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Chicken Pox – contact during pregnancy

by Dr Howard Lee

question
I am 25 weeks pregnant and I have a 4 year-old daughter who is at nursery. She has mixed with children who now have chickenpox and mumps. My daughter had chicken pox when she was one. What are the risks of me catching chicken pox or mumps while pregnant? I can’t keep her away from other children all the time.

answer
The major key to the problem is the state of your own immunity. Whilst it’s not impossible, it will be unusual for you to develop a further clinical attack of either mumps, or chickenpox if you had both of these diseases as a child, or had protecting vaccination.

If your daughter hasn’t had chicken pox she’s very likely to contract the disease, if she has been in close contact at nursery school with a child who’s infectious. If she had the MMR vaccination, she will more than likely escape mumps or, at the worst, develop only a mild form. As you say, it’s not practical to keep your daughter isolated, nor would it be helpful.

If you got Chickenpox or mumps, it would be unpleasant for you, but there would be no risk to your baby – the critical stage of ‘development’ is well and truly passed. I hope my comments help to allay your worries.

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