How contagious is chickenpox?

L

llgremlin

Registered User
Does any one know how contagious is chickenpox? How long is the incubation period? If older brother (3 yr old) has chickenpox, fever started yesterday, we just thought he had a flu. but this afternoon, red patches started to develop on the tummy. last night we already isolated baby no.2 (22mths) from his brother. how possible is it for no. 2 to get it? and if dad never had chickenpox, will he get it, too? can baby no.2 still g to playgroup? will he give it to his friends?

my ped said incubation 2 weeks, so everyone who hasn't had it in the house will get it.... :frown:
 
I think getting illnesses is a little more complicated than just being in contact with the ill person. Your immunity level also plays a large part in whether or not you get the illness.

Usually the day before the spots appears is the time of most infection.

I have four children, three of whom have had chicken pox. Each time my second child was with them and the people who gave it to them but he never got ill.

One of my friends also has four children and her eldest gave his chicken pox to the youngest, who then gave it to the second, who in turn gave it to the third. She had kids ill with chicken pox or about to get ill for two months as it worked its way though the family.

At the time I remember we had a long discussion about whether it was better to have children ill in series (this way it seems to go on for ever) or in parallel (this way is shorter but truly hard work at the time).

One time my two sons were playing with a child who came down with chicken pox the next day. I was really worried as we were due to fly to England two weeks later. Fortunately neither of them got ill that time.

I hope all goes well for you,
Barb
 
Chickenpox

If you do a search on the web you will find tons of info about chickenpox and how it can be spread, yes your 2nd child and husband can catch it. FYI a vaccine is now available in HK, my son had the vaccine at 24 months. He can still catch it but will get a very mild dose since he has the immunity. If your youngest doesn't catch it, a vaccination is something you should discuss with your paediatrician. Good luck.
 
my children already had the vaccine when they were 12 mths. my ped said they need a booster after 2 yrs in order for it to work well. i have done research on the net, and according to the research, yes, i know they can all catch it if they've never had it.

i just want to hear it from someone who has experince like Barb.

Anyone else has input for me?
 
actually, the truth is, it's my brother-in-law who has chickenpox. i made up the story above cos i'm afraid sis-in-law will read the forum & know that i'm talking about her. but now, oh what the heck. so here it goes...

we're suppose to go on a trip tomorrow with my in-laws, so 3 families together. us, brother-in-law plus wife & 2 yr daughter + me, my wife & my 18mth daughter + my in-laws. bro-in-law came up with chickenpox yesterday. so he's not going. but wife & 2 yr old daughter still is. our children will definitely play together when we're at the trip. i know that they're still bringing their 2 yr old daughter to school today.

so the question is, do you guys think that they should still go to the trip? are they infectious?
 
llgremlin said:
Does any one know how contagious is chickenpox? How long is the incubation period? If older brother (3 yr old) has chickenpox, fever started yesterday, we just thought he had a flu. but this afternoon, red patches started to develop on the tummy. last night we already isolated baby no.2 (22mths) from his brother. how possible is it for no. 2 to get it? and if dad never had chickenpox, will he get it, too? can baby no.2 still g to playgroup? will he give it to his friends?

my ped said incubation 2 weeks, so everyone who hasn't had it in the house will get it.... :frown:
Click to expand...


Chickenpox is one of the most contagious diseases around, and is droplet spread. Your son will have been contagious from a few days before the spots starting appearing so chances are the other son will have caught it. As far as Dad goes in all likelihood not, if he has truly neve been subjected to the virus then yes he is at risk. What is more likely is that he has immunity from previous contacts but it was mild and never diagnosed. As far as playgroup goes, that probably depends on the playgroup rules. It is quite possible that the youngest has a longer incubation period for the same infection and so eve though usually it takes minimum 7 days from catching to being contagious, at this stage you don't know if he has caught it at the same time as brother, or from brother.

Hope that helps.
As far as it goes, I had chickenpox, never developed immunity cared for people with shingles (same virus slightly less contagious) never developed immunity or chickenpox, and then was about to have the vaccine when I was retested and was now immune having never had a further episode. Many pregnant women who have 'never had' chickenpox and come into contact on testing discover they already are immune. This is for Dad.
 
Here is the info out of my communicable disease book (I am a nurse)

Chicken pox is extememly contagious. In temperate climates 90% of adults have the disease by age 15, 95% by adulthood., in tropical areas a higher proportion of cases occur in adults as compared to temperate climates.

Srpead via droplets, and air, and the fluid from the pox. Incubation period is 2-3 weeks, it is commicable 1-2 days BEFORE the rash appears. (this is why if your child is in school, making them stay home is not going to lessen the chance others will get it, because the child has already exposed everyone), and remains infectious until all the pox have crusted over.

So if your brother in law has it, he has exposed his own family members, who will most likely get chicken pox if they are not already immune from the disease or vaccine, and most likely tey acquired the disease in the 1-2 days before the rash started in your brother in law, then they would most likely get a rash themselves in 2-3 weeks, and then your family would be at risk of exposure 1-2 days before they get the rash, so it is hard to tell any specific time frame you should avoid.If it was me, I would skip the trip, and go get my children vaccinated. (The vaccine if you got it today is not going to protect them, as it takes a few weeks for it to work, but good for future exposure)
 
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