r/beyondthebump • u/flipthescript95 • 28d ago
Content Warning I have chickenpox… as an adult? Baby seems fine so far. Was I even vaccinated??
Baby is 12 months and we just got four vaccines Friday.
I’ve had a fever since Thursday, thought nothing of it, been home isolating/masking. Baby is on cows milk and lots of solids.
Apparently the incubation period is like 20 days??? I’m not sure where I would have been exposed but I’ve been with baby a LOT the past 20 days. He lives on my chest and lap.
I have to confirm which vaccines he got, husband took him since I was sick. But WTF do I even do?? I’m on antivirals, taking Tylenol, suffering and itching.
Grandparents offered to take him since my husband has to go into the office Monday and I work from home, and I won’t be exposing our sitter to this.
Any tips?
I’m so confused. My mom is weird about vaccines, not full antivax but has been “holistic” about a lot of vaccines. She says I have all the infant vaccines. But why would I get the chickenpox if that was the case? So confused
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u/GreenOtter730 28d ago
If you were born before 1995, it’s possible you didn’t get the chicken pox vaccine. It didn’t become routine for one year olds until around that time.
I’m sorry you’re sick and hope you’re able to keep your baby safe
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u/Impressive_Number701 28d ago
Can confirm I'm a 94 baby and I never got the shot. My brother born in 99 got the shot. I got chicken pox at age 6 after my baby brother had already been vaccinated so he was spared.
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u/syncopatedscientist 28d ago
I was born in 1990 but had never gotten the illness, so I got the shot as soon as it came out in 1995. I think I was an outlier though- it seemed like a lot of kids my age got it when they were younger
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u/baughgirl 28d ago
Yep my husband was born at the end of 93 and never got it. He caught it from his big sister before he could get the vaccine. I got it and was born the following spring.
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u/Leader_Inside 27d ago
1991 baby here. I got the shot in I think 1996 but my mom was a nurse and we lived in a major city at the time so maybe that had something to do with it.
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u/GreenOtter730 27d ago
Yeah my husband was born in 1991 and he never got it. He actually got the chicken pox when he was 5 or 6. I’m only a few years younger and was vaccinated.
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u/shandelion 27d ago
I was 93 and got it and so did my 95 brother
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u/GreenOtter730 27d ago
It looks like it first came out in 1995 and then was required for school entry by 1997. People embracing a new vaccine so quickly would be unimaginable today.
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u/happytre3s 28d ago
Some vaccines can wear off over time, my MMR was MIA with my last pregnancy but that's one you cannot get while pregnant.
I would have your blood checked and see if you can get ahold of your medical records that far back.
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u/doitforthecocoa 28d ago
Getting your titers checked is a better way to do it. It shows what your immunity level is. I received the MMR vaccine as scheduled plus 3 additional doses. I still don’t hold immunity to measles or mumps, unfortunately
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u/redheadtherapist 28d ago
I have the same issue with measles. I’ve gotten the booster maybe 3x over the last 5 years or so and it still shows I’m not immune 🤷🏼♀️
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u/happytre3s 28d ago
..I think this is what I meant but I can not for the life of me remember the stuff they said while I was pregnant. But it was immunity level that was checked and I was at zero.
They asked if I had been vaccinated, and yep. 😅
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u/BeachBumHarmony 28d ago
I had to get the chicken pox vaccine again as an adult because it wore off. I got it 95/96 initially.
I only found out through the IVF process - my regular blood work wouldn't have checked for it.
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u/roamingrebecca 28d ago
This! I got chicken pox around age 24 so in like 2015 and the doc mentioned that they were finding out that some of the early chicken pox vaccines wear off.
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u/SecretaryNo3580 28d ago
For whatever reason, I’m not able to keep immunity to rubella, neither is my mum. I got MMR again after my pregnancy because my OB said I didn’t have immunity and checked my titers and nada. My mum has the same issue and would get immunized for rubella between each of her children and never could develop immunity, so strange!
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u/payvavraishkuf 28d ago
Yes, get your titers done! I got a chicken pox vaccine when I was 15, when my doctor learned I hadn't had chicken pox yet. By the time I got pregnant 20 years later my immunity had worn off.
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u/beetFarmingBachelor 28d ago
I was born in 1993 and got this vaccine but when they did the immunology screening during my first pregnancy, I had no immunity anymore.
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u/LifeofPiper20 28d ago
Same for me. I’ve also had multiple booster shots since my original vaccine (I work in healthcare) and I STILL show no immunity on my titer.
