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

How will you hunt them down?

What's the plan?

Sorry to hear that OP. I agree by that age there really isn't a good time to get chicken pox. Unless you get the vaccine it's pretty much a given that they will get it at some point. My children got it at ages 7 and 4 and even then my then 7 year old was one of the last in the year to catch it. It's very contagious before the spots appear too, so my 7 year old would have spread it before we knew he had it - I felt awful because it was over the summer holidays.

I hope your DS makes a speedy recovery.

I don't know why but I thought it was only contagious before the spots appeared/scabbed..

When I saw your title I was inclined to say YABU but having read your post I can understand why you’re so upset! My DS also starts secondary this week and I would be gutted for him if he missed the first few days. I can’t imagine wilfully exposing anyone to chicken pox. Dreadful :(

It’s not pointless as it’s not always mild. In addition, getting the vaccination means you’re not at risk for shingles in later life which can be horrifically painful.

It's essentially a form of insurance. You pay a small amount upfront to insure against losing a lot more down the line. With chicken pox, it's a virus that almost 100% of unvaccinated people end up catching in their life so it's a statistically terrible gamble. Even the poorest people still have home insurance or car insurance. A child catching chicken pox can easily entail a loss of income or travel disruption that exceeds the cost of the vaccine. The concept isn't that hard to grasp but people in the UK are blinded by the entitlement of only accepting medical treatment if it's free. In almost every other country, it's perfectly normal to pay for healthcare, even if it's a small percentage in addition to your insurance. £150 is absolutely "reasonable" in comparison to the tens of thousands that basic medical treatment costs in the USA.

I know a couple who took their infected kids on a flight with lovely recycled air.

No, this is shit OP. Sorry about your son but needless to say he is going to be absolutely fine making friends and settling in!

He can still make friends when he goes to school. Are you transferring your anxieties to your child?! If you’re that bothered then you should have had him vaccinated. Good job he caught it young as it can be a very serious illness if caught as an adult. I feel your anger but you need to put some perspective on it.

Chicken pox is mild, the vaccine uses the live virus and the spots tend to come out and scab over within 5 days. It's not bloody polio for crying out loud. By getting the vaccine you're exposing your child to the virus anyway so why bother. Just go play at the pox party and deal with it like you would a stomach bug for a week

It's £150. That is quite a lot.

Well yeah, I get that but what can you do? It happens.

Really selfish of them, but better he had it now than later on.

Don’t think it’s as much concern about the illness as being rightly cheesed off at morons knowingly taking their infectious child on holiday to mix with other children.

It’s astounding to me that so many people think because the NHS doesn’t offer something for free, it’s not worth having.

Yeah! Teeth and eyes aren’t free on the NHS, but I definitely need both and so do my DC

Risk of shingles later in life. I also know of someone whose child had a stroke as a result of chicken pox. And on a basic level, I have never seen my child so miserable- one of them anyways, the other had a dozen spots and was mostly fine- but one of mine was about as ill as I have ever seen her, still has scarring and on balance would have preferred not to have had the experience.

Someone who hasn't had chickenpox is always going to be at risk of catching it though, because the virus is contagious before the spots even appear so they could be in contact with someone who doesn't even know they have it themselves at that point, although kids can often be snotty and poorly before the spots come out (mine were anyway!).

Doesn't excuse the caravan family being so laissez faire though, as they obviously knew their child had it. Hope your son is better soon.

It's annoying but he will be okay. 😎

The entitlement of the unvaccinated to expect to be protected from a virus!
You can’t depend on herd immunity. Vaccinate or you accept the risk.

That is so selfish! When my daughter had chicken pox at age 2 I lept her away from elderly people and pregnant woman, or any child who could pass it onto their potentially pregnant mother or elderly grandparents.

I was not aware of any option to vaccinate against chickenpox- this was 16 years ago.

I don’t think there’s ever a good time to get chicken pox.
i wish i had my older 2 vaccinated.
the gp told me that it’s going to be in the childhood immunisation schedule next year (Scotland) which will be fab

No I didn’t know. But then there wasn’t even MMR when my kids were small…..

I get Universal Credit, I am poor!

@JulianFawcettMP - £150 is way cheaper than two weeks off work with a sick child or being left with a child who is permanently disabled because of the side effects. Think of the long game. Lots of things aren’t common in this country. It’s astounding to me that so many people think because the NHS doesn’t offer something for free, it’s not worth having. Open your eyes! The US have had the CP vaccine since 1995! You pay for ear syringing now, why not a vaccine against an illness that could kill your child? And for those who didn’t know the vaccine existed - really? Where have you been?

It is lifelong. The early 1990s versions weren’t, but it is now.