Chicken Pox Exposure During Pregnancy

[Lucy]

At least one of the kids in my daughter's day care class has chicken pox. My
daughter doesn't have it, and has been vaccinated against it.

I'm five months pregnant, and I don't know if I should be worried that I may
have / may be at risk of getting chicken pox, which I know can cause
problems with the fetus. As far as I know, I was never vaccinated, but I did
get a mild case as an infant. I dont' know if that would be sufficient to
make me immune.

Should I worry? Mention it to my OB? I plan on bringing it up at my next OB
appointment next week, but is there a need to get checked out before then?

Lucy

[[email protected]]

Lucy wrote:
> At least one of the kids in my daughter's day care class has chicken
pox. My
> daughter doesn't have it, and has been vaccinated against it.
>
> I'm five months pregnant, and I don't know if I should be worried
that I may
> have / may be at risk of getting chicken pox, which I know can cause
> problems with the fetus. As far as I know, I was never vaccinated,
but I did
> get a mild case as an infant. I dont' know if that would be
sufficient to
> make me immune.
>
> Should I worry? Mention it to my OB? I plan on bringing it up at my
next OB
> appointment next week, but is there a need to get checked out before
then?

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/9329.html

According to that link, you can call your doctor and ask for a blood
test to determine whether or not you're immune. If you're not, you can
get a shot within 4 days of exposure that will lessen your chances of
getting it (although it won't help the baby).

If I were in your shoes, I'd go ahead and call the doctor now, and see
if you can't get that blood test (and the shot if you need it). No
sense suffering chicken pox if you don't need to. I remember having it
as a kid, and it's miserable. But don't worry too much about your
baby. It sounds like chicken pox is only a serious problem for the
baby if you get it right at the end of pregnancy, usually.

There's more info at these links:
http://www.womens-health.co.uk/chickpox.asp
http://ctispregnancy.org/pdf/chickenpox.pdf
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/188_675.asp

Amy

[Lucy]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> If I were in your shoes, I'd go ahead and call the doctor now, and see
> if you can't get that blood test (and the shot if you need it). No
> sense suffering chicken pox if you don't need to. I remember having it
> as a kid, and it's miserable. But don't worry too much about your
> baby. It sounds like chicken pox is only a serious problem for the
> baby if you get it right at the end of pregnancy, usually.

Amy,

Thanks for getting those links for me. I've been reading through what's
there and at some other sites that Google threw out and it seems there is no
risk to the baby at my stage in the pregnancy. That was my biggest concern.

I'm pretty sure I am immune. I seem to have been around chicken pox before
and didn't catch it. So I'll probably just risk it.

Of course now I'm feeling itchy just talking about it... :o)

Lucy

[[email protected]]

Lucy wrote:
> At least one of the kids in my daughter's day care class has chicken
pox. My
> daughter doesn't have it, and has been vaccinated against it.
>
> I'm five months pregnant, and I don't know if I should be worried
that I may
> have / may be at risk of getting chicken pox, which I know can cause
> problems with the fetus. As far as I know, I was never vaccinated,
but I did
> get a mild case as an infant. I dont' know if that would be
sufficient to
> make me immune.
>
> Should I worry? Mention it to my OB? I plan on bringing it up at my
next OB
> appointment next week, but is there a need to get checked out before
then?

I replied to this yesterday, but it hasn't shown up... Weird. Anyway,
my advice was to go to the doctor. They can do a blood test to
determine whether or not you are immune to Chicken Pox (since you're
not sure), and if you aren't, they can give you a shot that will lessen
your chances of getting it/lessen the severity if you do get it. It
won't help the baby, but it'll help you. No need suffering if you
don't have to. From what I've read, chicken pox is only a big deal at
the very end of pregnancy. There can be complications if you get it at
other times, but they're very rare. A google search of "chicken pox
pregnancy" revealed a lot of information.

But the short answer is that you need to go to the doctor within 4 days
(IIRC) of exposure for the test and the shot to do you any good, so I'd
go if I were you.

Good luck!
Amy