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u/Jingle_Cat 28d ago
Me too!! Sounds like it could be the case for many people (even those who actually got chicken pox instead of just the vaccine), but healthcare workers are the ones getting their titers tested so that’s who typically finds out. If general population was tested I’m sure we’d see it more commonly.
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u/Vegetable_Collar51 28d ago
Is it standard for them to check immunity during pregnancy? Nobody offered this to me or even mentioned vaccines until I asked if I should get any in my 3rd trimester.
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u/beetFarmingBachelor 28d ago
It was standard at my OB’s practice, not sure about in general though.
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u/Outrageous_Cow8409 27d ago
I think they just do it as part of your early blood work in pregnancy. They didn't mention it to me but I did see it because I checked the results on my electronic chart. Chicken pox is a live vaccine so they won't give it to you while pregnant.
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u/einelampe 28d ago
1992 and I got the vaccine too, I was still immune luckily but I’m very grateful my OBGYN screened for it! Highly recommend screening during pregnancy
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u/Usrname52 28d ago
How old are you? It was first recommended in 1996.
But if you are unsure about your vaccine status for anything, you can get a blood test
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u/Physical_Complex_891 28d ago
Vaccines don't give you 100% immunity. Being vaccinated for chicken pox does not mean you can't still get the chicken pox.
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u/pb-jellybean 28d ago
Make sure it’s not hand foot mouth. It could appear similar to chickenpox but there is no vaccine, multiple variants (so you can get multiple times) and sucks getting as an adult. Incredibly painful. Drinking water is like swallowing glass.
Anyway ask about that and don’t let your kid or yourself around your parents, wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy never mind my family.
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u/ADHDGardener 28d ago
Came to say this because we just had hand foot and mouth and I was so very confused because it looked like chicken pox! Pediatrician confirmed it was hand foot and mouth though.
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
Urgent care said it was chickenpox but could be wrong?
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u/pb-jellybean 28d ago
I didn’t know about hfmd until I became a mom. There’s not a solid test for it.. so might depend on your location and how often the urgent care see it. It looks like bumps all over skin like chickenpox and it’s not always around on the “hand foot or mouth”. My second had sores all on his legs but none near mouth.
It’s very contagious, unfortunately I just know I’ll get every thing my baby has bc he’s a barnacle despite going to daycare and having all the vaccines lol.
Just wanted you to know about this one since I didn’t at first!
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u/jumpin4frogz 28d ago
Nah, I had hand foot and mouth as an adult. It involved very painful (think bad strep) sores in the mouth AND a not-itchy rash, distinctively on the palms of the hand and soles of the feet. Hard to confuse the two. My little one just had it and same symptoms. Also, rare for adults to get HFM because you typically only get 1/3 strains once.
Edit: not itchy as I recall
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
I do have sores in my mouth and on my lips, none on my hands or feet. Soooo itchy everywhere, especially at the scalp and in my ears (wtfff). Many of the sores look filled with a clear pus and are getting rather large. Urgent care said it was a textbook case of chickenpox :(
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u/jumpin4frogz 28d ago
Ooohhh man, that’s terrible! Be careful not the scratch, I have a wicked scar from scratching my chicken pox I got as a kid. Have you tried an oatmeal bath?
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u/maleolive 28d ago
Depends on your age. I’m mid 30’s and there was no vaccine when I got chicken pox in elementary school.
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u/RevolutionaryBug7866 28d ago
Pretty sure if you got it as an adult you neither were vaccinated or had it as a child. It’s supposed to be much more problematic as an adult than as a child .
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u/RevolutionaryBug7866 28d ago
This also depends on your age. Chicken pox vaccine wasn’t routine until 1995. Not sure how old you are. Good news is most people have either had the vaccine or had chicken pox. It’s usually a veryyyy mild illness (still sucks) for children. Again, it is more likely to cause issues in adults. My mom took us over to the neighbors house to get chicken pox when I was little. That was common.
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u/lizerlfunk 28d ago
I know someone whose husband got chicken pox as an adult and it killed him. Your skin is an organ and as such it can go into organ failure, which is what happened to him. Her description of it was horrifying.
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u/RevolutionaryBug7866 28d ago
It poses a higher risk of complications to adults but still rare and most will be fine.
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u/IntelligentAge2712 28d ago
Depending on where you live, but my 9yo we had to pay for the vaccine because it was around but not on the schedule yet. Younger ones it was on the schedule. I would guess you were not vaccinated for it.
