The Combination Of This Common Medication And Chickenpox Can Be Deadly

If you grew up in the early 1990s or before, you most likely had chickenpox (vericella). Chickenpox is associated with a scary looking rash but is rarely fatal. Only a small percentage of children actually get chickenpox these days due to the creation of a vaccine that came out in the mid-1990s. Given that the virus is relatively harmless, soothing anti-itch cream and light painkillers like Tylenol were the only relief that was recommended by doctors. Here lies the important message in the current article — not all painkillers and fever reducers should be used when your child gets the chickenpox!

You're not going to believe what a simple children's fever reducer did to Lewis Lyons, a young boy who went to the hospital after developing chickenpox symptoms. His mother, Hayley Lyons, is pleading with other parents online to stop giving children THIS medication when they develop a chickenpox rash. It's unbelievable that four doctors told her to give this potentially harmful to her child!

SHARE this with your friends on Facebook thathave small children orhave this medication in their cabinet (we just about all have it).

Chickenpox used to be a rite of passage for children.

Rarely fatal, chickenpox leads to a classic red-dotted rash over the entire body. Since the advent of the chickenpox vaccine, the number of cases has dropped from roughly four million per year in the early 1990s to less that 400,000 in the United States per year. 

The classic signs of chickenpox are extreme itchiness of the skin and a gnarly red-dotted rash that can encompass the entire body.

This is where our story begins.

Hayley Lyons noticed that her young son Lewis had the typical symptoms of chickenpox and promptly took him to the hospital to get checked. 

Here is little Lewis's rash.

As is normal with chickenpox, Lewis also developed fatigue and a fever. At the hospital, several doctors recommended that Hayley give her son ibuprofen. Ibuprofen is the commonly used anti-inflammatory drug in Advil and Motrin and is in most American's medicine cabinet. The purpose of taking ibuprofen was to give Lewis some much-needed relief from his rash and reduce his fever. This is where things get ugly.

Children's ibuprofen is one of the most commonly used, over-the-counter drugs.

What happened to Lewis next after taking ibuprofen will probably make you think twice about using it.

As you can see here, Lewis's rash kept progressing and developed into a larger infection. 

His mother immediately knew that something wasn't right and rushed him to Alder Hey Children's Hospital to get yet another opinion. This would be the fifth doctor she talked to about his rash! Hayley wanted to see a doctor that would actually listen to her concerns.

Once other doctors saw Lewis, he was hospitalized immediately.

Lewis was now diagnosed with septicemia, a life-threatening blood infection that was brought on by taking ibuprofen. The ibuprofen somehow allowed the chickenpox infection to proliferate through his body. If septicemia isn't treated quickly, massive organ failure and occur. Alder Hey Children's Hospital immediately gave Lewis the care that he needed and deserved.

Luckily, Lewis has recovered with the help of the doctors and nurses at Adler Hey. 

Hayley's call for attention prompted the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the United Kingdom to release this statement. They urge that ibuprofen NOT be used to treat the fever associated with chickenpox.

COMMENT on Facebook if you have ever felt neglected or passed over by a doctor. Sometimes it pays to get a second opinion.

Main and collage images via wimp.com | Facebook / Hayley Lyons