Hi!

Has anyone with Moyamoya had chicken pox? My 9 year old daughter has been exposed....by her sister who has them. It's been a week and my 9 year old hasn't got them yet. I've heard if she gets the chickenpox, we should reduce or stop aspirin for a few days due to risk of Reye's syndrome. Ofcourse I've received a couple of different responses from my Stroke team and neurosurgeon and pediatrician. She has not had the vaccine. Any comments would be appreciated. She's had 2 surgeries for Moyamoya and 2 strokes post surgery. Last surgery was Oct/08.

Thank-you
Dawn

Hi Dawn,

My 7 y/o has not had chicken pox, but she has had the vaccine; however, I understand the vaccine is not always 100% effective.

I read on-line that the chicken pox incubation period averages 14-16 days.  If I were receiving conflicting advice from my child's doctors, I might be inclined to contact Dr. Scott &/or his staff at BCH to see what he recommends in cases like this.

Best regards,

Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer!

I believe many doctors including Dr. Scott may think aspirin should be eliminated or reduced if exposed to chicken pox and ofcourse most recommend the vaccine.

I'd like to hear of others' who've experienced chicken pox with Moyamoya too.

Great to hear from you!

Dawn

Dawn, we've had a couple of chicken pox scares. About 6 months after Kathleen's surgery she was in kindergarden and there was a huge outbreak of chicken pox. She had the vaccine when she was younger but to be sure we had her tested to see if she still had imunity. She didn't.... shich was the case of the other children in ehr school,they had the vaccine but were not immune. It's assumed now that it can wear off so they are boostering children as they get older. Anyway she was so close to surgery and strokes we decided it was best to jsut keep her home till the outbreak was over.When I say outbreak there were over 50 kids who came down with the CP. We were so careful even of who came in the house. She missed a couple months of school by the time there were no more cases. I'm not sure how long we waited but we talked with Dr. Scott and he suggested we vaccinate her. We did and just kept a close eye on her because you CAN get the CP from the vaccine. If she did we were told to take her off the asprin for the duration of the illness. A couple years later there were a few more cases in her school so we tested to be sure she still had imunity. She did....
  You could also ask her Dr. about Gamma globulin therapy. I'm not sure how this works or when it is given.
mary Grace

Thanks Mary Grace. I appreciate your information.

Dawn

I was unaware of the chicken pox vaccine could wear off. Did you doctor know how long the vaccine is effective for and is it different for different kids? I remember when I was in elementary school, my mother made sure I was exposed to chicken pox so I didn't get them when I was older which can be more dangerous. It seemed like that was a popular thing to do back then.

  He didn't give a number as to how long it is lasting. I do know that local schools(not sure aobut other states) are riquiring a booster at a certain age(not sure what age).  I would talk with a dr. if there's a concern as wether it has worn off.
Mary Grace