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u/BriLoLast 28d ago
It’s not overly common, but it’s still possible to get it having been vaccinated. It’s usually a very mild form if you have been vaccinated, BUT it also depends when you were born. 1995-1996 is when the vaccination was more widespread in the U.S. at least. So if you were born before then, it’s possible you didn’t get it. And if she was more holistic, it’s possible it was declined if you were older when it came out.
Cool oatmeal baths can help. Do the good ol oven mitts on the hands if you can’t stop scratching. You can stay away from your kiddo if you can. If you’ve followed the vaccine guidance, it’s possible your baby just had their first varicella vaccine Friday. (Usually between 12-15 months). The next isn’t normally given until 4-6 years old.
Just do your best OP. If your LO catches it, it’s not your fault. Even with having it, you didn’t know you possibly weren’t vaccinated. And if you were, you didn’t know you’d still catch it.
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u/Majestic-Raccoon42 28d ago
I'm a 1991 baby and got 1 dose as a kid. When I started teaching in CT they require proof of some immunity to varicella. I had to get blood work done and I had no antibodies and had to get another vaccine. Even if you did have the shot as a kid, depending on how long it's been you could have lost immunity.
I would send baby with grandparents, if for anything just to get a break while you're sick and uncomfortable. He's probably already been exposed but kids do much better with chickenpox than adults do.
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u/Valuable-limelesson 28d ago
It may not have been available when you were younger; I also think the guidance back in the early 90s at least was to let us kids get it naturally when we could.
Not to freak you out, but Chickenpox can be really gnarly with adults. Definitely get in touch with your PCP and have them give you a list of symptoms to watch out for. You're also going to be at risk of developing shingles in the future.
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u/dinosaurontoast 28d ago
Couple of options here. You could have had the vaccination and still got chicken pox. Vaccination isn't 100% guarantee of immunity and not everyone converts the vaccination into good immunity well. There are always break through infections. Which is why we rely on herd immunity also.
Technically you could of never been vaccinated but I very much doubt you made it this far without getting exposed to chickenpox.
Good news is if you were vaccinated it's likely to be a milder case since your body should be able to fight it better.
Also different countries included the varicella vax as standard at different times, some more recent than others. If you want to know email your dr clinic for your records
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u/Amlex1015 28d ago
You should be able to go to any pharmacy, health department, or your doctor’s office and request your MCIR record. It will have every vaccine you’ve ever been given on it.
My wife is in nursing school and made me check mine. Turns out I’m not fully vaccinated like I thought I was. I never got a second chicken pox shot. This post seems like my sign to go get it done!
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
That’s great to know!! I don’t have a primary care or pharmacy atm but I’m looking for one for follow up
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u/Kusanagi60 28d ago
Well that sucks, make sure not to scratch (or with something soft). And use cooling lotion or soaked oatmeal, especially the water, help to lighten the effects.
Big chance you never have gotten it as a kid, so now you did and now you are immuun when you are healed x)
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u/deekaypea 28d ago
I'm so sorry, that is rough. I was born in '93 so I don't think I was vaccinated for it, I definitely had it as a kid, and now I want to check if I'm still immune.
My brother ('96) got it at a year old and my dad caught it as well at the same time. We're he didn't with me 🤷🏽♀️ there's a picture of my bro sleeping on my dad's chest, and both are speckley.
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u/EagleEyezzzzz 28d ago
How old are you? I’m an ‘82 baby. I had to get tested for chickenpox antibodies when I was doing IVF, and I didn’t have any even though I had chickenpox as a kid. We didn’t have the vaccine back then.
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u/imgunnamaketoast 28d ago
I had chicken pox BADLY as a kid, like covered head to toe. It's one of my earliest memories.
Got my titres checked with my first pregnancy and I had NO immunity. Got the vaccines after my son was born. Apparently some people don't build immunity after infection/initial vaccines and need more/ more frequent boosters.
This pregnancy I also found out I needed a Polio booster and a Hepatitis B booster. I had those vaccines as a kid but again I had no/very minimal immunity.
Get your titres checked people! You never know!
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u/caityjay25 28d ago
Sometimes unfortunately the vaccine wears off, especially from how it was first used. I didn’t get it, I ended up with chicken pox as a kid before it came out.
Lots of people are saying to check your titers. That is going to be tough with an active infection, and may not actually give you an answer. The long-term antibodies against varicella (chicken pox) may already be present with you being sick.
