To think it’s so selfish to take sick kids out in public places

We are supposed to send into school even if known covid.

It’s a problem at the societal level. If school and workplaces encouraged staying home with a child that would set the culture differently and reduce the level of viruses in circulation.

As it is, it’s impossible to keep children from having colds in virtually alternate weeks over winter, and the government is effectively advising that they should just carry on as normal

i agree with you that this is daft though

Depends how sick they are and what they’re doing. A child with a cold on a train is different to a child with chicken pox going to see Santa as in PP’s example.

YABU

I think you missed the memo there...

I haven't heard this is coming, quite excited by the prospect. My understanding was that it wasn't recommended to protect the older generations from shingles, but f* me I have scars all over my body from when I had it as a child. I hope that if it comes in it is well accepted 😁

@Smallwins our HV told us that the chicken pox vaccine 💉 is coming into the routine childhood vaccination schedule soon as the JCVI have recommended it to government but couldn't tell us when. DD got the vaccine due to immunocompromised close family members through the NHS however we would've paid for it too if it hadn't been offered. Agree education is key!

YANBU. Some people do have a choice. I would wear masks in very busy places in your position though, not because it's fine to bring sick kids out, just because people always will and sometimes infectiousness comes before symptoms.

There are a lot of people who believe that they and their kids can afford to get sick as many times as they like with no consequences. For them sickness doesn't matter, and they feel zero obligation to do anything to prevent it in others. They see the world and society as belonging rightfully to them and people like them alone. People with health vulnerabilities can visit, sure, but mustn't make unreasonable demands like suggesting spreading viruses is bad. Not our world, not our place.

That sounds awful for you, and I do sympathise. I am commenting because I find COVID a really interesting virus. I work on healthcare so have over COVID had to frequently test, I know of 2 times when I have had COVID and been completely asymptomatic (the first time I knew I had COVID I had 10 days off work with the nerves akin to watching your household have Nora and waiting for it to hit. The second I just enjoyed my free days off 😁)
I feel it's a virus we don't understand, and don't seem to be trying to understand (ie it has already killed off those most succeptible). I do have worries because I work with the immunocompromised and have never knowingly displayed symptoms, do I shed? I kinda feel it is no longer a thing for anyone but those badly affected by bit, who I feel so sorry for

Wear mask for an ordinary cold or stay home?
Won't happen.

It's that selfish attitude that has kept me trapped at home ever since Covid.

I would "deal with it " by having to go to hospital and be on a ventilator again.

This is a situation where education is key. We have decided as a country not to vaccinate against varicella, but without an education programme about the effects that exposure can have on the immunocompromised you can't blame those who have adopted the government's relaxed stance on the virus. Sadly the onus is put on you to access antivirals - I hope they are effective and easily accessed

I agree sick people including children should wear masks when indoors or stay home. A ordinary cold for one person can turn much worse for another. If people were less selfish then we’d all be healthier and lose less time off work.

I also have an immune compromised child, and I'm sort of the fence really.
I feel it's our responsibility to stay at home when our child is immune compromised. Which is shit for all of us, but the problem is, you have no idea who is ill. Like someone else has said, you tend to be over the worst when you have symptoms. So all those people who are asymptomatic are the ones you wouldn't even notice, but are probably the ones who are the problem.
Also, we have another child who is always getting ill, and there's nothing we can do about him being round out other child.
Having said that, people going out with more serious illnesses, like chicken pox- that's very irresponsible.

Ah that's really awful for you. I'm sure you try to protect yourself as much as you can and you're right clearly very ill people should be at home if they are contagious.

I've just given up trying to get through till Christmas with my youngest 17yrs who's disabled and catches everything. Every year she's sick for Christmas having picked up numerous illnesses, so we stay in the week before Christmas, I keep her off school and I don't bring her to crowded places, it means missing out on Christmas activities which she loves but it means that she can have a healthy Christmas without ending up in hospital.

I work in a historical building and we run meet Santa sessions. A little boy attended today who had developed chicken pox spots overnight according to his parents- he was clearly feeling unwell and basically just sat and cried.There were 20 children attending the session including young babies and a couple of pregnant women.I have an autoimmune condition and the medication has a specific warning about the chicken pox virus so I've got to contact my GP in the morning to see if I need to take antivirals. I'm not happy

Low level viruses are so common, if we stopped doing this because of mild self limiting viruses we wouldn't be able to plan anything. You have no idea why those kids are on the train too, it could be for a very important reason. Unless they were properly ill I've always just carried on, as do I myself, have had less than 2 weeks sick my whole adult life and I'm in my 50's.

Good quality face masks are not perfect but if you're immunocompromised offer protection.

If people are well enough to go out then they will go out. It was ever thus. Deal with it! People aren't going to stay home for fear of passing their lurgi on.

Generally virus shedding is at its peak before you are symptomatic, it is on the decline when symptoms show. That is how viruses stay alive.
You can safely net by keeping them out of the public when you have just discovered they are ill but your already past peak exposure. In the young viruses like rsv can have long lasting symptomatic implications when you are no longer shedding

There's a cough going round at the moment which is lingering for weeks/months. At some point, you just have to get on.

Adults too. The amount of people I've seen in food shops this past week coughing all over the place (onto the fruit and veg) without even bothering to try to cover their mouth. Grim.