Author Topic: CHicken Pox- the new ebola? (Read 4458 times)

caerau · « **on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:11:14 pm »

Slightly dramatic topic but I must profess to being a bit flabbergasted.

We're looking after grandson no.1 this week. He must be *isolated* as he has chicken pox. He's got lots of spots, seems a little tired but seems otherwise OK (rather annoyingly bouncy tonight in fact, he's 6, that's OK, but I've been at work all day - lovely to see them for a bit but it wears off quick -*grump*). The mother is hell bent on apologising to all other mothers of the kids at the party he was at 2 days ago. Heck he probably caught it there

. My wife is looking after him during the day but can't possibly go out with him unless he spreads the plague.

I have pointed out that I don't think I know anyone who *hasn't* had chicken pox that I am aware of and that surely a trip down the local shop is no biggie but no it MUST NOT BE DONE.

Am I being too blase? It seems to me that everyone is going to get it eventually, so what's the big deal?

hellymedic · « **Reply #1 on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:38:52 pm »

Chicken pox is no great deal for an otherwise fit 6 year old.

Chickenpox can be very nasty and sometimes lethal for pregnant women, those with a history of leukaemia, those on cancer medications, steroids etc, etc, etc.

That is the problem.

Chris S · « **Reply #2 on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:42:08 pm »

Well.

Generally speaking, if you get it when you're a kid, it's unpleasant but no biggie.

If you get it when you're a grown-up; rather like other illnesses we were all "supposed" to get when we were nippers, it can be a Thing.

I never had Chicken Pox when I was a kid. I got it when I was 30. It was fucking horrendous.

My GP, to the (now) Ex Mrs S: "The only reason he's not in hospital is because you have young children and it would be harder for you."

The rash on the outside was so bad, both my eyes closed up, and my face was just one mass of pus. The rash on the INSIDE was much worse. Thankfully, I didn't get pneumonia, which is a common complication in adults, but I had dreadful digestive failure, I basically pee'd pus, and the spots in my throat were so dense, I could barely swallow.

My children were so scared of me, they wouldn't come in the room. Turning over in bed was like lying on bubble-wrap - thanks to the popping blisters. My fever was 105 for a week. The ex Mrs S set up a fan on me to keep me cool, and kept me plastered in calamine. That probably helped me a bit.

It took me six weeks to recover.

hellymedic · « **Reply #3 on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:45:19 pm »

2 year old brother REFUSED to use toilet/potty instead of nappies...
...until he had chickenpox.

Veloman · « **Reply #4 on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:49:50 pm »

Quote from: Chris S on 05 April, 2017, 10:42:08 pm

Well. ...........

Glad I read that before I turn in for the night.

Pleasant dreams ahead!

(I had chicken pox when young and when doctor did the house visit I had two chickens chirping away in a shoe box under the bed; I got chickens from the 'rag and bone man'. Hilarious and I still recall the doctor informing my Mother that I had chicken pox! One chicken survived while the other died rather early, which was a pit as we only had the one chicken for Christmas dinner that year.)

Chris S · « **Reply #5 on:** 05 April, 2017, 10:54:43 pm »

By the way. I was VERY popular with the local Mums.

We had two Pox Parties while I was infectious. I drank juice from a glass, which was then shared with kids who needed to get The Pox out of the way.

I'm certain I was responsible for at least three infections, but quite possibly more.

caerau · « **Reply #6 on:** 05 April, 2017, 11:32:34 pm »

Yeah since I posted I have recalled that when I lived in Southampton in the mid-90s there was a week or so when some poor guy in the local area was all over the news because he was first hospitalised and then died of it.

I guess I shall chill out about keeping him isolated.

caerau · « **Reply #7 on:** 05 April, 2017, 11:34:14 pm »

I remember getting mumps when I was 15. Boy did *that* cause some consternation amongst folks.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #8 on:** 05 April, 2017, 11:50:32 pm »

So far as I am aware, I have never had chicken pox. However, I am the youngest of 6. My mother was 43 when I was born and I think, having had 5 others before me, she tended to have forgotten who had had what and who had had what done to them. My children have all had chicken pox and I didn't catch it from them.

I am now on methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis. This is also one of the anti-cancer drugs that Helly mentioned. I don't want chicken pox.

I did have mumps when I was 29. That hurt - a lot. I lost 3 stone in 3 weeks. When I returned to teaching after that period, the kids invented a new nickname for me. "Skinny!" It was "northern" mumps and didn't affect my bollocks. Mrs. Wow and I produced another child a couple of years later just to prove that we could.

caerau · « **Reply #9 on:** 05 April, 2017, 11:59:40 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 05 April, 2017, 11:50:32 pm

It was "northern" mumps and didn't affect my bollocks.

Yes, it was amusing (though when I worked it out just a *little* disconcerting) that I was told to look out for this, but in a manner than noone could quite bring themselves to make absolutely clear.

Kim · « **Reply #10 on:** 06 April, 2017, 12:07:33 am »

When I was a child I spent a long, hot, boring summer in traction. Several weeks of this were spent in an isolation room (a proper one, with positive pressure and an airlock^[1] and stuff) because, being tied to the bed, I was the only kid on the ward who *didn't* come down with the mumps.

