To hunt down these bastards who exposed my son to chicken pox

Sorry just seen the updates about the vaccine. You’re not being unreasonable to be annoyed

Maybe read all of the OP's posts....?

you definitely don’t take kids with chicken pox on holiday and let them run around… but also… Surely if you make it to high school age without having had chicken pox you get vaccinated?? It’s so much worse when you’re older

This is what I mean about people lacking basic knowledge. Some people think the same about the COVID vaccine: that it means you can’t catch it or infect others. Obvs there’s a much lower risk. But can still mean kids have to be off nursery/school.

Well we can get it from our GP in NZ - children get a free chickenpox vaccination when they are 15 months old. When my children were little we had to pay but it must be cost effective to vaccinate. On the other hand, we can actually make an appointment with a GP in NZ and see them in person - sometimes even on the same day as we call.

It's not standard in the UK

Oh OP you’re getting a really hard time on this thread. I’m sorry your son is poorly and will miss his first week. This must be hard for him - at this age missing out on those first few days making friends and getting to know the school is really important to them so I can see why you’re all upset.

For those going on about the vaccine and how chicken pox is a common illness etc etc - this isn’t about chicken pox - it’s about a family knowingly allowing a contagious poorly child to play with other children just before back to school. The specific disease is irrelevant. And OP I don’t know anyone who has had the chicken pox vaccine, it’s really not common place in the UK.

YANBU about being annoyed that this family allowed their contagious child to play with other children which has not only resulted in your child being poorly but he’s now missing his first few days of high school. I hope he feels better soon.

No! I had no idea, thought it was the one you can’t immunise against!

Do they vaccinate for C pox in the UK? I am long out of the game.

It’s a bit shit yes, but 11 is very late to get chickenpox- you had a good run but ironically probably would have been better for him to get it much younger. Surely you wanted him to have it as a child, as shingles is nasty!

I don't know anyone who has had the vaccine and I do consider it to be expensive. There's been a couple of bouts of it at my DCs school. Both of mine had a week off but they were fine for most of it, we were just waiting for the spots to scab over. The woman on the campsite was selfish, I'm sure your ds will make loads of friends, plenty of kids move schools mid year and are fine

I didn't know there was a vaccine and having just looked into it privately there isn't anywhere near me that offers it, its a 25 mile trip.
The people who went away knowing their child had it were in the wrong, they could have exposed someone with a weakened immune system.
My son was 2 when he got it and perfectly healthy, he also had it very mild with a handful of spots. However one got infected and it almost killed him, CP isn't always as mild as we think.

Do people not realise the vaccine doesn't guarantee they won't get CP?? I know a few who have had it despite having the vaccine and then there's those like me who have no CP immunity. I am a HCA and have to avoid it should we get a patient with CP or shingles and I'm fully vaccinated. I've had it 4 times now.

If you think £130 per child isn’t a lot of money for many families, then perhaps you’re unaware of the shocking levels of poverty in UK. Many working parents are really struggling to cover basic costs. And IMHO free healthcare, especially preventative healthcare like vaccination, isn’t ‘generous’. It’s a basic human right. It should be a priority for any government. What’s more important than the spread of infectious disease?

Because a minority of children suffer severe scarring, blindness, hearing loss, and brain damage. This is why the vast majority of developed countries vaccinate. The UK is a bit backwards about this but it seems that things are changing and an NHS vaccination will be introduced soon.

I don’t think the OP means it literally.

Or people who know their child has chicken pox should stay at home

Ok these ppl are beyond stupid. They should have asked you before letting their infected kid play with yours.
but hunt them down to do what exactly?! What do you plan to say/do to them? Sounds like a bad idea, and even pretty scary!

Perhaps they were already on holiday when the spots appeared as happened with a friend's child (although they were abroad the time fortunately the spots had crusted before the flight home - oddly enough despite it being so contagious why didn't the siblings catch it.
What really gets me is people with shingles who will fly, go shopping etc and they are as much of a risk as a child with chicken pox. I got real aggression from friends of my parents as a young adult as refused to go and help look after them when they had shingles (before I caught chickenpox from DC which I could avoid)

Why does it matter how educated you are? If you were all that involved and dedicated a parent then you should know about the vaccine. Chickenpox can lead to serious complications, is often extremely painful for the child and once you've had it then it can re-emerge as shingles later in life.

The idea that vaccines are only given if 'necessary' is untrue - the MMR wasn't introduced as standard until the late 1980s, even though it was available in the late 1970s. One child in my primary class was deaf from measles, mumps can lead to viral meningitis...etc.

Lolz. on MN you're a twat if you send your kid into school after throwing up once because you KNOW it was due to them hoofing an entire packet of haribo on the sly, just on the 0.0009% chance it's a coincidental virus. 🙄

But your kid catches chicken pox from another that should clearly not be out and you're the arsehole for not paying to get him vaccinated.

Your poor DS op. Reassure him that friendships change extremely quickly in year 7. He'll be ok, but what a crappy thing to happen. Poor lad.

Measles, mumps, scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria, polio all used to be standard childhood viruses.

I was relaxed about CP too, until my child ended up in intensive care with it.

I know that. But it doesn't take a few days of exposure to catch it.

No one can do anything about the most contagious period before the spots appear - if you don't know, you don't know. But DC with spots are still very contagious and shouldn't be out and about until the spots are crusted over.

It's only recently that the vaccine has been easily obtainable in the UK so not surprising people don't know about it and aren't swamping chemists shops to spend 150 pounds. Anyone taking their child on holiday with chicken pox is really selfish and irresponsible.

The spots have to have crusted over before you stop being infectious. If they look like blisters, you'll be infectious.