Hi everyone, I have something of a dilemma. I spent a couple of days last week with my 12 month grandchild who was unwell with a temperature and vomiting. We are due to go to them again tomorrow for Christmas Day but now it is evident she has chicken pox. I understand I was probably at more risk last week before the appearance of any spots but I wonder what the risk is now? I have psoriatic arthritis and I'm on Benapali and prednisolone. Any comments welcome.
It all depends on a couple of things, are the pustules dry now and scabbed over, have you had chickenpox yourself, if so then you want get it again, if you haven't then your incubation period is 7 to 21 days.
If you could be completely secluded from him then you could possibly be OK but you could still catch it as it is airborne
When did the CP appear? And are the scabs appearing? And have you had CP yourself as a child?
The most infectious time is in the 24-48 hours before the spots appear and they remain infectious until all the scabs are crusted over during which time the likelihood of infection falls off. If you were there just before the blisters first appeared you are already well exposed so going tomorrow probably won't make a lot of difference.
If you have already had CP it won't matter as much although it is possible to have it twice. You MIGHT possibly develop shingles if you had CP before but that can happen anyway.
There isn't much to be done - you have to watch out for blisters in 7-21 days and shoot off to the doctor if you do, They should give you acyclovir to reduce the impact. Nothing to be done in advance as it only works for active virus - when it is causing symptoms.
Hi Alexandria and Eileen. Thanks for your prompt replies. You’ve confirmed what I was thinking really. The spots first appeared yesterday and are still pustules. I last saw her last Wednesday, 4 days ago. I think I had CP as a child. I’ve decided not to go and hope I didn’t get infected last week. Disappointing but not worth it. We’ll ‘postpone’ it. Thanks again. Helpful! Have a lovely Christmas. Carol x
Hope you have something in the cupboard!!! You have a good xmas - and next week you can catch up with the rest of them
Have a virtual hug - I know you must be really disappointed xxxxxxxx
Thanks, Eileen. Yes, we’ll not starve. Disappointed we won’t see them. There’s a 5 year old as well but it takes so long to get over infections so I know in my heart it’s the right decision. Merry Christmas x
Hi Eileen you can't get shingles from someone with chicken pox but you can get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you touch the unhealed blisters, getting chicken pox twice is extremely rare and would more depend if you had it very mild the first time.
I had it when I was nearly 30 was incredibly sick with it, was made worse by having just given birth, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, hopefully don't have any LOL
Hi Carol
Merry Christmas but I am sorry that your little grandchild has chickenpox and for your concern that you might get that or shingles. I think it very wise to not go on Christmas to be on the safe side and protect yourself. You are on Benapail which I belive is a biologic and prednisose so you have a weakened immune system.
You can hopefully see your grandchild next week. Better to error on the side of caution but it is disappointing for you I am sure
We have two grandkids 2 and half yr and 5 months and I am also on biologic so have at times concerns when they are sick or have had a live vaccine
Have a happy New Year too All the best
Gloria
Thanks Gloria, yeah, I was looking forward to seeing her and her big brother on Christmas Day but if I get the virus I could be laid up for weeks. I’ll stay away and hope I didn’t pick anything up last week. Merry Christmas. Carol x
Not quite the same I know but you could facecall them or Skype, either I hope it doesn't ruin your day
Happy Christmas
Have you had a shingles shot? You could get shingles. That being said I would probably still go but stay away from the little germ factory.
well of course you're on Prednisone and that can certainly make you more susceptible to catching things. And as someone else mentioned you stand a chance of getting shingles if you've already had chickenpox. I got shingles in 5th grade from a little boy in our class that had chickenpox. It's very unusual for somebody that young to get shingles but it does happen. And my husband had two cases of chickenpox. He had a case when he was a child and a case when he was an adult and he caught it from the kids. I even confirm that with his mother because I didn't believe him.
Thanks everyone. I’ve made the decision to stay away for a few days and we’ll FaceTime. Being on prednisolone and Benepali I am immunosuppressed so, even though I was ‘exposed’ last week, it would be foolish to take more risk. I was told I couldn’t have the shingles jab because it’s a live vaccine but that might have been when I was taking methotrexate (no more!) Thanks again for your replies which definitely made my decision clearer. I will be seeing my other young grandchildren so that will be wonderful as well. Let’s hope I didn’t pick anything up last week. Thanks again and have a lovely Christmas and healthy and peaceful 2018. Carol x
I didn't say she could catch it, I said she MIGHT develop it - not the same thing at all. Since Carol is on immunosuppressive medication it is possible that being in contact with someone with CP COULD trigger the shingles - I'm well aware you can't catch it, but this is something different. All sorts of things can trigger shingles to reactivate, especially something that upsets the immune system.
And I see others have said the same thing further down the thread.