On the plus side, it was well ventilated and meant they were a bit less strict with me about bedtime. And I got some vaccine and didn't get the mumps. On the minus side, it had an enormous window in full view of the nurses' station, which meant I couldn't get away with *anything*

_{[1] Less impressive than it sounds. Think fire doors with rubber seals.}

Legs · « **Reply #11 on:** 06 April, 2017, 04:39:12 pm »

My wife grew up in Kenya in the 80s, and has never had chickenpox. Her younger sister had it a few years ago and didn't find it a pleasant experience at all. Jo is currently breastfeeding our second child - looking into the possibility of getting a vaccination against the 'pox...

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #12 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:01:22 pm »

I used to think like Caerau; chicken pox, measles, mumps and possibly a few others are illnesses everyone gets when you're a kid and they're no big deal. Okay, they can be deadly for malnourished children in the third world a few days walk from the nearest doctor, but in the West, they're just a week or two of unpleasant bed. However, Mrs Cudzo got mumps when she was pregnant, which apparently can be pretty bad (but in her case wasn't, because it was early or late or something). And then her brother caught it (and has since had a child of his own, so that's okay too).

Not sure about vaccines though. We had Jnr vaccinated against chicken pox when he was about ~5 and were then told by another doctor that it's better to let children catch it naturally. (But what happens if they don't? Are you then advised to have a vaccination as an adult?)

caerau · « **Reply #13 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:06:40 pm »

Hmm, I don't think that about mumps and measles - I just forgot about how bad Chicken pox can be on occasion.

There is most definitely a very good reason to mass vaccinated against the other two.

hellymedic · « **Reply #14 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:11:14 pm »

Measles has caused deaths in fit young Westerners.
Mumps still causes infertility in some men and pancreatitis in other sufferers.
Rubella is no great shakes for many who catch it but their unborn offspring really suffer, for life.

Collective amnesia does no favours to those who never saw the reality of these 'minor' illnesses.

caerau · « **Reply #15 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:25:22 pm »

Having done a bit of googling, they've been vaccinating against chicken pox in many countries for a long time. Apparently we in the UK don't do it as the children getting it give an immune boost to adults to ward off shingles.

Sounds a bit dubious to me I have to say.

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #16 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:52:00 pm »

We had Jnr vaccinated against chicken pox in India but I think it was a Polish doctor who said it was better not to. Might be misremembering that though. Perils of a jet-setting neo-colonial globe-trotter's lifestyle. Or so I can try to present it!

Eccentrica Gallumbits · « **Reply #17 on:** 06 April, 2017, 05:56:12 pm »

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers.aspx

Quote from: hellymedic on 06 April, 2017, 05:11:14 pm

Measles has caused deaths in fit young Westerners.
Mumps still causes infertility in some men and pancreatitis in other sufferers.
Rubella is no great shakes for many who catch it but their unborn offspring really suffer, for life.

Collective amnesia does no favours to those who never saw the reality of these 'minor' illnesses.

Yeah, my grandad (born 1918) had measles as an infant and it left him partially blind, partially deaf and with severe facial scarring.

Over the past few years I've worked with a number of people who caught polio just before the vaccine was available, and they now have post-polio syndrome which is inconvenient, painful and disabling. And a few years ago I had whooping cough, despite having been vaccinated when I was a kid. It was awful and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

ETA: I've just looked at the NHS standard vaccination schedule, and they no longer routinely vaccinate against TB. Scars on the shoulder will be a thing of the past.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #18 on:** 06 April, 2017, 06:54:38 pm »

Roald Dahl's daughter died of measles.

barakta · « **Reply #19 on:** 06 April, 2017, 07:08:22 pm »

A friend who used to work for teh government so read all the research said the chicken pox vaccine was very much 50:50 and showed no evidence of significant harm so she got her smalls vaccinated for it.

hellymedic · « **Reply #20 on:** 06 April, 2017, 07:53:14 pm »

My 50-year-old brother is awaiting the results of tests for whooping cough.

Mum didn't have us vaccinated.

caerau · « **Reply #21 on:** 06 April, 2017, 08:23:47 pm »

Yeah my sister and I were born in time when there was a scare in the press about children with asthma/eczema combo could get brain damage from the whooping cough vaccine. Guess what we both had as infants...

Yes, my mum believed this... so not vaccinated... my sister consequently ended up with whooping cough

I didn't but I did *not* know you could get it as an adult $:-\$

My mum did regret her decision.

hellymedic · « **Reply #22 on:** 06 April, 2017, 08:34:59 pm »

Some people get permanent lung damage after whooping cough...

Chris S · « **Reply #23 on:** 06 April, 2017, 08:37:29 pm »

Quote from: hellymedic on 06 April, 2017, 08:34:59 pm

Some people get permanent lung damage after whooping cough...

The folks looking at my chest x-rays certainly found a lot of scarring.

"Did you get chickenpox badly, by any chance?"

Bingo! Overshadowed [sic] by the emphysema though...

Feline · « **Reply #24 on:** 06 April, 2017, 09:26:38 pm »

Quote from: barakta on 06 April, 2017, 07:08:22 pm

A friend who used to work for teh government so read all the research said the chicken pox vaccine was very much 50:50 and showed no evidence of significant harm so she got her smalls vaccinated for it.

Interestingly other countries have chicken pox as a 'core vaccine' for little people. I believe our government decided that the economic loss of a few deaths (usually from pneumonia as a complication) and many scars didn't overall make paying for the vaccine worth it. The US and Australia have different views ...