“Chickenpox is going round again. Can I please remind people NOT to give your children nurofen/ibuprofen,” Hayley wrote on her Facebook page.
“4 different doctors from our local (out of hours) prescribed it for Lewis as we couldn’t get his temp down.”
“This type of medicine is an anti inflammatory. It reacts with chicken pox making them go deeper into the skin tissue.”
“It was only when we took Lewis to Alder Hey because the doctors from our hospital kept sending him home saying it was ‘just chicken pox’ we found this out. He ended up with septicemia and was admitted straight to Alder Hey as soon as we arrived there.”
According to WebMD, symptoms of septicemia include sudden high fever with chills; nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; abdominal pain; shortness of breath; and rapid pulse and breathing. It can be treated with antibiotics, but early treatment is essential.
Because of Hayley’s Facebook post, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended that ibuprofen no longer be used for chickenpox. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health now says that both parents and doctors need to have greater awareness about the small but significant risk ibuprofen carries in chickenpox cases.
Thanks to Hayley for spreading the word, and we hope that all parents hear her story so that they don’t have to be put in the same position that she and Lewis were.
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