“Is he short of breath?”
“No.”
“Is any part of his skin purple?”
“No.”
“Is he feverish?”
“No.”
“Are his lymph nodes swollen?”
“I really can’t tell. I’m holding a baby and the phone and he’s running around in circles with a foam sword.”
“I see.”
The (male, not that there’s anything wrong with that) nurse from Telehealth Ontario agreed that it’s probably chicken pox. Colum had been playing outside after school and came in to wash up for dinner with one hand rubbing at his waistband. Bug bites already, I thought. I pulled up his shirt and discovered more bites and more and … hold on. I suddenly recalled a note from school that said something about chicken pox, yadda yadda, if your child hasn’t been vaccinated, yadda yadda yadda. Colum was vaccinated, you see, so I hadn’t given it a second thought. That’s likely also why he was feeling pretty much normal except for the itchy spots.
And so the nurse kept on with his questions and treatment recommendations for Colum until I basically had to be all, “Okay, enough about that kid. He just ate three bowl of spaghetti and sprinted up and down the stairs four times. He’s fine. What about my baby? I have a six month old who hasn’t yet been vaccinated against the chicken pox. What about her?!” The upshot was that Colum should avoid breathing on her, coughing near her or lying on a bed next to her while he’s contagious, which he has been for the past 48 hours. So, yeah, she’s probably going to get it.
According to mister tele-nurse it should be all right if she does. Unless, of course, she gets sores INSIDE HER MOUTH and then REFUSES TO EAT. Great. Let’s hope that’s not very likely. I should probably have asked if I should take the baby to the doctor if she does get symptoms. Better yet, I think I’ll call the doctor and let her field that one herself.
“Do you have any more questions or concerns at all?” “No, I think that covers it.” “Okay, goodbye.” “Bye.” *click* Oh wait! Crap. I have another kid too. Maybe I should also care about her! Poor Irene. Well, she’s been vaccinated at least, but we can all see how effective that is.
I’m mostly worried about sending her to nursery school on Friday on the off chance that she’ll have contracted the illness but won’t have any sympotoms. What do you guys think? Should I assume the vaccine will actually work for her? Or should I keep her home for the 10 to 20 day incubation period so we don’t risk spreading the infection, no matter how small the risk and how great the nursery school fees? I really don’t know.
5 replies on “A Pox On This House”
Oh Rebecca. So sorry to hear this. It occurs to me that K played with Irene at Vine Ave the other day — but I figure they’re both old enough to handle a bout of chicken pox [and there’s a lovely little scene in Lois Lowry’s children’s book Anastasia On Her Own (1985) in which Ananstasia’s three year-old brother Sam gets chicken pox and connects the dots on his skin with magic marker].
I’m no doctor, of course, but if it was me I’d probably keep her home. As it is I’m going to watch K for a few days and try to keep her away from other kids.
I thought the chicken pox vaccine was supposed to prevent one from developing it … does it only reduce the symptoms?
Hope your family’s days will soon be itch-free!
I think K should be fine because it’s only communicable from 48 hrs before the spots appear and Irene hasn’t had any spots (yet?). Hopefully she won’t get it at all. I think the vaccine is effective for 70 – 90% of cases of mild strains of chicken pox (and 95% of cases of severe strains) and seems to lessen the symptoms even where it doesn’t offer full protection. Let’s hope Irene is in the 70 – 90% group with full protection!
I have to agree with Amy. I mean, the idea of giving up a day free of a three year old sounds so painful I can’t even bring myself to contemplate it; especially when you have to pay for that day anyway. The thing for me is, if anyone at the preschool contracted it I would feel so horribly guilty that I’m not sure I could live with it.
That said, it’s totally a judgement call on your part. Maybe when you call your doctor to ask what you should do when/if Mary gets the ‘pox, ask them about preschool for Irene. They should be able to give you sound advice (unlike me).
That was my initial reaction. Then I learned that there’s a 10 to 20 day incubation period for the illness. So if Irene wasn’t exposed to it (because C presumably caught it at school) until a day or so ago, then I’d have to keep her home for 3 weeks to be sure. And there’s a 70 – 90% chance she won’t contract the disease at all since she’s been vaccinated. And, while I appreciate you were just adding emphasis to make a point, but I don’t think the guilt of someone catching the chicken pox in a nursery school for healthy (and mostly vaccinated) children would be such that I couldn’t live with it ;)
That said, you’re right, I would rather not spread it. I think I’ll call the school and see if her teacher will let me have some make up days in return for keeping Irene away.
Hopefully, they’ll appreciate your being responsible and not sending her as much as they should, and you won’t have a problem getting the makeup days. Good luck! (With the day care, and the chicken pox!)