My son is 4. He has been a little off colour for a while. Today when he came home from school he had a spot behind his ear. He got very hot and grumpy said he felt sick, and fell asleep on me. He woke up a couple of hours later still grumpy and I gave him some medicine. Then I noticed a few blisters on his back, little fluid filled blisters. They looked like chicken pox blisters. I had to go out for a couple of hours, and when I got back the blisters had burst, and a few more were forming. I thought he had cp but not so sure now as even though he has been very much in contact with it, the blisters are supposed to last a couple of days before bursting, and be very itchy, these are not bothering him at all and are only staying as blisters for a couple of hours. He has also perked up a lot even though the medicine would have worn off hours ago! I am very confused. I can't easily take him to our dr as we are between doctors at the moment as we have recently moved house and don't have the necessary id to register with the local surgery. I could take him to the emergency doctors, but it seems to ridicuous as he doesn't seem ill! It is his last ever day at pre school tomorrow, before he goes up to primary school and he is desperate to go to his leavers party, but I don't know what to do for the best! Any advice? Can cp last only a short while?

If it is chicken pox it WON'T be gone by tomorrow. Usually a week or so.

Has he been exposed to chicken pox? Is he running a fever at all?

Yes he has had a fever, but that too seems to have gone by this evening, he was vomiting a couple of days ago, and said he felt nauseous today, but that's all, and chicken pox is all over his school at the moment, his classmates have almost all had it one after the other for the last three months! He still has the marks from the blisters, little red scabs, and more blisters have been appearing, starting as little red spots. Part of me is hoping it is cp, as he is due to have surgery next month and I would rather he got it out of the way before then! I am just so confused as everything I have read, and been told by other mums says that cp spots take a few days to burst and scab over, not a couple of hours, and are always itchy so its really confusng me!

How old is he? They tend not to be itchy right at the very beginning. He has not have the varicella zoster vaccine?

He is four and a half, we are in the uk and we don't vaccinate kids against chicken pox routinely here, no idea why, but he has problems with vaccinations anyway so would probably not have been allowed it anyway. Kids here pretty much all get cp at some stage and its never been regarded as a serious condition, more just annoying so I guess that's why we have no vaccination programme here!

I see. We vaccinate because it can be VERY dangerous to adults and pregnant women.

I would say that, since he has been exposed, yeah, he's got it. Nothing you can really do but wait it out now.

Thanks, I am half hoping he will wake up in the morning even more spotty so I will know 100% !

Whatever you do, don't give him ANYTHING that has aspirin in it. NOTHING!!

Chicken pox not a serious condition?? Ask an adult who's had it. Chicken pox can cause sterilisation in men.

Anyway too late to vaccinate now-he's guaranteed to have it-the symptoms you describe are spot-on (pardon the pun)

Chicken pox is not a serious condition for children, it's a very common childhood illness and not something that is worried about here. I have always been of the opinion that adults should take necessary measures to protect themselves rather than pumping babies full of vaccine to protect them, but that's just my opinion. In the UK we are all told to vaccinate our kids against measles, mumps and rubella. Rubella is rarly dangerous to children, we vaccinate to protect the pregnant women. I believe anyone planning a pregnancy should make sure they have the relevant vaccinaiton themselves before getting pregnant, which all women here should as we vaccinate girls at 11 against it to protect themselves as women! Mumps can occasionally make men sterile if they get it in older life, as I believe chicken pox occasionally does too, but it is a relatively rare complicaiton, here at least, as most people get chicken pox as kids here so its not a worry! Either way my son would not have been allowed the cp vaccine as he has a very bad record with vaccinations, After his first ever baby jabs he ended up in intensive care for a week on life support, and after the mmr vaccine, which he only had 2 years after he was supposed to, he went almost completely deaf and is having surgery next month to try to fix it. He is now not allowed vaccinations! I won't jeopardise his life to possibly prevent a grown man from becoming sterile!
Anyway, rant over lol! He does have chicken pox, but he is still not actually ill! He has more and more spots but no more sign of fever, no itching and he didn't have to miss his pre school leavers party as the pre school were happy for him to stay and join in! If it wasn't for the spots you wouldn't know the kid was poorly!

