My 4 yr old had the chicken pox vaccine. A week ago she developed a headache, high fever for 3 days with a cough and sore throat. The 2nd day red flat bumps appeared on her bottom and legs, she's had about 30 bumps. They swelled and had white heads but never turned in to blisters. The first ones are disappearing leaving a pink dot with no bump and new ones are appearing with white tops. Is this a mild case of chicken pox? If so how do I know when she's not contagious? If not what could this be? Thanks!!

If your child received the VARIVAX vaccine then she did receive live chicken pox virus and it is possible that she can catch full blown chicken pox.

There is more info on VARIVAX here http://www.drugs.com/cdi/varivax.html
And a picture of someone with chicken pox for reference here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenpox

Dennis Clements, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of Duke Children's Hospital, did mention in a recent article that there may be very few local or system side effects from the vaccine. However, he was too busy talking about how good the potential was to improve the health of children and adults, he didn't mention what the side effects were, namely.

I have always heard rumors about people who seem like they didn't catch the flu, until they took the flu vaccination." This rumor has caused me to vow never to take a vaccine unless it is required.

You should consult with her Physician, however, to evaluate the possible consequence of this vaccine. The most common side effects of the chicken pox vaccine are pain, redness or swelling at the injection site; Severe reactions were reportedly rare.

REFERENCE(S)

1. Dennis Clements, MD, PhD, 2006.
News For Parents.org - Chicken Pox Vaccine (http://www.newsforparents.org/expert_chicken_pox_vaccine.html)

2. American Academy of Family Physicians, 2006. Chickenpox Vaccine -- familydoctor.org (http://familydoctor.org/193.xml)