Chicken Pox

Chicken Pox is one of those things that we all anticipate. Most of us will remember having it as children. I had it when I was about ten. I felt hideous and picked my scabs. Not ladylike at all! I believe that some people take their children to 'Chicken Pox' parties. Well, who am I to judge? But personally, I just don't think I could do it. That would be a party bag with a difference wouldn't it? A couple of weeks ago I brought my twins home from nursery, they were in good spirits as I bathed them that evening but I noticed a couple of suspicious looking spots on Pudding's back... Hmm, that's the Pox I thought. Sure enough, the next morning, she had developed multiple fluid filled blisters and had a mild fever. I thought I knew the drill, Calamine lotion and Calpol.. Easy! But Calamine is very out of vogue, it's too drying so dont waste your money. Oh, and it makes your sink smell like burnt tyres when you tip the whole bottle down it in disgust. My dear friends on Wiki Mums suggested 'Virasoothe' (Other brands are available) It is a bit pricey but its a nice clear and cooling gel and to be honest, she didn't scratch anywhere near as much as I did. Other tips I gleaned from the net were Sodium Bicarbonate baths (I never did figure out the exact quantities and whether it was soothing or not) During the course of the day Puds temperature was really very high (About 38.5-39) and I noticed that she had a very angry looking spot between her shoulder blades that was raised and very red. Later on that afternoon (It was a Friday) I thought I had better call the GP. To cut a long story short, the GP saw her and sent us off to the local hospital where she was admitted for intravenous antibiotics for four days. The area between her shoulders had become infected (Cellulitis) Poor little thing. She was very stoic but obviously it wasn't ideal. Luckily I was able to stay with her the whole time (in isolation) while her Dad looked after Pickle at home (Though she was able to visit) Fortunately she is absolutely fine. I even thought that Pickle would escape the dreaded Pox and I was really hoping that she could avoid it as she suffers with quite bad Eczema but, exactly a fortnight after Pudding was stricken with it, Pickle developed the same. Luckily, her Chicken Pox was of the straight forward variety. Pudding was just very unlucky, it seems that only 1-10,000 have a complicated Chicken Pox. In certain countries like the USA, children are routinely vaccinated for Chicken Pox. I'm not entirely sure why we don't here in the UK. The official line is that it's nearly always a mild illness (I suspect there is a financial reason) You are able to access the vaccination yourself through your GP or you could ask a pharmacist. With the benefit of hindsight, I would have had my two vaccinated Had I known how poorly Puds would become with it. But now it's out of the way so big sighs of relief all round! I am adding an link to the NHS website which gives more detail about the Chicken Pox vaccine (Varicella)

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/chickenpox-vaccine.aspx