Important Public Health Announcement: Exposure to chickenpox

[nanila]

If you have seen me and/or Humuhumu in the past three weeks, please read the rest of this entry.

This Saturday morning, 23rd August, Humuhumu woke with red spots on her back and legs. We thought it was heat rash, but the spots had spread and widened and developed little pimples in their middles this morning, so we made an appointment with the out-of-hours GP at the hospital.

He confirmed that it is chickenpox.

She will have been most contagious the day before (Friday 22nd) and for the next five or six days until the spots begin to heal. However, the incubation period for chickenpox can be anywhere from seven to 21 days, so it's possible she was contagious while we were in London and at LonCon 3.

Please be on alert if you or your children have not had chickenpox previously. Humuhumu was lethargic and grumpy with a mild fever for the three days before she developed the spots (we thought she was just tired from the intense stimulation of the London trip), so the symptoms may not be entirely obvious. People I know for certain we had contact with include rmc28, kaberett, qian, sfred, djm4, purplecthulhu, hano, coughingbear, major_clanger, foxfinial and liv. I offer my apologies to those, and to anyone else we may have exposed. If you know of anyone else, particularly those with compromised immune systems, that we may have come into physical contact with or with whom I was on a panel, please pass this information on to them.

Separately, I have come down with an absolutely stinking cold. It's the worst I've had in years - I normally shake these things off quite quickly but this has had me almost flat for two and a half days. So I apologise for being a vector for Con-Crud as well. :(

Comments

[yvi]

Oh, that sucks. Hope it all blows over quickly.

Semi-related, the husband managed to contract scarlet fever earlier this year. Contagious diseases usually only affecting children are fun :-\

[nanila]

Thank you. She can't go back to nursery until the spots heal, so it may be a couple of weeks that we (well, mostly I, as the bloke has a conference in Switzerland the week of 1 September) are on child care duty at home. Argh.

Scarlet fever as an adult sounds pretty horrendous. Mind you, so does shingles. :/

[ceb]

Have you already had it? I realised I was assuming yes but I don't know how UK-centric an assumption that is...

Anyway, sorry to hear you're stuck on chicken-pox duty and I hope you both get better quickly.

[nanila]

Indeed, I had it when I was five. But the out-of-hours GP was not happy to hear that I'm pregnant and ill, and insisted that I contact the midwives as soon as possible.

Thank you for the good wishes.

[calissa]

I remember chicken pox. It wasn't fun.

I hope both you and Humuhumu get well soon.

[nanila]

Me too. I was old enough to remember how miserable it was - lying in a cool bath, trying not to scratch, failing. :(

Fortunately Humuhumu's seems to be relatively mild. She's not scratching much and the spots have stopped spreading.

[calissa]

That is good news! I hope the last of it passes quickly.

[soliano]

Chixpox suck. We turned it into a big party with all the kids back in the 60's. I understand such is frowned upon these days. Hope you all feel better soon.

[nanila]

Some people still go for the chickenpox parties! But immunisation is available, although it isn't on the regular vaccination schedule and has to be paid for/requested from the NHS.

She seems not to be too bad with it. Her fever is pretty mild and the spots are pretty localised.

[forthwritten]

Poor Humuhuma! Hope she feels better soon, and that you aren't affected.

[nanila]

Thank you. Her case seems to be fairly mild. I'm rather glad she's gotten it so young as I doubt she'll remember it (I was five and it was miserable).

It's not great that it happened in the middle of my pregnancy with Keiki but the GP said just to take it easy (because I'm ill, which compounds immune system compromise) and it should minimise the risk. Fingers crossed.

[quoththeravyn]

in the "funny because it's true" department, a friend of mine described his daughter as "Daddy's little disease vector."

Hope everyone feels better very soon, and the contagion is minimal.

[nanila]

Oh yes. That's their primary societal function prior to the age of twelve, I understand.

Thank you. Her case seems relatively mild, so I'm hopeful that she won't even remember it.

[azurelunatic]

Oh, no fun at all! I hope it resolves quickly.

[nanila]

Thank you. Me too, although I'm bracing myself for at least a week of being largely unable to work (thankfully today is a bank holiday) if not more - the bloke has to go to Switzerland for six days next Sunday. :/

[ironed_orchid]

Poor Humuhumu.

My ex got chickenpox in his mid 20s, it was pretty horrible. I hope no one else you know comes down with it.

[nanila]

Thank you. She's handling it pretty well, I have to say, and seems to realise that sitting and reading/drawing/watching CBeebies on Mama's lap is the best way to recover.

I hope that too. Shingles isn't fun either. I understand you can't contract shingles from someone who has chickenpox, although you can potentially get chickenpox again (UGH).