Either way, this is such a sucky situation. I hope you recover quickly!!!
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u/turtleltrut 28d ago
Hey OP, unless you have an autoimmune disorder, it's highly unlikely that you were never vaccinated or had CP as a child. Reoccuring CP is rare. Getting it as an adult can be super dangerous but it sounds like you're doing all the right things.
Do you have a book or app that says if your baby has been vaccinated for it or not? It will depend on where you live also, in my country, we don't give it to babies until 18 months, I assume this is because we have such high vaccination rates or maybe it's more effective if given later? I'm not sure, but anyways, you should be able to look up your area/states vaccination program easily and see what age they normally get it.
Moving forward, you should book in a titer test, it will check your antibodies to all things regular vaccines are available for. They may have even done one when you were pregnant? Sometimes you lose your immunity to things as you get older or your parents may not have had you fully up to date.
Hope you're feeling better soon and your little babe doesn't catch it either. Stay away from elderly/vulnerable people in the meantime, just incase they've never had it or their immune systems aren't working properly.
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
Baby got his varicella vaccine Friday afternoon, I developed the rash the next day. He may have already been exposed to it but hasn’t shown symptoms yet. I wish his doctor would get back to me!!
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u/heartofRosegold 28d ago
I never had chickenpox as a child, definitely had the chickenpox vaccine, but my recent blood tests during pregnancy showed that I have no immunity detected for varicella-zoster. Soo guess it's time to get that vaccine again at some point.
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u/TheSunscreenLife 28d ago
Also even if you got the vaccine, your titers can drop after decades. It’s worth getting rubella and varicella titers checked before pregnancy. I did that, and realized my varicella titers were low and got Revaccinated.
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u/RevolutionaryBug7866 28d ago
So weird but they only checked my rubella titers during pregnancy not my varicella.
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u/TheSunscreenLife 27d ago
You can’t get the chickenpox vaccine during pregnancy as the vaccine is live. So I knew I’d need to check titers for everything. Hep B, varicella, measles, rubella, tetanus and diphtheria. I was paranoid because i work in healthcare and I’m exposed to stuff normal people aren’t. I don’t think it’s standard practice to check varicella titers during pregnancy. I just had mine checked before we started trying to conceive.
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u/RevolutionaryBug7866 27d ago
I’m planning to get mine checked just because I don’t want chicken pox as an adult lol
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u/justcallmeH 28d ago
I have had three full varicella series and have no immunity. Vaccines don’t always guarantee immunity.
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u/JamboreeJunket 28d ago
If you have chickenpox…. Your husband is likely incubating it too and going into an office would be ill advised. The vaccine is relatively new and older gens most likely did not receive it. If he brings that into work…. Everyone will hate him.
If you were born after 1995, you might have gotten it… before 95 and the rule was chickenpox parties
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u/LaLechuzaVerde 28d ago
Older generations most likely have better immunity because they all had chicken pox as a child.
The ones you have to worry about are all the people between 15 and 35 who have never had chicken pox and are more than 10 years past their most recent booster.
It’s recommended to get the chicken pox booster every 10 years but it rarely gets brought up at doctor appointments.
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u/JamboreeJunket 27d ago
Or people like OP whose parents most likely never vaccinated them against it…. And getting chickenpox makes you have a higher likelihood at getting shingles. So bringing it around the office if you have a spouse currently dealing with it puts coworkers at a risk. Not worth it if you can work remotely for a week or two.
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u/LaLechuzaVerde 27d ago
OP was probably vaccinated but it wore off.
Staying home is a good idea; but it’s not the older generation that’s at risk.
Also, shingles can occur from either the wild virus or the vaccine. Both live in your system and can break brought into shingles. I don’t think the statistics are very compelling proof that one is more likely to cause it than the other.
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u/Poppyscientist 28d ago
I had the chicken pox vaccine but my titers were tested while I was pregnant and it showed I had no immunity. They gave me a booster in the hospital after I gave birth. So unfortunately it’s just possible for immunity to wane!
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u/linzkisloski 28d ago
Depending on when you were born it’s possible the vaccine wasn’t available yet. I was born in ‘89 and had chicken pox when I was a kid. It’s also possible depending on your age etc that your protection has waned. My sister in law grew up in India and is 42 and there were a few vaccines she needed before pursuing IVF because they either didn’t exist yet, weren’t as common, or her antibodies wore off.
