Shingles

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

The last five days around here have been strange to say the least. Last

Thursday, my son, 7 years old, developed a back ache and a strange rash on

his back. By Friday morning, he could hardly move. We went to the doctors

that morning and had urine test to rule out kidney problems and then x-rays.

Neither showed anything. By Saturday, he began running a slight fever and

the area just under the rash was swollen, although the rash looked better.

We spent approx. 9 hours in the emergency room. They ran a blood test which

showed his white blood count was slightly elevated. They did prescribe an

antibiotic and some pain medication. He was still in bed and very sick all

Sunday. Early Monday morning I took him back to the doctors and then for

more x-rays which showed nothing. By late Monday, he was obviously feeling

better. Today he is much better, although he is still moving quite slowly.

This child--severely autistic who NEVER quits moving--didn't move or eat for

3 solid days!

The doctor's still do not know what is wrong with him. The doctor did

mention Shingles but said that the rash did not look like Shingles. However,

I have spoken to several people who said that they had had Shingles and that

their rash didn't look like Shingles either. My question is this: My

mother-in-law said that they gave her a blood test which tested positive for

Shingles. Should I insist that the doctor run this test on my son? (I

should note that my son never had chicken pox, but instead received the

vaccine just 2 months before his autism symptoms began appearing when he was

2 years 2 months.) I feel like, if this is Shingles then the NVICP should be

notified. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks very much for any input!