chicken pox?!

[Anonymous]

Well, lucky us. It seems like Hailey may have been exposed to a child with chicken pox this morning. We were at Sarah’s daycare, and while Hailey’s sitting there on the floor, I hear them on the phone with a child’s mother asking her to come pick up her daughter because she has spots all over that look like the chicken pox, and another child has the same thing. Hailey was sitting about 2 meters from these kids.

Anyhow, before I totally freaked out, I decided to call the doc and see if she can get her chicken pox vaccine. They told us that she can’t get it before 15 months in theory, but the doctor WILL NOT do it before 18 months.

How old were your kids when they got this vaccine??? I believe it’s called varivax. Did they have any side effects?

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

[Anonymous]

We haven’t gotten the vaccine yet, but our doctor does it at 12 months and

so do the doctors of my friends in the city. We may hold off until 15 months

but not sure yet (same with MMR). I think it’s one of the shots with a delayed

reaction and since it’s a live vaccine can cause a mild form of pox but

nothing too bad – not sure though. I hope Hailey didn’t get infected but if

she did I hope it’s not too bad a case and passes quickly.

BTW – this article was in one of our local newspapers yesterday – thought it

was interesting. http://www.nydailynews.com/08-20-2006/city_life/story/

445005p-374775c.html

[Anonymous]

Our docs do at 15 months, but they probably have coxsakie. Some kids just get the spots on their hands, feet, and mouth, (i.e. hand foot and mouth disease), but Dylan had it when he was about a year and a half and it looked just like chicken pox. All over his body. It is a virus, runs it’s course and then is over.

Even if it is chicken pox, the younger they are, the easier it is to deal with and then she will be immune anyway. I remember having them as a kid and oatmeal baths and benadryl helped with the itching.

Keep us updated! Hopefully, whatever it is, it is quick and easy, and she also may not even get it……

[Anonymous]

Interesting- Seth had his chicken pox vaccine at 12 months. Hopefully, she won’t come down with it.

[Anonymous]

We are not getting the vaccine but they would have done it at 12 months old. I really hope she doesn’t get it that young!

[Anonymous]

Sarah, just wondering why you guys are choosing not to do it? We’re going in this afternoon to get it just in case.

[Anonymous]

yep, the younger the better. in the days before the vaccine, some of us wanted to PURPOSELY try and expose our child if we knew someone else chicken pox—–just to get it over with. my 2 oldest both had it, but in a different way. the next 4 had the vaccine, the next one got chicken pox——i don’t know if sammie has had the shot or not. it is routine now, so sylvia has had the shot.

don’t sweat it, most chicken pox aren’t that big of a deal.

kevieb2006-8-21 15:56:46

[Anonymous]

Thanks Christine. My mom also made us go hug the “chicken pox kid” when we were little so that we’d get it. In Hailey’s case, I tend to worry about every little thing because she’s already got her issues.

[Anonymous]

Zach had his shot at 12 months – but I think it depends on the doc. Hopefully it isn’t anything too bad – keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Hi Lori,
I wouldn’t worry too much. Here they give the chicken pox vaccine at 12 mo., but ironically, my oldest son got the chicken pox when he was 12 mo. and it was no big deal. He had like 3 spots and no other side effects. Everyone told us that when they’re that young, it’s actually better to get the actual disease then to have the vaccination. They’ll supposedly have a better resistance to it than they’d get from the vaccination too. Hopefully she’ll not get it at all though! Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. We called back the daycare, and now they’re saying they don’t think it’s chicken pox but they don’t know what it is. So we held off on the shot to wait and see what the actual diagnosis is tomorrow. If the kid’s parents don’t call with anything, then I think we’re just going to take her in and give her the shot.

[Anonymous]

if the child has chicken pox, then your daughter has already been exposed and the vaccine will just be a waste of your money.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Christine, but the reading I’ve done on the vaccine suggests that if a child has been exposed to the chicken pox and the vaccine is given prior to the spots emerging, then the case will be very mild, as antibodies will already have started to develop. I guess the question is really whether or not that’s a good thing, since a mild case can cause someone to have more than one episode. As for the cost, it’s a non-issue in Canada, our government is paying for it for all kids over a year.

[Anonymous]

Karen, I couldn’t get into that link you sent… said I wasn’t authorized to view it. What was it about?

[Anonymous]

It was an article from the New York Daily News about chicken pox parties

and the vaccine – nothing too major really – one doctor from New Zealand

(now here) who didn’t give that vaccine to her daughter, other doctors

stressing how important it is. Keep us posted – I hope Hailey is OK and hope

it wasn’t coxsackie – my niece had that at 9 months and it was a nightmare

and I can imagine would only be worse for a non-eater!

[Author]

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