To think toddlers with cold sores shouldn't be in nursery

[ScariestFairyByFar]

One of the kids at dd's nursery had a big nasty cold sore last week now she has one. Argh! They don't let them in with cp and once it's done it's done as long as your not high risk, she'll have this virus for the rest of her life.

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

hpa says no exclusion needed for cold sores. She must have had pretty close contact with the infected child to manage to get it or maybe she picked it up from elsewhere

[unclefluffy]

I'm with you.

[ScariestFairyByFar]

Not been around anyone else whose had them. I don't get them my mum gets them but hasn't had one for ages. Not been in close contact with anyone else outside nursery.

[whistlestopcafe]

YABU. A cold sore outbreak can last for months you can't lock your children away for the whole winter.

[NewishGirl]

So are you keeping your daughter off nursery now that she has one?

[Walkingchloe]

I would be livid. Cold sores can be passed on by sharing towels and cups etc I'm sure. Ds isn't old enough for nursery yet so I've no idea how much stuff gets shared or how close contact is but I'd still be annoyed. YANBU

[AnnaLiza]

YABU
It's a cold sore, not the plague

[ScariestFairyByFar]

I've put Zovirax on it and its fading, she's off now till Friday.

[whistlestopcafe]

So what do you suggest walkingChloe? Keep the child off nursery for months? What about school aged children?

[RandomMess]

The first attack can be really really nasty, a mouthful of ulcers, child not able to eat etc etc.

I am very surprised that they don't to be excluded for it.

[TheSurgeonsMate]

I'd need more education on this to agree with you. My instinct is - meh. Doesn't nearly everyone carry it? What do you mean about high risk?

[If a similar post by me also appears, that's the one that got lost in the internet, sorry]

[rubyslippers]

You can't catch them from towels can you?!

[iliketea]

YABU and a bit ridiculous. Some people are prone to cold sores (I get one every time I'm slightly stressed or run down), some people seem completely immune (DH has never had one in his.life). If dd ends up like me, she would never be there - am sure our employers would be delighted to accomodate me or DH being off half the year because dd has a cold sore . It's a cold sore, not the plague.

[ScariestFairyByFar]

I think you can catch them from towels.
The high risk was in relation to chicken pox.

[rubyslippers]

Have googled

Can only catch through direct skin contact so NOT through crockery and towels

DS has them - none of us have caught it from him

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

netdoctor says The virus can only be transmitted by close personal contact such as kissing so is not passed by cups and towels

www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/coldsores.htm

[whistlestopcafe]

I used to get them as a child and they would last the whole winter. I don't get them anymore.

Ds started getting them last year and again we can't seem to get rid of it. I have no plans to home educate for the winter season!

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

Dh gets cold sores but I have never had one and neither have our two children

[ScariestFairyByFar]

Do they not go away if treated with anti viral cream?

[MummysHappyPills]

Ummm, you'll have chicken pox for the rest of your life too, that's how people get shingles...

Yabvvvu. Nearly everyone has been exposed to the cold sore virus, some people ate unlucky enough to keep getting them back occasionally, others don't. But you won't avoid getting the virus. Even without a visible cold sore you could still pass it on. It's not the bloody plague ffs!

[whistlestopcafe]

Goes away for about a week but keeps coming back.

[MummysHappyPills]

And scariest, anti viral cream is quite often not effective, especially if not used very early, you just have to let the immune system work really, creams may speed up the process but not always.

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

according to the nhs site she could have caught it well before the child brought it into the nursery as it says:

In most cases, the virus is passed on in early childhood, for example, when a child is kissed by a family member or friend with a cold sore.
The virus passes through the skin and travels up the nerves where it lies dormant (inactive) until it is triggered at a later date.

[Walkingchloe]

Sorry I take my misinformed comment back about catching the virus from cups and towels. And I take the point that you can't home educate for months but I still think cold sores are painful, annoying and unsightly and I would rather Ds is not exposed to the virus in the first place. People aren't prone or not prone; they either have the virus or they don't.

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

thats not strictly true as they could have the virus but it never gets activated:

The herpes simplex virus, or "cold sore virus", is highly contagious and can be easily passed from person to person by close direct contact. After someone has contracted the virus, it remains dormant (inactive) for most of the time.
However, every so often the virus can be activated by certain triggers, resulting in an outbreak of cold sores. These triggers vary from person to person but can include fatigue, an injury to the affected area and, in women, monthly periods.
Some people have frequently recurring cold sores (around two or three times a year), while others have one cold sore and never have another. Some people never get cold sores at all because the virus never becomes active.