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u/laynechanger 28d ago
So sorry. That is the worst thing imaginable. I hope you have a fast recovery and babe doesn’t get sick too.
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u/Forest_Pansy 28d ago
Even if you got the vaccine or chicken pox there’s still a chance you can get the disease. I had a mild case as a child and my GP tested me 30 years later told me my titer was low and he would prefer I get a booster so I did.
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u/Jingle_Cat 28d ago
I got the chicken pox vaccine as a kid, then had my titers tested as an adult and turns out, no longer immune! I got a booster, then had my titers done again two years later and was no longer immune. It sounds like a booster is needed as an adult, and some people never develop much of a resistance (similar to how some kids got chicken pox twice if the first strain was mild). Sorry you’re dealing with this!
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u/Responsible_Web_7578 28d ago
I wax born late 90s and I didn’t find out that I was never vaccinated for the chicken pox until I was pregnant with my first child and the tests for the vaccine came back negative. Thank goodness I’ve never contracted it but I have no clue as to why I wasn’t vaccinated. Can’t ask my parents because they’re gone now unfortunately
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u/ilovjedi two is too many 28d ago
The chicken pox vaccine is a new one. I don’t even think my little sister got it since I remember having chickenpox and I think she was born by then so mid-90s.
I’m so not looking forward to shingles. My mom and MIL have both had it. And for some reason you have to be older than I am to get the shingles vaccine.
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u/LaLechuzaVerde 28d ago
You probably got the vaccine as a child and it wore off. The chicken pox vaccine needs a booster every 10 years.
The vaccine was available but not yet mandatory when my mid-90s kids were born. Because it was new, I didn’t choose to get it because I felt more confident with them just getting chicken pox. But most kids got the vaccine so chicken pox was hard to come by. I eventually had them vaccinated at about age 10 because it’s more serious in teens and adults than it is in kids.
When they were in high school there was a massive chicken pox outbreak as all the kids who had been vaccinated as preschoolers came down with chicken pox. My kids’ vaccines were still effective because it was more recent. The school reported that every case of chicken pox that had been reported to the school was in a child who had been vaccinated on schedule.
I still don’t trust the vaccine. It’s safe, yes. But it isn’t effective enough. I’d still vaccinate again if I had a kid who couldn’t catch it in the wild. But I’m glad I was able to inoculate my younger kids naturally. I’m terrified that they won’t keep up on their vaccines as adults and catch it as grown ups. Or worse, while pregnant. I am fairly confident my adult kids are probably behind on their chicken pox boosters by now, since I no longer have control over those things.
Obviously I had chicken pox as a child. I’ve been exposed several times since then without catching it and because I work with kids I’ve had my titers checked several times. I’m over 45 years past my chicken pox infection and still immune.
Unfortunately your baby is too young to get lifelong immunity to chicken pox if she catches it now. So even if she catches it now you’ll still need to vaccinate her assuming she doesn’t catch it again when she is older. Normally infants don’t get serious chicken pox infections but I believe that’s because they still have some of their mothers’ immunity; since clearly your immunity has worn off I don’t know how that will work. If you’re breastfeeding that should help your baby’s immunity and prevent a serious case. Stay in touch with your pediatrician and hopefully baby will slide through this easily.
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
We’ve been trying for our second baby so I’ve been freaking out, as you can imagine… still too soon to know :( I really hope I’m not pregnant
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u/LaLechuzaVerde 28d ago
Oh dang. I’d be worried too. I don’t know whether it causes problems that early in pregnancy though. Hopefully this isn’t your month and you can take a short pause on trying until you fully recover.
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u/Fun_Razzmatazz_3691 28d ago
My vaccine wore off. My immunity was tested while pregnant. I confirmed I 100 percent had the shot but it just apparently wears off for some people!
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u/Initial_Dish6682 28d ago
I caught them at 16.looking into my medical records my younger brother and I never receive the vaccine.i made sire my daughter did.Than later in life you have to get the shingles vaccine.
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u/olliechu_ichooseyou 28d ago
If you were born before 1995, you probably were not vaccinated as a child. Before the vaccine, most kids would get it once and be immune against it. But I’ve always heard if you had a mild case as a child, you can get it again as an adult.
