chicken pox... shingles... slap cheek

[Mummy Rich]

what's the deal with all this whilst pregnant...

few cases of shingles and slap cheek in my school and class!
my boss was freaking out yday and i had to go call doctor or someone... was struggling to get thru so a health advisor advised me to go home but some other woman said id be fine..

got my first midwife appointment on monday so il ask her.

was a crazy day at work yday!! xx

 

[Anna23]

have you had chickken pox before? what i bet they will do is check your blood to see if your immune, i don't want to scare you however it can cause defects in the baby (it's rare aparently) however and please REMEMBER this MOST people have had chickken pox even if they don't know if they have (my son had it when i got my bfp for the 2nd time but i know i'm immune to it as i have had chickken pox and shingles and he aslo had it when i was hevily pregnant with my daughter) also my friend had james around her when he had it the 2nd time and her pregnancy is ok (she wasn't sure if she had had chicken pox before). With regards to slap cheek when Emma had it i was told to keep her away from pregnant women but i can't remember why sorry
i wouldn't worry just ask your doctor or mw for advise and i'm sure you will be fine

ohh i just noticed your 3 days infront of me i bet i have my baby before you

 

[ella]

If you have had chicken pox you dont need to worry.

If you have never had chicken pox you need to avoid close contact with the person, but shingles is not nearly as contagious as chicken pox you need to be in direct contact with the rash or something like the persons towel, mind you to be on the safe side if you have not had chicken pow it is safer to be totally out of the environment.

 

[Carley1985]

God you lot are mind readers! Everytime i think 'right, need to ask about that' somebody does it for me

My son went to a toy party and a day later one of the little girls came out in chicken pox, i know you can catch it from the day before the child gets it and it usually comes out 11- 14 days later. I'm just worried because i've had chicken pox already and i know you can get shingles from somebody with chicken pox if in close contact, so obviously if Aiden gets it i'm buggered!!

I'll be just get over this ruddy cold - which is made worse because i can't take my usual lemsip max strength! - then i'll get that!! Hoo - bloody - ray !

 

[ella]

God you lot are mind readers! Everytime i think 'right, need to ask about that' somebody does it for me

My son went to a toy party and a day later one of the little girls came out in chicken pox, i know you can catch it from the day before the child gets it and it usually comes out 11- 14 days later. I'm just worried because i've had chicken pox already and i know you can get shingles from somebody with chicken pox if in close contact, so obviously if Aiden gets it i'm buggered!!

I'll be just get over this ruddy cold - which is made worse because i can't take my usual lemsip max strength! - then i'll get that!! Hoo - bloody - ray !

you cant catch shingles from someone with Chicken Pox - shingles is a reactivation of the virus within you, you can only catch chicken pox if you havent had it before

 

[Carley1985]

Oh, i thought you could, my nan got shingles from her friend's grandson who had chicken pox, then my my mum caught shingles from my nan - they both have had chicken pox, the doctor asked if they had been in contact with anyone with chicken pox - so i assumed this was how they caught it?

Well if that's true i shall sum up the strentgh to do a dance... .... maybe later ...

 

[Anna23]

when i had shingles i hadn't been in contact with anyone with chickken pox, my doc said it's brought on by stress or as ella said

 

[jellyk]

I am also a teacher and mentioned this to my MW at my apptmt and they took extra bloods. Turns out I am immune to slapped cheek and chicken pox but not rubella! Scary...at least it's not as common as the others. If you work with children it is very likely you have had slapped cheek and just thought it was a cold - apparently you don't have to have a rash as an adult.

 

[Tiny Sue]

My little girl had chickenpox last April while my SIL was in her third trimester and they live next door.

The deal is...

If you have had chickenpox, you can get shingles. If you haven't had chickenpox, you can't. But you can get chickenpox. You won't get it more than once.

If you have had chickenpox and come in contact with someone else who has chickenpox, then you can't get shingles either. It is a reactivation of the virus within you. However if you have had chickenpox and come in contact with shingles, I think you can get shingles from infective fluid from blisters.

I got this from a women's health website...

Firstly, if the mother has definitely had chicken-pox, there is no risk to the baby or her. In any case, even if she doesn't recall having had chicken pox, it is likely she has antibodies (80% do) from a silent (asymptomatic) infection. So if there's any doubt about it, she should see a doctor for a blood test to check if she's immune.

Risks to the baby are important at the following two times, if mum gets chicken-pox:

1. Before 20 weeks - risk of chicken pox syndrome. This is actually quite rare. Up until 14 weeks the risk is about 0.4%, whereas between 14-20 weeks it is 2%. If a woman has VZ-Ig treatment (see below) after being exposed, the risk is even lower.

2. Mum's rash developing within a week before delivery to a month afterwards. It takes about a week for mum to pass the protective antibodies to the baby, so if born before that time, the babe is at risk of overwhelming infection after birth.

Between 20 weeks and term there is no risk to the baby. The other big risk of chicken pox is to the mother. She is much more likely, during pregnancy, to get a chicken pox pneumonia (10%) which can be very severe (even life-threatening).


It's so hard to be cool at work isn't it? I am also a teacher and guess what one child in our school was rushed to hospital with last week? MENINGITIS! I'm not immune to that. Also a student teacher told me a friend of hers had mumps...and had just been to see him. I'm not immune to mumps either!