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

You get shingles as a result of having had chickenpox. The virus stays in your spinal fluid and can result in shingles if you're run down.

As somebody who could not have afforded the vaccine when my DS was young, that's life and you have to deal with it! No point in whingeing about it, life is harder when you can't afford things, you have to accept that.

Sorry but by 11 there was never going to be a good time for him to catch it and you know it will be much more unpleasant. If that boy hadn't been there it might have been for his gcses or leavers prom. By that age it's unfortunate but you should have had him vaccinated to prevent this.

Shingles is horrendous, and only contracted if you’ve had chickenpox before in your life. To the posters saying it’s only £3 a week for a year to pay for the private vaccine: (a) not everyone knew about the vaccine (as evidenced by replies on here); and (b) that is still beyond the reach of many, such as those reliant on food banks etc. I was going to get DD vaccinated before she started school, but she caught chicken pox at nursery. Foolishly I had assumed no one would send an infectious child to nursery, and by the time I realised I was wrong it was too late.

I didn’t know there was a vaccine either but my kids are grown up so maybe it’s a new thing!
even so I would never give them a pointless vaccination. Kids get ill at all kinds of inconvenient moments but chicken pox is generally mild and worst case is itchy!

This is so patronising. I. don't have children and could easily afford the vaccine if I did. However many people have different circumstances and not through any fault of their own. £150 is a lot of money when this country needs food banks. Open your eyes.

Why are they frowned upon now? I’m from a place where most people still do them so wonder why it’s viewed badly outside of my community? Both of my DCs had it very young so it’s not something on my radar much.

Ah yes those families shopping at food balls and having their wages propped up by universal credits or relying on benefits should pay out £150 for something that's not really needed

It's not but if you can't afford it you have to deal with the potential consequences. As somebody who has been skint most of my life I've accepted that.

I caught CP from my DH’s cousin’s child. I’ve never forgiven her. It was at a family anniversary party and she knew he had them but wanted to attend the party and didn’t have a babysitter. She didn’t admit it until after the party and was quite unapologetic as she figured the adults would have all had it and it wouldn’t be a problem for the other children.

I was 30 and I got it really badly. I was off work for weeks and took ages to recover, was post viral and caught everything going for months.

I have honestly never spoken to the cousin since or attended any family parties that she is at.

I really feel for your son, OP. Hope he is okay and as others have said, he will settle in and this panic will be a distant memory.

I agree the family should not have brought their child away around other people as they knew he was contagious. However, CP is contagious before there are any symptoms, so it’s not always something that can be prevented. I appreciate in this situation it probably could have been though.

Anyway, I hope he has a smooth transition into high school and gets plenty of rest whilst he is poorly.

Yes op why don't you go back in time and get your son the CP vaccine?! The one that isn't on the immunisation list and costs £££. Some posters on here are unbelievable.

What's genuinely baffling is the sheer entitlement of people who think if they can't have it for free then they would simply cut off their nose to spite their face. It's a one time investment into lifetime protection for your child against a potentially serious virus (or a disruptive one at the very least). Nobody can claim they cannot afford the hundred pounds or so if they REALLY WANTED to. If your car breaks down or you want a new household gadget or you get a fine or you end up spending an extra night on holiday, then you manage to find the money.

If you look at it logically, a child coming down with chicken pox might mean at least 2 weeks of family disruption. One family member may not be able to work and would have a loss of income that easily equals or exceeds the cost of the vaccine. If a child comes down with chicken pox before a holiday and things get cancelled, you also lose far more than the cost of the vaccine. It's a no brainer really.

I had chicken pox twice as a child so not sure the vaccine would be foolproof even if he had it.

Don't know why anyone would pay £150 for chicken pox vaccine to be honest. I mean it's bad timing but the virus is infectious before the spots even come out and I remember pox parties to get it over with so I don't think kids should just be locked up in the room all day if they have it

Another one chiming in to say they didn’t know we had a CP vaccine! All mine had it when they were little, didn’t make me want to hunt down the people that gave it to them but I can understand the feelings of missing the settling in to a new school.

£150 is £3/week for just one year. Definitely worth it. Awful timing for the poor lad but could so easily have been avoided. People need to take responsibility for their health and that of their DC. If there’s a vaccine, have it! So much better than the alternative.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240229-why-dont-some-countries-vaccinate-against-chickenpox#:~:text=While%20numerous%20countries%20have%20since,as%20a%20routine%20childhood%20jab.

This makes no sense.

You can only catch shingles if you've had chicken pox.

If you've never had it, you can't.

YABU- age 11 is quite old to only just be getting it - he would be much sicker if he caught it in in his teens/young adulthood

I do, they are quite frowned upon now. That said when DS had chickenpox he was playing in the garden and someone popped by with their child. I explained that normally I’d invite them in but as we were pox- ridden best not. Her reply was she wasn’t worried as it’d actually be quite convenient to catch them now as they’d had their summer holiday and was wfh for the rest of the summer. I was a bit bemused but the kid popped in the garden for a quick play.

Youngest got chicken pox at a really inconvenient time and missed out on something they’d been training for, for months which was a real shame. I do think it’s better to get it done and over with or vaccinate as Sod’s law it alwayx crops up when least convenient.

If you chose not to have your child vaccinated, you accepted the risk that precisely this would happen. I don't think you ca blame anyone else.

Cross posted with you @Allie47! Clearly I’m not the only one who didn’t know.

(Also, £150 is not “basically nothing” for a lot of people…)

Better he catches it now, than as an adult. Because shingles is far more painful and more likely to be admitted to hospital.

Poor thing, the timing is a bit miserable. He is however still young and getting it out of the way. I had it as an adult and it was so bad (I cried every day for at least two weeks) 😞

Am I the only one who didn’t know a chickenpox vaccine even existed…?

Fuck I didn't know there was a chicken pox vaccine available in the UK tbh or I'd have had my kids done 🤦