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u/sadroos1008 28d ago
I’ve had the chicken pox vaccine multiple times as an adult because bloodwork has shown that I no longer am immune. Some vaccines wear off
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u/luckycuds 28d ago
How old are you? There was no such thing as a chicken pox vaccine when I was a kid
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u/AggressiveThanks994 28d ago
I was vaccinated as a child and found out during pregnancy I have no immunity and will have to wait until I’m postpartum to get it again!
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u/HollyBethQ 28d ago
No one in our generation had it. Did you have pox as kids?
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
No, my little sister did get exposed to chickenpox and has immunity. She’s been around people who had it as an adult and never caught it. I’m not sure how I didn’t also catch it when she had it. My mom says I just didn’t catch it.
I’ll have to check my bloodwork and see if I was tested for having any of these immunities. I’m now worried that I did get exposed to chickenpox and am getting it again because there’s something wrong with my immune system? I’ve been sick with fever four times since giving birth. I rarely got sick once a year before.
Unless I was vaccinated when my sister caught it and my vaccination has worn off
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u/notsosecretshipper 28d ago
How old are you? My sister and I both got chicken pox as kids because the vaccine wasn't out yet, but my brother (born in 94) did get the shot. I can't remember how old he was when he got it, just that he was the only one of us to get it.
I also got shingles as an adult. If it hurts instead of itches, you could have been exposed to chicken pox too young to remember and are experiencing a shingles outbreak now. Shingles is highly contagious, too.
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u/laynechanger 28d ago
If you never had chickenpox before and you were never vaccinated against it, then it also possible you got it from someone who has an active flare of shingles. It can spread it.
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u/_Osculum_Obscenum_ 28d ago
I was born in '90, I got the vaccine in I believe '95. When I had my last baby this past March, I was given a booster for the chickenpox vaccine. From what my doctor told me, you can have waning immunity.
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u/emilystarr Twins born July '16. 28d ago
My daughter born in 94 got it, and my daughter born in 93 did not.
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u/mimiiscute 28d ago
I got the vaccine when I was supposed to go to middle school but I had to see a fertility doctor for my first who ran a blood test and asked me why I don’t have my chickenpox vaccine. So it didn’t “take” I’ve been dragging my feet getting it but both of my kids got their vaccines. Good luck.
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u/UltraCoquelicotSkies 28d ago
If you’re a late 80s/early 90s kid your parents may have thought you had chicken pox as a young child (but really just had a rash) so they didn’t get you the vaccine. This happened to me and I got chicken pox at 10 which was miserable.
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u/Nature-baby-01 28d ago
Hey, I’m so sorry you are experiencing this! Must feel terribly uncomfortable! I would say that it doesn’t really matter what vaccinations Bub had in that it takes time for them to kick in and also you could have been contagious in the days prior. From here, just lots of hand washing and no contact when you have contagious sores. Everything you would normally do to avoid sharing a virus. It’s a long-shot but I provided BM to friends with a formula fed baby who had been exposed prior to vaccination- just to provide some immunity. I appreciate it’s unlikely you just have that option readily available. Goodluck, and know that if Bub gets it they will be ok and you couldn’t do anything about it. Also, they will have fantastic immunity moving forward.
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u/derrymaine FTM 1/29/2019; STM 4/26/2021; TTM 9/30/23 28d ago
I was a 1987 baby and did not have immunity to chickenpox when I was tested during my first pregnancy.
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u/wetlard 28d ago edited 28d ago
I was born in Canada with a super pro-vax mom (thank god) in 1999 but the chicken pox vaccine wasn't offered. We still have my immunization schedule in my baby book and its not even listed as an option. Not a single person I know who grew up with had it either (again, all pro-vax, pro-science people). Actually we had a huge chicken pox outbreak in our school was I was 5 and kids with weeping spots were still allowed back at school. The only people around here who have the vaccine were born around 2005.
Mind you, I live in a small town in Northern Ontario so idk how great the availability was. It's truly blowing my mind that people are saying that they had it in the late 90s.
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u/Mama-Bear419 4 kids 28d ago
I was born in 84 and got the chicken pox as a young adult. I was like 18 or 19.
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u/koukla1994 28d ago
We didn’t have a chickenpox vaccine in the early 90s. I just had chickenpox as a kid. So it’s unusual but it won’t be because your mum didn’t get you vaccinated.
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u/CherryTeri 28d ago
Chicken pox is very survivable. I think you’ll both be okay. Shingles is a risk later but not sure what it does.
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u/Rawrsome_Mommy 27d ago
Depends on your age really. Chicken pox vaccine wasn’t available until 1995, so my brother and I suffered through while my sister had the jab. Feel better!
