Re: Chickenpox exposure under Pediapred

[Guest guest]

Hi Georgina,

I haven't written for a long time, Sam has had her up and downs, especially

as the flu struck and so we had to put her on Pediapred (5mg=5ml/day) for a

while. Now the next illness is threatening. She got exposed to chickenpox.

Our Rheuma suggested to take her immediately of Pediapred, then taking

only the half dose and then called again to say she can continue with

Pediapred even if she gets chickenpox as her dosis is so low, but she needs

to be vaccinated with Immunoglobin for chickenpox. So we are totally

confused.

Has anybody prior experience with a child getting chickenpox while being on

Pediapred? Any information would be great.

All the best to everyone,

Regina

>

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[Guest guest]

Regina Featherstone wrote:

> I haven't written for a long time, Sam has had her up and downs, especially

> as the flu struck and so we had to put her on Pediapred (5mg=5ml/day) for a

> while. Now the next illness is threatening. She got exposed to chickenpox.

> Our Rheuma suggested to take her immediately of Pediapred, then taking

> only the half dose and then called again to say she can continue with

> Pediapred even if she gets chickenpox as her dosis is so low, but she needs

> to be vaccinated with Immunoglobin for chickenpox. So we are totally

> confused.

>

> Has anybody prior experience with a child getting chickenpox while being on

> Pediapred? Any information would be great.

>

> All the best to everyone,

> Regina

Hi Regina,

Sorry to hear about Sam's chicken pox. We haven't dealt with this

problem but I looked back in the archives and found a post from one of

our past-members, . Her daughter got the vaccine you mentioned. I'm

sure she wouldn't mind talking with you about it, if you had any other

questions. Oh, Toni too. I'll paste in their messages below. also

said, in another post, that diaper rash ointment helped a lot with the

itchy, painful sores that showed up in discreet areas. I remember Rena

and Charlie saying that their son, when he got shingles, could continue

with prednisone but had to stop Methotrexate ... and Enbrel (?). I hope

it's not too bad and that Sam starts feeling better, soon. Give her a

gentle hug from us.

Aloha,

Georgina

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Subject: Re: [ ] got chicken pox!

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 12:28:28 EST

From: LinGS544@...

Hi all, just to let you know was given the live vaccine after her

little sister got the chicken pox and they gave brandy the vaccine to

boost her immune and hope she could fight it off well she got them they

hospitalized her for 72 hours till she was out of the woods. She's

covered in them they did a case study on her a child with low immune and

live vaccine with chicken pox. The doctor told them to take a good look

at them they may never see them again now that we have a vaccine but to

learn what happens on a case like this.

Now I also have been busy building a forum please come take a look and

see

Wanted to see if I could do it! so I started a forum Web community that

you may enjoy.

It's called JRA Arthritis in children At JRA Arthritis in Children,

you can participate in the message board or jump into the chat room. 1st

chat Nov 1st at 9;00pm till 10;30 pm lets all meet ,also there are

folders there to start a thread or post anything.

To join our discussion, simply go to http://www.delphi.com/jrakids

JRA Arthritis in Children is part of Delphi Forums. If you've never used

Delphi Forums before, you'll need to go through a quick registration (so

you can post messages). It only takes a minute and it's free!

Hope to see you there,

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Date: 03 March 2000 16:05

Subject: Re: Question on Chicken pox

From: rontonitoo@...

My daughter was 9 1/2 when diagnosed with pauci. She had not had

chicken pox at that point. The ped. confered with the rheumy and said

if she did not get them by the time she was 11 she should be vacc. for

it. Well low and behold we got them the summer of her 11th birthday.

The ped said he had never seen a little kid so sick with them. Not only

did it throw her into a major flair but she ran really high fevers and

could not keep anything down. My point is obviously these kids react

differently to diseases of all types because of their immune systems and

meds. We were able to get through this with a lot of persistence and a

lot of popsicles(she even had them in her mouth and down her throat).

Talk to the drs. about getting the vacc. thats what helped our

situation.

as always take care;

Toni

[Guest guest]

Hi Regina:

Mickey (6 year old with systemic jra) has not actually had chickenpox, but had a "serious" exposure risk at one point. Our ped-rheum gave us this protocal to follow under that circumstance.

We call the rheumatology fellow on call at Toronto Sick Kids, and explain the degree of exposure, timing etc. If the doc judges the risk exposure to be significant, we have to take her in for a VSIG shot(s). This is Varicella Zoster ImmunoGlobulin shot. It happened last fall - and to get the right dose, she ended up with a shot in each thigh. Considering she only weighs 34 lbs, its a lot of stuff to inject, hence the two shots. Also, she had to be off the methotrexate for three weeks. She did not devolop chicken pox, possible because of the shot. I gather it is a very potent but short acting immunization for the chicken pox. I'm not sure of all the whys, I guess it is their very compromised immune systems, but chicken pox is a particular threat to kids with jra, and especially those on prednisone, and metho, and I imagine the other drugs mentioned on this as well.

Mickey went into a very serious flare as a result of this - likely the lack of methotrexate, and we had to put up her prednisone to really high levels (for her, 20ml/day) again until her SED rates and stuff started to drop again. Her school is quite helpful, they publish a regular note in the school newspaper about her arthritis making chickenpox a particular risk for her, and put in our phone number to call if any of the kids get chickenpox, so we're almost like a center for chickenpox control at our place! Usually, I can tell if Mickey has had direct contact with the child in question and fortunately, in the two years she's been in school, the chicken pox incidence around our area has been unusually low.

Anyway, I hope this helped a bit.

Lynn

Re: Question on Chicken poxFrom: rontonitoo@... My daughter was 9 1/2 when diagnosed with pauci. She had not hadchicken pox at that point. The ped. confered with the rheumy and saidif she did not get them by the time she was 11 she should be vacc. forit. Well low and behold we got them the summer of her 11th birthday. The ped said he had never seen a little kid so sick with them. Not onlydid it throw her into a major flair but she ran really high fevers andcould not keep anything down. My point is obviously these kids reactdifferently to diseases of all types because of their immune systems andmeds. We were able to get through this with a lot of persistence and alot of popsicles(she even had them in her mouth and down her throat). Talk to the drs. about getting the vacc. thats what helped our situation.as always take care;Toni------------------------------------------------------------------------High rates giving you headaches? The 0% APR Introductory Rate from Capital One. 9.9% Fixed thereafter!1/3010/1/_/524922/_/957302376/------------------------------------------------------------------------For links to websites with JRA info visit: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Village/8414/Links.html