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

And what a lovely surprise that would have been for him.

"Hey son, we're not having a holiday this year. I've bought you an injection instead. Enjoy!"

OP it is really unlucky timing and the family sound irresponsible. I would be upset too.

Going to high school is a big step and he's understandably worried. I hope he's not too ill and that you manage to reassure him. There's a lot of jostling around and rejigging of friendships during year 7, especially throughout the first term.

Would it help if you encouraged him to reframe it as this being his chance to make a dramatic late entry as the kid who was too cool for the start of school? Maybe think up outlandish reasons why he wasn't there - kidnapped by aliens, carrying out a top secret mission etc. Obviously not to say to other people but so that he can have a private smile to himself if kids ask where he's been.

Ahh poor lad I can understand he's upset. He shouldn't be off that long and by the time he starts the rest of the class still won't know each other that well.
He won't be long in settling and making some friends
A neighbour of mine didn't think to tell me her daughter had chicken pox and I was seven months pregnant.
I caught them but thankfully all was fine with the baby.

I’m in my 50s , I’ve never had chicken pox nor actually any other childhood disease , I’ve been exposed to chicken pox at least 4 times but I’ve no immunity at all ,

oh and my mum got the shingles vaccine and got shingles 6 weeks later, she’d never had chicken pox before either, she only got the vaccine as my granny had shingles in her eye and up into her scalp

It’s upsetting for sure, I think chicken pox is one of those childhood illnesses which is extremely rare to avoid to be fair. It wasn’t so long ago that people were holding chicken pox parties like psychopaths. It’s also a vaccine whose efficacy wains a fair bit I think, so let this be a reminder to anyone reading this to keep the vaccines up to date if their kids were vaxed a long time ago. Also spare a thought for the families with immuno compromised people in them, they must feel this rage quite a lot

The theory was “By having kids catch CP and pass it around each other, this means that the CP virus will be sort of floating around society in tiny little doses all the time, meaning that immune systems of the elderly will be exposed to it, and this will “top up” their immunity levels against the virus, helping them to keep the virus as dormant as possible within their own bodies.”

I mean, it’s not necessarily a stupid theory at all (it maybe does work that way with some viruses), but decades of CP vaccination in other countries does not seem to be causing issues. And, as I mentioned in a previous post, the real reason for the NHS coming out with this stuff is because they don’t want to admit the real reasons why they have not offered CP vaccine up to now (basically: panic after the Wakefield scandal, plus the cost of administering a separate vaccine - see my previous post).

At the risk of flogging a dead horse, by the way:

There is growing evidence that the shingles vaccine reduces the risk of dementia - the latest shingles vaccine seems to lower the risk by about 17% or so.

So ALL elderly people should be getting this vaccine anyway, no matter what. In cost-effectiveness terms alone, it’s a no-brainer for society.

So even if letting kids catch the Gross Scabby Disease were some sort of shingles-preventer in the elderly (which it doesn’t seem to be, given that most countries have been vaccinating against it for a few decades now and shingles rates, age-adjusted, seem about the same), this still would not be a reason for letting them catch it, because vaccinating against shingles for the elderly will be the norm going forward anyway.

Selfish on the part of those parents absolutely and they should have kept their child indoors but realistically it's amazing you've managed to avoid him getting it for this long... probably better in a way to get it over him now than get shingles when he's older. Loads of kids transfer to new schools later in the year and make lots of friends. It's just hard because starting high school is daunting enough as it is. I hope he gets on well when he does start.

I don't understand this post but maybe it's just me. You don't catch shingles so why would kids having the CP vaccine make any difference to the elderly?

It’s more than £150 all in though.

Oh the poor lad! Of course he’s upset, any child would be.

I doubt it is any comfort, but they spend half of Y7 un-making the friends they made in the first week and finding their actual tribe.

I hope he can watch loads of movies and eat ice cream on the couch while he recovers.

