chicken pox? school sores? can any GP tell me what this is? grrrr

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i posted a few time a while back about DD having chicken pox and then infection from them and needing antibiotics. well they cleared up and have been clear for almost 2 weeks. this morning i notice some have popped up again so took her to GP who originally diagnosed it. he said well it might not have been chicken pox to begin with cause that doesnt happen, plus they got really big and he said chicken pox dont get bigger. so he doenst know what it is? he said just leave it for a few days to see if it gets worse, or if she get sicker! i mentioned that they got better on antibiotics and maybe the course wasnt long enough? he said maybe... gave me some sort of antibiotic cream saying it MAY be school sores.

i am really really annoyed! why couldnt he just tell me what it was the first time! now i am gonna have to wait and see if she gets sicker, which isnt my idea of good medical practice! plus now she is gonna need the chicken pox vaccination, but he cant tell me 100% that she didnt have chicken pox to begin with.

i googled school sores, and admittedly they do look similar to what she had the first time around. but i read that if they are left untreated they can cause kidney problems and meningitis!!!! well they wree left untreated for over a week while i was waiting for the 'chicken pox virus' to sort itself out (then i got the antibiotics cause they werent getting bettter) but i am freaking out that they have done some sort of serious damage to her!

i hate just sitting around and waiting for something to happen, either better or worse and not knowing what we are dealing with!

so angry at GP!!!!! sorry for vent!

[Pandora]

It's hard when they cant tell for sure. It was the same for me when DS had chicken pox, thhe GP said she "thinks" thants what it was, and the spots went away on their own in the right amount of time - but they were never noticable itchy like you'e expect with CP, and only 1 or 2 of them ever really looked like CP.

Can you see a different GP for a second opinon?

[pollyanna]

Just wondering about this one as a line of questioning. My son developed chicken pox and while some sores seemed to be healing he developed new ones as well. We took swabs and discovered that he actually had both school sores and chicken pox. Unlikely but it can happen. He was one sick little chappy.He ended up missing about 10 days off school as school sore(impetigo)is very contagius(sp).

[AnyDream]

Hello, definitely see your GP and have them do both a viral and a bacterial swab - if it's bacterial (ie cold sores) then you will have an answer in a couple of days, although a viral takes longer to culture, you may get an answer from that (ie chickenpox active in system?). Good luck.

[2CheekyMonkeys]

i asked about testing to find out what it is and he said that it is a blood test to find out if it is chicken pox or if it was chicken pox the first time and that he didnt recommend it for an 18 month old cause it would be pretty traumatic, have to hold her down and the needle and all.

so now he said we should give her the chickenpox immunisation in case it wasnt pox to begin with.

i read that school sores can come about from scratching and pox becomming infected so i guess it is possible to have the both of them at once... BUT it has been almost 2 weeks since antibiotics finished and she has been clear of any more break outs.

is it normal for school sores to come back so quickly?

[AnyDream]

Hollo, they can definitely take swabs from the pustules if they are weeping liquid of any sort. My DD had these awful ulcerating mouth sores which were a complete mystery until the Dr took swabs and ten days later voila! it was actually from Chickenpox (she'd been vaccinated and it was one of those freaky things, mouth only).

If you are not happy with this Drs response, take your DD to another Dr for a second opinion (I did and the second opinion Dr was the one who took the swabs and solved the mystery). People do this all the time and it's quite acceptable to Drs to do so.

Re the school sores, yes I would think they could come back that quickly if a) they didn't heal completely last time or b) your DD has been in contact with someone else who has them (they are wildly infectious and are an excludable condition). I wouldn't worry about serious damage, if you have any questions certainly ask your Dr and I'm sure they will reassure you that all is ok. Let us know how you get on.