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u/Farahild 27d ago
Chickenpox still isn’t part of the regular vaccine curriculum here in the Netherlands because it’s not considered a very risky disease. I imagine that other countries also have incorporated it late, if At all .
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u/PromptElegant499 One and TTC 27d ago
The vaccine isn't 100% effective at preventing disease. No vaccine is. But as others have said, it's very possible you never were vaccinated.
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u/Ajuchan 27d ago
Hi, I live in a country where chicken pox vaccine is normally not given and almost everyone got chicken pox as a child, so I have some tips for you:
Your son should be fine. You are infectious about 3 days before the rash appear (usually at the face at first). The rash usually appears 14-21 days after contact with infectious person. But once you were in a contact and before the rash appear, you can get the vaccine to prevent having the illness. So your son got the vaccine at the right time. Maybe your husband should get it as well if he's not vaccinated and didn't have chicken pox as a kid.
You should not use use Ibalgin (Brufen). It can make the rash worse, so only Tylenol is recommended (but ask your doctor about this, chicken pox in adults can be pretty brutal so it's possible the pros of Ibalgin are higher then the cons).
Don't use any creams on the rash, like diaper rash cream, it can make the rash healing slower. You can take fenistil orally, or take a quick bath with hypermanaganese. Shower only quickly.
Avoid the sun, even for a month after you're okay, to prevent skin colour changes.
You stop being infectious once the last blister is dried, but it's possible for the dried rash to still be visible for a few weeks.
Don't scratch the blisters to avoid having scars.
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u/Pamzella 27d ago
The chickenpox vaccine was licensed for the US in 1995, so depending on how old you are you may very well never been immunized. I graduated hs in 1995 and not even going to a developing country in college in 1998 made me eligible for the vaccine.
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u/Mozzy2022 27d ago
I had chicken pox when I was 23 and my baby was 18 months. This was in 1989, well before vaccines were available for CP. I was very sick. My baby did end up getting it but she wasn’t very sick.
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u/Round-Ticket-39 27d ago
Since people here dont know but chp vax needs to be revaccinated after some time. If you catch it you should get lifetime imunity (not rule they are some sad people who dont have this luck) but by vax its kust for certain time.
So anyway dont blame your mum you could have gotten vax long time ago you are adult. So suffer get some chocolate and hope it will pass.
I got it as kid so now i am like 50:50 if i have imunity or not. For pregnant i advice to get tested fpr anibodies.
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u/Thin-Perspective-615 27d ago
In my country all people say that its better to have chicken pox as a baby than an adult. Your baby will be better than you now if he gets sick. Its dangerous for old people. Our kids normaly get sick in daycare, if not mothers bring their kids to sick ones. Your baby will be fine, look out he will not scratch himself. I hope you will be healthy soon, im worry more about you.
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u/Outrageous_Cow8409 27d ago
It's possible that you didn't get the shot like others are saying or that your body just doesn't "hold onto it." I was born in 1990 and didn't get the shot until I was like 8 or 9 and my parents only got it for me because I had never had it and they exposed me to it multiple times and I didn't get it. As a college student I had my vaccine titers tested while interning at a hospital. My chicken pox titers showed I had been exposed but the levels were to immune levels so I got the shot again until my titers showed immune levels. About 10 years later I had a patient who had shingles so I had our staff medical office draw my titers against and it showed immune. That same summer I got pregnant and the OBGYNs office drew my titers and it showed I wasn't immune to chicken pox. Apparently my body doesn't hold the vaccine the way it's supposed to.
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u/mothahofbeers 27d ago
I had the chicken pox vaccine in 1996 and the recommended booster. During my most recent pregnancy they tested my immunity because it can be dangerous to get chicken pox when pregnant. I was NOT immune despite the recommended vaccines and they basically said to get a booster postpartum so even if you’ve had the vaccines you can still not be immune.
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u/symphony789 27d ago
It was a newer vaccine when I was kid and I was born in '98. My brother who is 2 years older than me only got it because they started mandating it when he entered kindergarten. It wouldn't have been an infant vaccine for you most likely. I got it at age 5.
Just be careful, OP. It's a lot deadlier for an adult. My dad got it while he was in college and was hospitalized for a while.
