Edited to add what I learned: This post has been getting a lot of hits from search engines from parents likely trying to figure out if their child has chicken pox or mosquito bites, just like I was when I wrote this. What I learned through my own research is that chicken pox generally crust over after one day, but new pox will also continue to appear for several days. So if you aren’t sure if it is chicken pox or mosquito bites, take a pen and circle a few of the chicken pox. Then check 24 hours later to see if they have crusted over or not. If they have, it is likely chicken pox. If they haven’t, it is likely mosquito bites.
She’s exhausted, cranky and has little red spots appearing all over her body. Does my little girl have the chicken pox or is it just mosquito bites combined with jet lag?
About 3 weeks ago (the approximate incubation time for chicken pox) we were vacationing with friends whose daughter had the chicken pox. I did my best to keep my little girl away from her while she was still contagious, but it is highly contagious and maybe our efforts were in vain. The good news if she does have the chicken pox is that they don’t seem to be bothering her that much so far. She is cranky, but not downright miserable. She is sleeping well. She isn’t scratching. And if she has the chicken pox, at least she doesn’t need to be vaccinated.
Or it could just be mosquito bites combined with jet lag. We live in the woods and the creatures are biting. The kids go stir crazy if we keep them inside all the time, so despite the risk of West Nile Virus, we spend time outdoors and we do get bitten. And since we just returned from a month visiting the in-laws in France where there are no mosquitoes and the doors to the house just get left open all the time since the outdoors is just an extension of the living space, our three year old has been leaving the door open and letting the mosquitoes into the house.
We’ll wait and see. At least I hope we’ll see. I assume it will be obvious at some point which of the two it is so that we don’t vaccinate her for no reason.
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In case anyone is wondering, she is feeling much better and the mosquito bites (I think!) appear to be fading away.
hey there, thanx a lot for a info
.. i’v got chicken pox once a long time back.. and now a friend of mine has got it.. so i was just wondering wut was the possibility of me getting it again.. hehe.. after all, i’v got some mosquito bites (i think) on my body.. and yea, there’s a lot of mosquitoes these days.. so mayb.. or mayb not.. lets see..