Chicken Pox

[jenmcadams]

This is sort of a b**tch post, but mainly I"m interested in whether this has happended to anyone else. Did anyone else have a child who was vaccinated years ago (my DD is 5 now) get the chicken pox? I was actually back and forth on this vaccine, but did end up going ahead with it. So, yesterday we noticed some spots on Abbie when we were showering after swimming at the local rec center pool and thought she might be having a reaction to the chlorine. More spots by night time and even more spots by this AM. She's had no fever and they're not itching (yet), but she's got spots all over her body and it sure looks like chicken pox. I'm waiting for a call back from the nurse at our Ped's office, but just thought I'd check here.

Now for the b**tching part. This is the first week in a month that everyone's been healthy. My DH is going to be out of town starting tomorrow and I was counting on my DD going to K and my DS going to daycare on Tu/Th. I have appointments scheduled all day Tuesday (trying to network with some old colleagues to start doing some part-time consulting again), we have a babysitter tomorrow night so we can go to literacy night at my DD's kindergarten and on Thursday I had plans with my sister to use our birthday present gift certificates at a local spa. On top of that my DD loves school and hates to miss it; she was supposed to have her first solo Daisy's Mtg and this week is dress-up week for her ballet class and she's been looking forward to that for weeks. Poor kiddo :(

[Radosti]

No vaccination is 100 percent effective, so it's definitely possible. If it is chicken pox, it's likely not going to be nearly as bad as it could be due to the fact that she has some immunity still in her system.

Sorry that this comes at such a bad time. Let us know if that's what it ends up being.

[jenmcadams]

Thanks :) I'll definitely let you guys know what the Ped says.

I know (based on my research from a few years ago) that the Varicella vaccine is only effective in about 80-85% (max) of people -- meaning 15-20% of people will get the illness anyways. She really is completely covered in spots and hasn't had a fever or complained of itching at all yet, so already it seems milder than what I remember or what I've have heard from friends who's kids got the "wild" bug.

[annex]

Isn't chicken pox the vaccine they recently said is wearing off faster than they originally thought? My DD got a "booster" shot for it this spring at her 4 year-old check-up, as did my niece at her 6 year-old. I'm sorry that yours may be proof that this is happening...

-Anne

[o_mom]

DS1 got them when he was 2.5 (1.5 yrs after the vax). This was after DS2 had them at 11 mos (so no vax). We will be skipping it for DS3 until much later.

With the decrease in circulating wild virus, the vaccine is wearing off much sooner than expected, hence the booster reccomendations. Make sure your doctor's office notes it in her record so you don't have to get boosters later. You can draw a circle around one to watch and it should form a blister within a day or two.

[JBaxter]

My oldest 2 children had the vaccine and within 3 yrs they both had full blown cases of chicken pox.

[jenmcadams]

Thanks for all the replies -- the pediatrician asked us to wait a day before coming in to see how the rash progresses. The spots have definitely spread, but none have blistered yet and she really hasn't had much of a fever (99.5 max). She feels good and is in a good mood, so I should be happy about that. She did have a positive strep test 8 days ago, so she's almost at the end of a course of antibiotics. Sometimes strep is accompanied by a rash. They also said it could just be some other random viral rash. It's just such a bummer not knowing whether she's contagious, how contagious, etc. Also, not knowing whether we should send my younger DS to daycare this week or not. At this point, I'm not planning to take my DS to daycare tomorrow just in case he gets Chicken Pox too. He's only had the initial vax (Abbie has actually had the initial dose and a booster a month ago when she had her 5 year old appointment) and I guess it's most contagious in the 48 hours before spots show up.

Anyways, small problem in the general scheme of things. At least she's not super sick and maybe if it does end up being CP, she'll have even better immunity later.

[octmom]

DS had a very mild case of chicken pox when he was about 32 months old. He was vaccinated, but I can't remember exactly when-- either 15 or 18 months, I think. Ds picked it up from an unvaxed classmate at daycare. DD was less than three months old and had arrived a month early, so I was really worried that she would get it too. She didn't. The pediatrician said that she still had my immunities at that age, plus she was nursing.

ETA: just saw your update. I'm glad to know that she is not feeling too sick. I hope it's just a rash and that it disappears quickly.

Jerilyn
DS, 10/03
DD, 3/06

[JBaxter]

Your DD's last shot didnt happen to be 21 days prior to her "rash" starting did it?

[californiagirl]

You're also at the probability peak for an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. DD's last antibiotic allergy was enough to make her feverish... And yes, totally covered in spots.
To the extent where I called, they said it was probably allergy and then the nurse looked at her and said "Whoops, maybe we should have made you use the rash door" and then the doctor looked at her and confirmed allergy (and indeed, stopping the antibiotic and starting an antihistamine helped rapidly).

[pinkmomagain]

I was thinking this very same thing....possible allergy to the antibiotics. :-)

Gina

[egoldber]

Based on this description it sounds to me like a random viral infection or an allergic reaction to the abx. I would take her in to be seen in case it is an allegic reaction.

[jenmcadams]

Thanks everyone for your posts -- we did end up going in this afternoon and it was definitely an allergic reaction to the antibiotics. I'm so glad it wasn't CP. She's still feeling good and the spots never started itching, so we're hoping today or tomorrow will be the peak for the rash and then it will start getting better.

One more bit of fun -- part of why it took 8 days for the allergy to show up is that the urgent care doc apparently prescribed an extremely low (1/3 the recommended) dose of amoxicillin for the strep throat she had last week. I'll be so glad in two weeks when Denver Children's Hospital opens a pediatric urgent care at the hospital 5 minutes from our house

[Piglet]

If it is any consolation, DS1 broke out in a penicillin allergy on the very last day of the prescription and his was normal strength. It was a post on here that made me think allergy when he woke up in spots - someone else posted that they thought penicillin allergies sometimes showed up near the end of the treatment. We also freaked out a bit at first worried about CP - he was due for his vax the following week and I was kicking myself for waiting as long as I did, LOL! Welcome to the club!

[smzapalac]

This didn't happen to my DD, but it did happen to me personally. I was vaccinated for chicken pox before I got pregnant because I never had it before. The doctor didn't tell me at the time of vaccination, but after I came down with the pox, he told me 20% of adults and children that get the vaccine come down with chicken pox. Would have been nice if your doctor would have warned you about the possibilities of getting the chicken pox from the vaccine. You could have then made the decision whether to go through with it or not. Would have saved you and your DD some heartache. I hope she gets well soon.

[egoldber]

Amy reacted to amoxicillin in a very similar way which is why I suspected it. :)

[Gena]

It's not uncommon for antibiotic allergies to show up several days later. I'm allergic to clindamycin and broke out in a CP-like rash about a week after starting it. My doctor called it a "breakdown allergy" and told me that I'm actually allergic to one of the components the drug breaks down to in the body.