It’s not £3 a week though is it? Because that’s not how pharmacies charge for things. £150 is a big whack for a lot of people and there’s a lot of ignorant people on here acting as if it’s not and that OP is a terrible parent for not vaccinating

I don’t care why people prioritise the way they do, I am sure they have good reasons as you proved. I object to the fallacy of pleading poverty when the truth is the vaccine just isn’t prioritised. Ofc this is all hypothetical for you as you never actually had to prioritise one over the other.

You have no idea as to what choices I had or my relative privilege & options.

There's something extra shitty about people who deliberately expose others like this.

It's one thing catching it, it's another when it's from deliberate exposure. Hope your son is ok.

My DH had never had it.

Sorry I had not seen your post that he had an allergy to the vaccine. The worst part of chicken pox is that it opens you up to getting shingles especially in times of stress. Hope he is feeling better soon.

Did you even read ANY of the thread 🙄

There is no real evidence of this. Most of the developed world now vaccinates against CP, and such countries have not seen age-adjusted increases in the incidence of shingles.

The real reason why the UK has not included the CP vaccine as part of standard healthcare is because the original plan was to add CP to the MMR vaccine, but when this was about to start, the Wakefield scandal broke and MMR vaccination rates fell through the floor. It was decided that adding another element to the MMR vaccine when people were already so nervous about the MMR would be unwise, as it might cause take-up rates to fall even further, and offering CP vaccine as a single, separate vaccine was considered too expensive. Therefore, the NHS decided not to bother, and parents have been fed this nonsense about “It’s to protect the elderly against shingles!”as an attempt to justify this.

If the purpose of not-vaccinating was to protect the elderly against shingles, then NHS advice about CP would be “When your child catches CP, please take them out and about and expose as many people as possible and get that wonderful CP virus around everywhere!” The fact that the the NHS advice tells parents to hide their kids away when they have chickenpox should tell you that the “It’s to prevent shingles in the elderly!”stuff was always bollocks.

Do you not have the vaccine in your country?

@StolenChanel I would never have knowingly got my child infected with a disease. A small minority get really really ill with CP, and I’d never have forgiven myself if they’d got it because I thought it would be convenient timing. That said, I’m glad my kids had it young, and got it out of the way.

If the OP has enough money for an annual caravan holiday, she should be capable of saving a few quid a week and saving up for the vaccine even if money is tight. (FWIW, I think it should be available on the NHS - nearly every other country considers CP to be a standard mandatory vaccine.)

The thing is, CP is inevitable if you don’t do the vaccine, so it’s weird to not vaccinate and them fume when your child catches CP.

Shouldn't you get chickenpox in childhood as it is better than getting it in adulthood?

Once you've had it you are immune for life, so whilst timings are bad, it probably is for the best.

I was left with a little scar by my left eyelid. It is either gone now, or the wrinkles camouflage it 😁

I feel sorry for him, it is really bad timing but chicken pox is usually worse for adults, it’s probably better he has it now than in the future.

Wow, some of the comments! Breathtaking! Especially the one about 'everyone' having a car to even have insurance, and 'everyone' having home insurance. Never had either, and know many people who don't.

Anyway, @littleredbumblebee I'm really sorry to hear your DS is going to miss the first week of secondary, and that he is so upset, poor lad. Me or my sister gave chickenpox to my 40 something neighbour when we were young kids, and he was off work for weeks, self employed as well! My kids both had it really young I think.
Just wanted to add some support and also to say that my DS missed the first over a week of secondary, because of school placement appeals. He actually attended another school for a week, then unexpectedly got accepted to another. It was a concern for sure, and like your DS no one he knew was going there, but he settled in absolutely fine. Hopefully your DS does too, there's every chance he will 💐💐. Maybe have a word with the pastoral care teacher, see if they know of a couple of nice kids they could have a word with that would agree to show him around or whatever, I think that's what my DS school did. xx

If, as my eldest DD does, you know the person who owns it and is doing you a favour, it can be a free holiday!

5 nights in a caravan is a fairly cheap holiday.