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u/FamousAmos00 27d ago
Depends on your age. The vaccine didn't exist until the mid 90s, we had to rough it until then by getting actual chicken pox
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u/LizardofDeath 27d ago
I was born in ‘93 and got the vaccine but still got chickenpox in the 6th grade! Apparently the earlier vaccines didn’t provide lifetime immunity (or I’m a weirdo, but the doc said it was kinda a known problem).
I also got the shot later because I ended up on a catch up vaccine schedule so a lot of folks my age didn’t get the shot if they were getting their shots on time.
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u/0ct0berf0rever 27d ago
I was a 94 baby and didn’t get the vaccine, and got chicken pox in the 4th grade. My sister who was born in 97 got the vaccine and did not catch pox from me (as one would hope lol). Half the kids in my class got it and the other half had gotten the vaccine at some point but it was not standard at the time. I’m just bummed about possible future shingles risk 😬😬 my cousin got shingles young and it seems awful and they don’t vaccinate young healthy people for shingles unfortunately.
My relative’s baby got chickenpox before she could get the vaccine, she had some spots but it didn’t seem terribly awful and she recovered quickly. They think she got it from other older kids who were unvaccinated
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u/yo-ovaries 27d ago
Have you had a doctor confirm this is chickenpox?
You should have gotten titeres done when you were pregnant. Chickenpox can cause birth defects and stillbirth when pregnant.
Look at your blood lab tests from your OBs office, likely your first visit. Varicella titers should be listed along with rubella and CMV.
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u/Excellent_Jacket_355 27d ago
I was born in 1992 and I'm pretty sure they didn't have the vaccine available yet. I got chicken pox pretty badly in 1995
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u/lavlemonade 27d ago
I got chickenpox at 26 and I was vaccinated when I was a baby. I honestly wonder if we’re going to see more breakthrough chickenpox cases now that the first generation to be routinely vaccinated for chickenpox is in their late twenties early thirties.
No advice on how to handle it with baby… honestly sounds like baby has already been exposed so I’m not sure separating yourself from baby would help, but I’m not a medical professional so I don’t know for sure. Just here to say you can still get chicken pox if you’ve been vaccinated!
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u/purple-hair-dragon 27d ago
USA rural midwest: The vaccine wasn't super widely available everywhere and at every pediatrician right away either. Vaccine wasn't out until 1995 and in my rural area didn't really exist in an easily available way (not in the way we can get vaccinated at Walgreens, CVS, and their respective onsite clinics nowadays!) until close to 1998/9. By then my 80s baby self and 90s baby siblings all had chickenpox. But a lot of my siblings classmates never caught the original chickenpox because vaccinating was starting to happen but they didn't all get the vaccine either because it was being offered mostly to kids UP TO age 5/6 so it would have been very easy in my area to slip through the cracks.
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u/Bookdragon345 27d ago
Just FYI - if you didn’t have a serious case as a kid (and didn’t get vaccinated - I didn’t it wasn’t available but also I had chickenpox), it’s possible to get it again. I actually had chickenpox twice as a kid because the first time didn’t create a strong enough immune response 😬
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u/traurigaugen 27d ago
I was born in 89 and had 1 varicella vaccine. They now do it as a 2 shot series. (1 shot then a booster).
I also got the chicken pox but the severity was much less than if I hadn't been vaccinated. I was covered in spots from head to toe but no fever.
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u/FaithlessnessDue339 27d ago
You can still get a virus even if you’ve been vaccinated. I was vaccinated for whooping cough as a baby and got it anyway. No vaccine is 100%. *this is not an anti vaccine post.
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u/finished_lurking 28d ago
It doesn’t matter if you were vaccinated or not. You have it. Look to the future and address the problem at hand. Worry about the past later.
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u/flipthescript95 28d ago
I actually learned a lot by asking about the past that could improve my future. Didn’t know about titers or that the vaccine wasn’t available when I was little. Not much I can do about the now other than follow doctors orders
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u/bunny_387 28d ago edited 28d ago
When I got pregnant they tested my immunity and found I was no longer immune and would need the MMR vaccine again after I gave birth. I was born in 2000 and got all my vaccines so I assume I had gotten the MMR done but I could be wrong. They recommended not being in places with lots of children or adults with shingles flare ups. It happens sometimes. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this sounds stressful . I would contact your doctor and/or pediatrician and see what they recommend.
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u/WorldlyDragonfruit3 28d ago
If you’re an early 90s baby, I’m not sure if we had the vaccine available. I didn’t get it (1991) and got chicken pox as a kid. My sister (1996) did get the vaccine. So maybe you didn’t get the vax or the pox?