I fear I may have upset my friend...

[confusedofengland]

I was chatting with a good friend earlier about plans for tomorrow & she said that she wouldn't be doing a planned activity now as her sister's DC had chicken pox, so she was going to take her 3-year old over so he could catch it Before I could stop myself, I exclaimed rather emphatically "Don't do that, it's a terrible idea!" She was quite taken aback!

I have heard of lots of cases where chicken pox can affect a child quite badly & explained this to her. Of my own DC, DS2 who had it when he was 5, suffered quite badly & had them in his eye & bottom, and as he has ASC it was thoroughly miserable for him. Tbh, I just can't see why you'd deliberately expose a DC to an illness, you wouldn't with any other. She said she wanted him to have it now before their holiday this summer, and he would surely catch it soon anyway, but my own DS1 was 7 before he had it & I know 1 or 2 adults who have not had it at all, so it's not a given that everybody will get it.

I stand by my views, but I do feel rather guilty that I may have upset her!

Your mates a fucking idiot!

Chicken pox can kill and not only adults which so many people wrongly assure other parents when they throw those fucking idiotic chicken pox partys(thankgod not so many people are stupid enough to do that now)it's a fucking horrible illness and it can cause other health complications and your feckless friend will need to avoid anyone that is pregnant,newborns and people that are immunosuppressed.

Getting chickenpox now does not guarantee that her DC won't get it again and that is a medical fact(despite the person on here who tried to argue with me in the past that you can't)and my DC have had it more than once and the second time it was alot worse and they nearly ended up in hospital.

Having chickenpox as a child doesn't stop you getting shingles as an adult neither.

Your friend should look it up for herself online,she'll find that what she's doing is not recommended by the NHS!

NHS guidelines on chicken pox link chicken pox and shingles.

Not to mention the scars as an adult can be very annoying. I spent some time trying to cover them up on my face with makeup. I still have a couple spots that are still visible more than 2 years on.

You can get chicken pox from shingles, but not shingles from chicken pox.

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. When people are first infected with the varicella-zoster virus, usually as children, they get chickenpox. Years or decades later, the virus can reactivate and cause shingles. Anyone who has had chickenpox is at risk of shingles.

My eldest got it aged 12 and was so so poorly with it I was shocked at how bad it was, so much so I went and got the younger 3 vaccinated.

Although I didbt go out of my way to expose my kids, let’s face it, at some point they are very, very likely to get it. For most children it is mild and the earlier they get it the better.

My two who had it as toddlers fared much better than the older two who had it in juniors. And if you’ve a big holiday coming up and you’d rather they got it now then I understand why people do this. For 99.9per cent of children it’s a mild disease. For a much higher percentage of adults who get it it can be serious. So it does make sense to ensure your child has had it, really.

Anyone that engineers their children getting a potentially fatal illness is a fuckwit. You’ve nothing to apologise for.

I can confirm this - and when I got shingles it was appalling. Right up the side of may face and into my hair - I had to have industrial strength antibiotics because it almost affected my eye. I had sores inside my nose and mouth.

And you can get shingles more than once, too. ! have a poor immune system due to an auto-immune condition, and am prone to shingles when I'm under stress, always on my face. I have to have a supply of antibiotic available at all times as it has to be taken at the first sign of a flare up.

It is agonising, debilitating and very unsightly. DON'T let that virus get into a child's system if you can possibly avoid it.

Instead she could just get her child vaccinated. Costs about £100.

I don't think she could afford £100 for vaccination (or £200 if her 5-year old hasn't had it either).

My son had it and became very ill. He didn't have too many spots but became very weak and lethargic and was incaoacited for two weeks.

My daughter got it shortly after but was not poorly at all.

It's v dangerous! I never had chickenpox (despite being born in the era of parties) and my doctor recently gave me the vaccine thank god

Antibiotics are pointless for shingles. Antivirals are the treatment. Acyclovir, for example.
There is such a lot of misunderstanding around terminology.
The NHS information website is pretty good and clear, so always worth a look.
I think mumsnet is a great resource, but it isn't always accurate.

Mine have had CP, it wasn't much drama. DS1 had two spots age 3 and one night of Calpol. If I couldn't afford to vaccinate I'd be inclined to let them get it while young rather than risk them getting it later in life.

You were very lucky then, marvellous. My personal experience was 3 children of 7 & under having it for a total of 3 out of 4 weeks. 1 DC, with autism, was rather poorly with it, had it in eyes & bottom & couldn't understand what was happening.

In retrospect, I would have vaccinated rather than go through all that!

I got it at 21. Awful, awful illness that meant I was out of action for a couple of weeks, and for the first few days was awake for 15 minutes at a time, I was so lethargic. I wouldn't deliberately expose a child to it.

Antibiotics are pointless for shingles. Antivirals are the treatment. Acyclovir, for example.

Sorry - its Acyclovir that I have - I erred saying antibiotics. Should have been antiviral.