What Is The Reason For Fever And Rash On The Body After Chickenpox And MMR Vaccine?

Posted on Thu, 26 Apr 2012

Question: My son received his Chicken Pox vaccine and MMR vaccine on Monday 8/8/11 in the morning. By Wednesday noon he had a rash on the lower half of his body. By late afternoon it had spread to his whole body with a low grade fever of about 100 degrees. His disposition was normal and happy. I called his Drs office and they said that even though a rash and fever are normal after the vaccines, it doesn't happen until 3-10 days after receiving the shots. Since this was only 2.5 days they thought it was unrelated. They said to call back if it spreads, gets raised, or if he gets a fever over 102. Today it seemed to have spread to his face and to be a bit worse on the lower half of his body so I called again. They said to give him some benadryl. When he woke up from his nap he had XXXXXXX poop and the rash wasn't any better. What I would like to know: is this normal for the vaccine? And is the XXXXXXX poop a side effect or another symptom of something more serious? Thank you

Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (14 minutes later)

Hello and thanks for the query.

I have to say that all of these symptoms at this point make me worried enough that I have to recommend that you take him in for an evaluation at the doctors office or if it will take more than a few hours to do so then I think you should take him to an emergency department. I have to say I have not seen this type of reaction before and I wonder if he was somehow allergic to one of the preservatove in the vaccine.

If it is not related at all to the vaccine it could be a viral syndrome but in the absence of being able to examine him right now and do lab studies then I have to recommend you take him for a comprehensive evaluation which may involve laboratory testing in addition to the examination.

I hope you understand again why I think he should be evaluated sooner rather than wait at this point. I again thank you for the query and if you have any additional followups I am available to address them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Galamaga

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T