Many children get very mild cases of pox, this may be what your son is experiencing. However, you are very very misinformed about the dangers of chicken pox. For instance:

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I have always been of the opinion that adults should take necessary measures to protect themselves rather than pumping babies full of vaccine to protect them,

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What kind of measures would you recommend? You know that just being in a room with someone with one of these illnesses can cause the illness. Especially to immunosuppressed people. Vaccinations have eradicated the SmallPox virus and that is what they are attempting to do with the Varicella Zoster vaccination.

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Rubella is rarly dangerous to children, we vaccinate to protect the pregnant women.

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Wrong again, in a sense. If a woman has this while pregnant, then she can pass it on to the child in utero which can lead to some serious birth defects. So you are not only protecting the gestating mother, but the child as well.

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Mumps can occasionally make men sterile if they get it in older life

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Misinformed again as well. I know of many men who are sterile because they had mumps at an early age. Before puberty.

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as I believe chicken pox occasionally does too, but it is a relatively rare complicaiton,

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Yes, pox does cause sterility in men if gotten at an age older than puberty. No, it is NOT a rare complication and can be deadly to some people if gotten at an older age.

I would be interested to know where you got your info. I am not saying that you, personally, are wrong, but misinformed.

You see, children who get mild cases of chicken pox early in life can be subject to shingles later in life.

If people were to take "necessary measures" as you say to prevent from getting the illnesses rather than the vaccinations they would have to live their lives inside their homes away from people who may be contagious before the illness actually shows up, during the incubation period when the illness is the most contagious. Immunosuppressed people are most at risk. By that I don't just mean HIV/AIDS, I mean people undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and all other immunosuppressive diseases. Does this mean that they have to stay in their homes until they are no longer immunosuppressed?

Without vaccinations we would still have Smallpox and polio, just to name a few.

Yes, your son is an unfortunate one, but these are necessary to eradicate these terrible illnesses.

The measures I would recommend are getting themselves immunised instead of risking babies lives by expecting them to be immunised. As I said, cp is not regarded as a serious condition here, as the vasy majority of people get it in early childhood therefore here it rarely causes any serious complications. Shingles here again is not common, so I would not be so convinced of any massive chance of getting shingles, as cp is common here. If cp was so closely linked to sterility and shingles the uk would be in a very sorry state! All our men would be sterile and most people would have shingles. It just isn't like that! In fact I don't know anyone who has ever had shingles, or cp in adult life. Again, with cancer quite a common illness (one in three I think are the statistics) it is rare for there to be a problem with regard to cp.

Again, rubella is rarely dangerous to children, and we vaccinate our daughters at age 11 to ensure they are protected throughout their childbearing years, and I believe it is a woman's responsibility to ensure she has antibodies to rubella before getting pregnant, a simple bloodtest is all it takes, and doctors here will carry one out. There is no real need to vaccinate a 12 month old baby against that illness.

I never suggested adults lock themselves away from possible infection, more they should take the responsibility, if they do not contract these illnesses as children (or are planning a pregnancy) to ensure they are vaccinated if they are worried about the risks. As for the immunosuppressed, they are at danger from just about everything, anything as simple as a common cold can cause no end of damage. It really is a game of chance going anywhere, I do not for one minute believe vaccinating against childhood bugs make the hugest amount of difference unless they knew for a fact the would be in contact with someone with a bug. In which case they just wouldn't would they! Again, we do not vaccinate against cp to protect immunosuppressed, and that is because it makes little difference.

I guess it is another one of those differences between different countries. If you suggested to a british mother that cp is a terrible illness you would most likely get laughed at. In fact over here we have chicken pox parties, where if one child has it, all their friends come over to play in the hope they will all 'get it out of the way'! Its just the way it is done here. We are not a nation full of anyone dying or ending up sterile because of cp, so either our govt are stupid, or just more relaxed. Who knows.

Hey, I remember chicken pox parties. My mother took me to one and I had cp, gave it to my sister and my brother, all before we entered elementary school. Now my sister has suffered shingles as a result of having a mild case of cp. (They are the same virus).

Chicken Pox is not a dangerous disease to have in and of itself in the right time of life. But to those that have never had it and are exposed during the incubation period (usually 10 days before the onset of symptoms) it can be dangerous to others, including the elderly.

The reason these vaccinations are given at such a young age is to develop an immunity prior to exposure. An adult will most likely have been exposed.

I have 4 kids and only 2 have been immunized for cp.

Vaccinations are a line of defense and eradication. They must be given early.