We've been exposed to chickenpox....???s

[bodiesmom]

We have been exposed to the chickenpox via a kiddo who was vaccinated, but currently has a mild case of it. My dc ages 8, 10, and 12 have not had it yet and are not vaccinated against it.

 

1- knowing we have been exposed, is there anything I can do to boost their immune system to help their bodies through it, other than what is normally done?

 

2- are my kiddos considered contagious even though the incubation period has just begun? In other words, do we need to avoid church, outings, grocery shopping, etc. for the next two weeks of the incubation period?

 

3-I had chickenpox when I was young. According to my MIL, my DH has not had chickenpox. However, she also claims that she hasn't had it either but was diagnosed with shingles a few years ago. ???? My Dh is attempting to call his doctor to have his titers tested...

 

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. :-)

[redsquirrel]

CP has an incubation period of 14-21 days. You become contagious in the day or two before you break out in spots and until the pox start to crust over.

 

Many people think they never had it, but have been exposed. DH was told he never had it and had a CP titer test and has immunity. Getting the blood test wasn't a big deal. FWIW I had CP as an older teenager and it wasn't a big deal. I wasn't more sick than I expected to be, more like a cruddy flu for a few days.

 

 

[milovany]

Cool, can we come over???  My younger two haven't had it yet and I'd like to expose them.  ;) 

[unsinkable]

CP has an incubation period of 14-21 days. You become contagious in the day or two before you break out in spots and until the pox start to crust over.

 

Many people think they never had it, but have been exposed. DH was told he never had it and had a CP titer test and has immunity. Getting the blood test wasn't a big deal. FWIW I had CP as an older teenager and it wasn't a big deal. I wasn't more sick than I expected to be, more like a cruddy flu for a few days.

Yeah, it's weird. I had my kids' titers done...and only my middle child was positive. How the heck that happened, I'll never know. They were like a litter of puppies growing up. They shared every thing and slept together.

[G5052]

And FWIW you might not even get it.  Mine were exposed over and over.  I even had their titers checked, but no go.

 

Controversial, but we finally vaccinated them at 12 for various reasons.  Since then they've both had super-mild cases, so I think we're good to go.

 

A friend of ours is really suffering with shingles, so now we're debating the shingles vaccine for DH and I.

[foxbridgeacademy]

After years of holding out against Varciella vaccination I finally caved because I had not known a single child to have gotten CP.  When I was a kid there was always someone at school sent home because they had CP.  

[OneStepAtATime]

:grouphug:  OP.  Agree with PPs, you may not get it and even if you do it hopefully won't be too bad.  

 

Not to jump the thread but I didn't realize there was a shingles vaccine.  My grandmother and my baby brother had shingles.  It was absolutely horrible.  Way worse than when either of us had chicken pox.  I wouldn't wish shingles on my worst enemy.  Can you really get a vaccine for shingles specifically?  As opposed to the chicken pox vaccine?

[Starr]

A whole family next door to us came down with chicken pox and it was not pretty! The adults had some of the worst cases I've ever seen. You can't count on it being easy. 

[HS Mom in NC]

My older two were intentionally exposed in childhood 3 times and never came down with it.

[G5052]

Here's on the shingles vaccine:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/Vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/hcp-vaccination.htm#recommendations

 

Our doctor said age 50 with certain health issues, everyone 60 and up.

[JFSinIL]

After my toddler twin had it, we watched the younger kid....after three weeks we thought we were in the clear with her. Then, changing a diaper after an hour at a playground...we found a few pox. Yup, she had them too. 24 days after her brothers.

[flyingiguana]

My mother claimed to have no knowledge of me ever having had chicken pox.  When my kids got it, I didn't get it.  (The worst of it was that they had lice at the same time.)  For us, the chicken pox wasn't a huge deal, but my kids were pretty young.  I've been told it can be a lot worse if you're older.  12 might be moving into that "worse" bracket.

 

Are you sure this other child has chicken pox?  I don't really know how you tell without some kind of blood test.  There are a lot of spotty diseases around that look a lot like chicken pox. 

[KungFuPanda]

I had it at 12. I STILL remember how horrifically awful I felt. It was BAD. I definitely missed out on those no-big-deal chickenpox people are trying to get their kids on purpose. I was miserable for two full weeks.

[Catwoman]

:grouphug: OP. Agree with PPs, you may not get it and even if you do it hopefully won't be too bad.

 

Not to jump the thread but I didn't realize there was a shingles vaccine. My grandmother and my baby brother had shingles. It was absolutely horrible. Way worse than when either of us had chicken pox. I wouldn't wish shingles on my worst enemy. Can you really get a vaccine for shingles specifically? As opposed to the chicken pox vaccine?

Yes -- I only know this because there was a big sign near the entrance of Sam's Club advertising that you could be vaccinated at the pharmacy.

 

Obviously, I'm not exactly a wealth of information about it. ;)

 

I won't be getting it.

 

When your grandmother and brother had it, did they start taking Zovirax or one of the other available drugs within the first few days?

[Susan in TN]

Controversial, but we finally vaccinated them at 12 for various reasons. Since then they've both had super-mild cases, so I think we're good to go.

 

Could you tell me how you know they had mild cases of CP? Was it confirmed by a dr.? Or did it just look like CP?

 

My 11yo had a vac when she was little, but not the booster. Then a year or two ago she broke out in what I was quite sure was CP - even looked exactly like the "mild case" photos from the CDC. I took her to the doctor to make sure and the nurse practitioner who saw her first said it definitely looked like a mild case. But then the dr. came in and hemmed and hawed and gave the nurse "significant looks" while insisting that dd had scabies. I just didn't buy it (didn't look or act like scabies), and we just left it. The whole thing seemed very weird. None of my other kids (vacc'd or not) came down with anything.

[G5052]

Could you tell me how you know they had mild cases of CP? Was it confirmed by a dr.? Or did it just look like CP?

 

My 11yo had a vac when she was little, but not the booster. Then a year or two ago she broke out in what I was quite sure was CP - even looked exactly like the "mild case" photos from the CDC. I took her to the doctor to make sure and the nurse practitioner who saw her first said it definitely looked like a mild case. But then the dr. came in and hemmed and hawed and gave the nurse "significant looks" while insisting that dd had scabies. I just didn't buy it (didn't look or act like scabies), and we just left it. The whole thing seemed very weird. None of my other kids (vacc'd or not) came down with anything.

 

Yes, confirmed by the doctor.  They also had a slight fever.  

 

No fever with scabies.  :glare:

[PrairieSong]

When I had shingles a few years ago, the rash appeared on Sunday and I was at the doctor's office Monday and started on anti viral meds right away. I also took an OTC amino acid that an RN friend recommended. If you get on the meds right away, it can lessen the time and severity of your illness. I assume this would be true for chicken pox, too.