Chickenpox killed my daughter; EXCLUSIVE Most see it as no more than a harmless childhood illness, but chickenpox can kill, as grieving mum Angie Bunce-Mason found out...

Byline: Alison Smith-Squire

When her three-year-old Elana got chickenpox, Angie Bunce-Mason was relieved at first to be getting the common childhood illness out of the way.

But, just six days later, Elana was dead, killed by a disease most people consider harmless.

"Elana was so healthy," Angie recalls, "she was always full of energy and unlike lots of other children, she hardly ever suffered a day's illness.

"No one thinks chickenpox is

There sign she very dangerous. And we're not a third world country so I couldn't comprehend how my daughter could have died of something that doctors describe as a simple childhood illness." particularly Like lots of mums, Angie, 34, hoped her daughter wouldn't even remember having the disease as she was so young.

As a nurse she knew that chickenpox could be much worse if caught as an adult.

"I knew adults could get it more severely so I thought it was just as well to get it over and done with," says Angie.

And she wasn't the only one. "Chickenpox had been doing the rounds for a few weeks," she says. "We even heard of people holding chickenpox parties to make sure that their kids got it then and not on holiday."

So, she wasn't worried when 10 days before Elana fell ill, her son Reuben, seven, got the illness in April this year.

"Reuben had a few spots," recalls Angie, who is married to Adam, 37, a police officer. "But apart from that and the fact he had to stay home from school, he was hardly ill at all normally and ru lively as ever." l. He was eating nning around Reuben's spots hickenpox has riod of 10 to 21 sn't surprised me poorly. morning after un to recover, I a few spots and e was coming enpox.

After a week R healed. And, as ch an incubation per days, Angie was when Elana becam "The Sunday m Reuben had begu noticed Elana had said to Adam she down with chicke "But although by she was covered in worse than Reub been - I didn't wo "I'd seen o with chicken some kids go than others made a norm "Although s food a little, eating and w tired and ju curl up in fro there was no particularl her mu didn' too m H wee Ang wor her was long p "The came when asleep all aftern awake for only hal said, 'I'm tired'. y that evening n spots - much ben had ever orry too much. other children npox and knew ot more spots and they still mal recovery. she was off her she was still while she was ust wanted to ont of the TV, o sign she was y ill. And even ultitude of spots t seem to itch much."

was no was ill owever, the ek went on and gie started to rry as Elana lost appetite and sleeping for periods.

final straw n, having been oon, she was lf an hour, then "Her dad tucked d her into bed and Reuben went her and read her could barely keep She just wanted t so unlike Elana an tively she just wa Angie and Adam family's GP who a bring Elana to the when she got there Angie's concern. t upstairs with a story but she her eyes open. o sleep. It was nd I felt instincasn't right." m phoned the asked them to e surgery. And e, the GP shared her chest and ght she had ains Angie, "and ed to go into away.

"She listened to said she thoug pneumonia," expla that Elana neede hospital straight a "It was a shoc thought, 'well at l what's wrong' and confident that w treatment Elana w back on her feet."

Angie and Adam Essex, drove Elan ck but then I least we know as a nurse I felt with antibiotic would soon be " m, from Greys, na to Basildon hospital and she was started on intravenous antibiotics. Angie says: "At first she seemed to get better. Adam and I were talking to her and cuddling her. But at four minutes past six in the morning she took a turn for the worse and collapsed."

MOURNING: Angie, Adam and Reuben

Medical staff worked frantically for almost an hour to revive Elana. "At one stage they managed to get a faint pulse and we were hopeful she would pull through but as time went on it became clear that despite all their efforts, she was slipping away. At just after 7am, she was pronounced dead."

Angie and Adam were stunned by what had happened.

If Elana vaccinated

Angie says: "We couldn't believe that our healthy daughter wasn't coming back. We were numb with grief and in total shock because all she'd had was chickenpox."

might still

A post-mortem revealed that Elana, who would have celebrated her fourth birthday on June 5, had chickenpox spots in her right lung.

"The professor who did the post-mortem confirmed Elana, who was fit and healthy with no underlying medical problems, had died from chickenpox. He explained that these spots would have caused a fatal pneumonia type illness, particular to chickenpox. He said it was incredibly rare and that he'd personally never seen anything like it in all his years of practice."

Angie and Adam are now campaigning for more to be done to prevent chickenpox in children.

"In America, Canada, Australia and some European countries, children are vaccinated to prevent chickenpox," says Angie.

had been "But although the jab is available in the UK, and there were plans to inoculate children with it here, it is still only available privately and sadly most people don't seem to know it exists.

she be here "It's heartbreaking to think that had Elana been vaccinated she might still be here.

"Now we both feel strongly that a vaccine should be introduced and at the very least, there should be more awareness that these drugs are available."

Today Angie finds comfort from the memory of Reuben reading his little sister her last story the night she died.

Meanwhile, she often sits in Elana's room, which is still full of her dolls and teddies.

"I can feel close to Elana by sitting in her bedroom, for a brief moment I can find myself thinking I will simply wake up to find this has been a terrible nightmare.

"Only then the reality hits me that Elana died of chickenpox - something many think is just an innocent childhood illness - and I am determined that Adam and I must do all we can to stop such a terrible tragedy striking any other family."

Chickenpox the facts...

Chickenpox is usually a mild but infectious disease.

It takes 10 to 21 days for the symptoms to show after infection and people are infectious from two days before the rash appears until roughly five days after.

Once you've had chickenpox your body usually develops an immunity, which stops you getting it again.

Most doctors recommend rest and calamine lotion to soothe itchy spots. Advice is to drink plenty and rest. Complications occur in approximately 1 in 50 cases and if the patient develops a cough or is very drowsy, a doctor should be seen.

One in five people who had chickenpox as a child will develop shingles.

Although deaths from chickenpox are rare, it is thought to kill around 20 people in Britain a year.

What about a vaccine? A chickenpox vaccine is licensed in the UK, but it is not part of routine vaccinations.

Experts fear if the vaccine is given to children there would be more cases of shingles in adults. The vaccine is available however for people who have an immune problem such as patients recovering from cancer treatment or for their families to ensure they don't pass it on to them.

A chickenpox vaccine might also be recommended if you plan to become pregnant and have never had chickenpox.didn' too There was no sign she was particularly ill was longchildren here, only If Elana had been s vaccinated she might still be here it "I breaking she'd

CAPTION(S):

TOGETHER: On holiday MOURNING: Angie, Adam and Reuben TERRIBLE TRAGEDY: Elana FULL OF ENERGY: Elana and her mum