[rmc28]

I'm glad to hear you've had it, chickenpox in pregnancy is no joke.

We'll be fine: Tony and I both had the disease as children, and we got the children immunised last summer when it seemed to be going around both school and nursery. (Through the GP but paid-for, like certain travel vaccinations, as it's not part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule.)

Best wishes to Humuhumu for a good recovery, and hope you get well soon yourself.

[nanila]

Oh yes, I remember it well. My case was not mild. I was five, and I was miserable for over a week.

I'm so relieved to hear that your family's risk is minimal. One of my first thoughts on hearing the diagnosis was, "Oh no, I hope we didn't give it to N." I knew that immunisation was possible but figured it might take a little longer for Humuhumu to get it, so was waiting until I was on leave to book it. I guess I don't need to now. :/

Thank you for the good wishes.

[lark_ascends]

:( :( :( :(

[nanila]

With a few more :( :( :( for good measure.

I'm feeling a bit better today, which is helpful - at least I can get some chores done and look after us a bit better.

[major_clanger]

No need to apologise - this sort of thing happens, and as I've said I had chickenpox when I was young.

[nanila]

Thank you very much for the reassurance, and for letting me know you're low-risk.

[pulchritude]

I hope you and Humuhumu feel better soon!

[nanila]

Thank you. I finally started feeling a little better this evening. Humuhumu didn't get any new spots today so I'm hopeful that she's on the mend as well.

[pretty_panther]

You have nothing to be sorry for. These things can't be helped :3

Personally I bounced around like a fool while I had it and my mum was desperate for me to heal and go back to school to CALM DOWN so hopefully humuhumu will be like me now and less ill like :)

[nanila]

To be fair to her, she's been taking it really well since the spots developed. She's almost her normal ebullient self, just every now and then she gets a bit feverish and wibbly.

[alwayswondered]

Poor Humuhumu. Chickenpox is pants. I had it when I was so young that I don't remember it, but my sister got it at I think eight? And it looked awful.

[nanila]

I think it's probably much better to have it at this age. It's unlikely she'll remember it. I was five, and I remember being so miserable. :/

[liseuse]

Aww, poor Humuhumu. I hope she, and you!, feel better soon. I was six or seven when I got chickenpox and it was hell.

[nanila]

Thank you. I'm finally on the mend. She didn't get any new spots today so I'm hopeful that she may have reached the turning point...

[emperorzombie]

Hi, this is Liz from the Loncon programme team - would you like me to email everyone on your panels and let them know they might have been exposed just in case? If you do, can you drop me an email on programme@loncon3.org to make sure I have correctly connected your RL name to your Dreamwidth ID :)

[nanila]

Hiya, e-mail has been sent. Thank you very much for offering to spread the word.

[qian]

I saw this on FB! Sorry about your perfect storm of suck, and I hope you and Humuhumu are feeling better soon. :( I've had chickenpox so not a problem for me, but so unfortunate that it should have happened during conpocalypse!

[nanila]

I'm glad the information has been registered by, it seems, a large proportion of potentially affected parties. I'm also glad you've already had chickenpox - phew!

I'm finally on the mend as of this evening, and toddler didn't develop any new spots today. Fingers crossed.

[coughingbear]

Oh, poor Humuhumu and poor you. Hope you all feel better soon.

I had chickenpox as a child, along with my sisters - I vividly remember my mother painting us with calamine lotion to try and stop us scratching - so should be fine. And so did hano.

[nanila]

Thank you. I'm definitely on the mend - much better today, although not at 100%.

I remember being painted with calamine lotion! Also, sitting in cool baths trying not to scratch.

Glad to hear you and hano are both immune. Thanks for letting me know.

[kaberett]

Good luck & thank you. FWIW I had the thing as a small so you don't need to worry about me for my own sake. I don't think I'm likely to spend time w/ immuno-compromised folk in the near future but I'll flag it up. xx

[nanila]

Thank you for letting me know you've had it and hope it doesn't mess up any impending items on your social calendar.

[foxfinial]

I had chickenpox as a child so I'm in no personal danger, and re: having chickenpox again I have no indications of illness. I've passed through 4 airports so I've, uh, opened the barn door and let the horse run a long way away re: not being around other people, so I can only hope I didn't pick up any of it from you and thus didn't pass it on.

Wishing Humuhumu a swift recovery and wishing you a complications-free experience.

[nanila]

Thank you for letting me know you've had it. Almost everyone has checked in now so am feeling (somewhat) relieved. I do hope your exposure to me was brief enough to have minimised risk of passing it on.

Humuhumu is doing well (more spots today though, boo) and I have an appointment with the midwife and GP on Thursday morning to get myself checked over.