Adults and Chicken pox

[bbrandonsmom]

So we have cp here in the house-2yr old has it so far. Waiting to see if our 4yr old breaks out. I've had it. Dh has not. I can't find much on adults and cp other than they can go get a blood test to see if they have immunity, or get the vaccine. And usually if they get it, it's pretty bad. Then I read that living in the same house he has a 90% chance of catching it, and he's already been exposed of course. Should we even worry about the kids hugging him or being in contact any longer? Should we try to limit contact the best we can? I don't even know how ds got it, or who from. Have any adults here gotten cp?

[Marnica]

Chances are he is already immune. If you are curious have his titres drawn, It may put your mind at ease.

I had CP BADLY as a young adult and while it was not fun and I still have a few pox scars 17 years later, I had no complications and am just fine. I basically lived in an Aveeno bath for a week. If he has been exposed alreday, I wouldn't worry too much about keeping him away from the kids.

[MommytoB]

I also hadn't had chicken pox until I was 17 even though I was exposed to everyone even in junior high I was sitting next to a gal in home ec and the next week she came to school with scabs on her face .

I was only working in the daycare for 2 wks in my junior year of highschool ended up hearing oh kids are going home with chicken pox and I was like I never had it . I didn't think I was actually going to end up with it you know after being exposed so many times but I did and as mom said it was the worst case she even seen.

I had it in big shapes that left big ole keloid marks over my back , had it in ears , on stomach, on tongue, in throat on roof of mouth , only place that I didn't get it was on legs, butt and feet .

A guy friend from highschool asked were you in a car wreck ?

even teachers said you got it bad and how humilating it was to walk around like that .

Even mom didn't know I had chicken pox until I was complaining of a tummy ache she checked my chest and of course there was spots all over . I even went to a ent doctor before with my spots and rode the bus with a fever . I don't get pimples but when I showed them the fast appearing pimple like marks they said pimples don't worry. Even my brother said the night before the morning when I was acting grumpy saying your not going to get sick so stop acting like you are

near the end of it I ended up getting a very bad headache that it made me cry so mom had me take a bath to calm it .

[kiwiva]

Though he has already been exposed, those who get it from household exposure tend to get a worse case (I guess from all the exposure), so he may want to limit contact. That said, I haven't had chicken pox and have negative titers. When my 2 yo DD had it I didn't get it (we cosleep and breastfeed). I did what I could to boost my immune system during the contagious time (I had exposed her). There are various vitamins and herbs which can be helpful for chicken pox from my reading. I also had a prescription for acyclovir standing by in case I got it. It's an antiviral that can reduce the length and severity of chicken pox, but you need to start taking it within 24 (or 48, not sure) hours of the spots appearing.

[CookAMH]

He may or may not be immune. We thought my DH was since his mom exposed him a few times as a kid. However, he got CP a year or so ago from a friend who had shingles. It was a "bad" case in that he had 400-500 spots but our home treatment really, really helped him. He took vit A and a lot of Vit C, let the fever burn and rested. I rubbed coconut oil on him daily and the only ones that scarred were the ones that were picked. He felt poorly for five days but wasn't so miserable that he stayed in bed. He had a couple in his mouth and the concern is getting them in lungs. We declined any Rx for it and just let it heal.

[bbrandonsmom]

We figure it's just a matter of time if he does get it. I was going to start looking at treatment for him. I called the dr and she said we could limit contact as far as hugging and stuff, but since he's already been exposed, it's more of a wait and see type of thing. Though they did say we should go get him the vaccine. And my son too.

Kiwiva-I can't believe you didn't get it and were cosleep/bf. Wow.