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Tips For A Chickenpox Party

Chickenpox incidence peaks in the late winter and spring. Ask your pediatrician or family doctor to alert you when other children have contracted chickenpox, if you want to expose yours as well.

The varicella virus is communicated easily through saliva. Pass a whistle from the infected child to other children at the party.

The incubation period of chickenpox is usually 14 to 16 days, although some cases occur as early as 10 or as late as 21 days after exposure. Chickenpox is contagious beginning two days before the rash appears, and is most infectious from 12 to 24 hours before the rash is recognized. Contagion lasts as long as 5 days after the onset of lesions, until lesions cease to erupt and have crusted.

During periods of fever and rash, don't feed your children soda, fruit juice, milk, sugar, or over processed foods, which can hinder their immune systems. Chickenpox taxes defensive organs, such as the liver and kidneys.1 If your children are not hungry when they have chickenpox, that's normal-don't force food on them. Encourage them to drink plenty of water.

Vitamins A and C can help boost immune response. Oatmeal baths and aloe or calendula creams help sooth itchy lesions. Calamine lotion helps dry them up.

Don't give your children aspirin. Anacin, Bayer, and Excedrin all contain aspirin, as do Pepto-Bismol and Alka-Seltzer. Don't give them acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, Nuprin). Don't give them steroids, particularly Prednisone. And don't give them antibiotics unless secondary infections appear.

Avoid exposing your child to adults who have never had chickenpox. Ninety-five percent of adults are immune; however, the remaining 5 percent are very susceptible and perhaps should consider being vaccinated instead, since that usually results in a milder case.

Once your child has been exposed to chickenpox, limit his or her exposure to the virus. One party should do it; multiple exposures can make the case more severe. The younger siblings of the kids at our Pox Party developed worse (though still mild) cases than the ones who brought it home.

Record the event. Many schools mandate that children be immune to chickenpox before they enter school. Obtain a written, signed note from your physician, or take photographs of your children when the pox have manifested. As a last resort, a blood test to show antibody levels will exempt a child from required vaccines.

Important: Chickenpox poses significant risks to nonvaccinated pregnant mothers and their prenatal babies. To protect the fetus, a pregnant mother's body suppresses Th1 (search and destroy) immunity, but Th1 immunity is crucial to fighting chickenpox. If you've never had chickenpox and are pregnant, get a titer to see if you have varicella antibodies before you expose yourself.

If you are considering having your child vaccinated, bear this in mind: Just because your child hasn't caught chickenpox doesn't mean that he or she doesn't have antibodies against it. According to a 2000 child study at Laval University in Quebec, 63 percent of 10 year olds with no chickenpox histories already had antibodies against the virus.2-5 Before vaccinating your child, test him or her for immunity. Later, if your child has an adverse reaction to the vaccine, report it to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) at 800-822-7967.

NOTES
1. Henry Bieler, MD, Food Is Your Best Medicine (New York: Ballantine Books, 1990): 107-109.
2. B. Duval, MD, "62% of Children Aged 8-10 Years with No History of Varicella Are Immune," presentation, Ninth International Congress on Infectious Diseases, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 10 April 2000.
3. B. Duval, MD, et al., article in Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 20 (November 2001): 1087-1088.
4. "No Chickenpox by Age 10 May Mean Child is Immune," Reuters Health, 17 December 2001.
5. National Advisory Committee on Immunization, "NACI Update to Statement on Varicella Vaccine," Canada Communicable Disease Report 28, ACS-3 (15 February 2002): 2.