Taking the sting away from chickenpox this spring

Spring is finally here, but as well as bringing longer, brighter days and warmer weather, it traditionally flings the gate fully open to the chickenpox virus.

Indeed, if you are a parent of a young child, there's a good chance you've already found a note in your child's schoolbag to say that another child in your local creche, pre-school or school has the varicella virus and to be on the lookout for any signs of those tell-tale red, itchy spots and other symptoms over the next few days – along with the obligatory HSE-drafted (and hastily photocopied) information sheet stapled to it.

Proactive childcare
Teresa Heeney, chief executive of Early Childhood Ireland, says any good childcare facility will be aware of the higher likelihood of the virus lurking around about now.

“We know a lot of our members would be proactive at this time of the year, so they wouldn’t just be reacting when a case appears because this time of the year is chickenpox season.

“So around now, we’d often see our members generating letters, information and guidance for parents so that they can see chickenpox nearly before it comes.

“It’s very infectious, as we all know, and so it’s really important that children are excluded from services if they have chickenpox until the scabs are dry, and that usually takes about five to seven days,” says Heeney.

She adds that for afterschool services, “the guidance on exclusion policies would tend to be the case both in pre-school creches and in after-school services”.

On the radar
Chickenpox had already been on the radar of parent Nuala O'Hagan, from Cabinteely in Dublin, before her three-year old son, Darragh, contracted the virus a few weeks ago, although it was mainly to do with the conventional wisdom that it is better to get it as a child than as an adult – the sooner you develop the immunity to it, the better.

“I’d heard of chickenpox parties where parents would deliberately put their kids in the same room as other kids who were infected and it seemed sensible, even if it went against the basic instinct of protecting your kids,” she says.

But she hadn’t figured on how long her own child would be infectious for.

“Our son was home from creche for over a week and that can put a strain on working parents if they can’t take annual leave or don’t have family nearby who can help out.” She also wasn’t aware of the existence of the chickenpox vaccine until she researched the virus after Darragh got it.

Although three of her four children were exposed to chickenpox, Monaghan-based GP Dr Illona Duffy recently decided to get the chickenpox vaccine for her youngest because the experience of seeing her others get the virus was so unpleasant.

Deliberate exposure
However, while health professionals generally frown on the idea that a deliberate exposure to chickenpox as a child "just to get it over with" is an acceptable practice, the belief still lingers strongly among some.

There was some controversy a couple of years ago in the US over the online sale of “chickenpox lollies” that are deliberately infected with the virus.

“It can be seen as a rite of passage,” says Duffy.

“I mean, we all got it. In the past it was seen that everybody had to get measles, everybody had to get chickenpox, everybody had to get the mumps, that it was just a rite of passage that you got these things when you were a kid, and that you developed your immunity to them.

“Now, time goes on, everything in medicine changes as we can prevent new illnesses, but there’s always the possibility of somebody going to end up with complications from what seems like a minor ailment but actually isn’t, like chickenpox.”

She says the chickenpox vaccine is part of the primary immunisation programme for children in the US, but not here.

In the US, it is reported that hospital admissions and deaths due to varicella have fallen by more than 80 per cent in children since the vaccine was made part of the immunisation programme more than 15 years ago.

According to the Department of Health, there are no plans to offer the vaccine to any child except those considered particularly vulnerable to chickenpox, such as anyone undergoing chemotherapy treatment or with weakened immune systems.

If your child doesn’t fall into those categories and you want them to get the vaccine, it’ll cost you about €60-€70.

It has been shown that nine out of 10 children vaccinated with a single dose will develop immunity against chickenpox, although the HSE says a two-dose schedule is now recommended for all, as it gives a better immune response.

Getting shingles
"Getting vaccinated also reduces the chance of getting shingles, because shingles is produced by the same virus as chickenpox, and really, you can't get shingles until you've had chickenpox," says Duffy.

It is advised that women who want to get pregnant but who know they have not had chickenpox should get the vaccine, but if you’re not sure, a blood test can check, she says.

If you are pregnant and have been exposed, you are advised to go to hospital immediately, where doctors will most likely treat you with immuneglobulin to help protect the baby.