thaed said will help. Another one we used was to make a large pot of camomile tea and pour it into the bath. Silcock's Base is very good too.