Chicken Pox

Chicken pox in most cases is just an inconvenience and not harmful.

So when Taiga started having red bumps on Saturday night, my game plan was to observe it, confirm (on my own) that it is chicken pox when there are sufficient blisters, not put him in daycare till the scabs drop off and in the meantime, apply calamine lotion.

That apparently is not how any responsible Japanese mum would handle the situation. At the first red spot, she would whisk the little infected child off to the doctors, to get the doctor to confirm that it is chicken pox, and then to get a chicken pox reducer as well as chicken pox medicines from the doctor. And if the little one goes to a daycare, she would know that absence of scabs from the body is not proof enough, she needs to get a letter from the doc to have his confirmation that the body indeed does not have any scabs.

[Edited to add: No, no, no, what was I thinking? A responsible Japanese mum would have immunized her kid against chicken pox already. I had decided not to immunise my kids (although Taiga is still below the age limit for this immunisation), a decision which has been a thorn in my MIL's side. Actually SIL too! LOL! So the above should read as a "neglectful but still responsible Japanese mum". ]

So you can imagine the outcry when my MIL returned to Tokyo over the weekend and found out that I failed to bring Taiga to the doc when I saw his red bumps and esp when I failed to get the chicken pox reducer for him (it has to be taken almost immediately for it to be effective).

I don't know the Japanese name for this reducer but it is supposed to lessen the no. of red bumps and the itchiness. I first heard abt the reducer 2 weeks back when there was a false alarm for Kai (chicken pox is going around their daycare) but figured, rather unscientifically I admit, that if you are going to get chicken pox, may as well get the full-blown thing rather than have supressed viruses hiding in your body that may come back again later (as shingles or some people do have chicken pox twice although rare). Besides, I was not sure then the side effects of the reducer.

So MIL brings Taiga to the docs and the docs give him some fever reducer (just in case the fever spikes), calamine lotion and lots of powder which is to be taken internally/orally (i.e. drunk) to reduce the itchiness. He was not given the actual chicken pox reducer as it is too late.

I don't know exactly what that powder is although when I surfed the net last night, all the reputed medical sites for children said due to the significant side effects of the chicken pox reducer, they do not advise kids to take that unless the kid has a suppresed immunity such as having a chonic illness like leukemia or where the kid has been taking a high dosage of steriods for asthma type of cases. Besides, the sites say that its reduction effect is very limited. Interesting as it seems that this is routinely given in Japan although like all things pharmaceutical in Japan, they probably reduced the potency of it. Which begs the question, then why take it?

Just in case, I told my MIL this morning to give Taiga only the calamine lotion and not the powder unless he starts scratching very badly (which he has not since it started). I think she thinks I am seriously insane and should I persist in this manner, would probably give her a heart attack soon!

[Edited to add: Of course my MIL ignored me and routinely gave him the powder yesterday.]

Kai would probably get chicken pox too and she has already "warned" me that we are to whisk Kai off to the docs to get the chicken pox reducer once the red spots appear. I have no such intention. Stay tuned for the exciting outcome!

[Edited to add: After being made to feel by my MIL that I am the only insane mum to refuse chicken pox immunisation, I am heartened to hear that 15 kids in the daycare are out at this moment due to chicken pox. The no. could be higher if you take into account those who had it earlier but are recovered and back in daycare already. OK, maybe a few of them are below 1 year old and can't be immunised, but most are above that age. So what does it mean? That working mums think alike? That working mums are neglectful? Whatever, I am just pleased!]