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Original poster

Why are all the kids sick?

37 replies

Wonderinglyy · 21/11/2021 01:14

My kids keep getting ill, it just keeps rotating, if it’s not my kids it’s someone I knows kids who are ill. It’s either a cold, a cough, both sometimes, vomiting bug… what’s is going on?

OP posts:
NothingIsWrong · 21/11/2021 01:15

What did you think would happen when they were kept isolated for months on end and didn't get exposed to any diseases?

Shimmylikejoanholloway · 21/11/2021 01:15

We are heading into virus and flu season and after all the lockdowns and not mingling we are now getting all the bugs etc. Kids are always more susceptible because of school.

It’s been widely reported that they’ve been expecting this I think, especially with respiratory infections and illness in young children

Gingernaut · 21/11/2021 01:17

They're reinfecting each other.

Children are notorious reservoirs for bacteria and viruses.

Incubation periods are tricky beggars so as soon as one child has recovered from one bug, they could already have contracted and be incubating another.

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TableFlowerss · 21/11/2021 01:18

What’s going on, is that due to extended lockdown and the kids missing school for a chunk of last year, their immune systems had a long time off.

Fine, when no one is mixing, but once they were in contact with the new virus’s (not covid necessarily) it was always going to end up a particularly bad year.

nancy75 · 21/11/2021 01:23

This is common even in winters that don’t follow a long period of everyone being isolated.
Small children are actually pretty gross little creatures!
They wipe their nose on their sleeve, their hand washing leaves a lot to be desired & they have no clue about personal space - basically the dream hosts for germs. Add to this the parents that send the children in to school when they have barely finished vomiting the night before & school becomes a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of things.

GodIsAVegan · 21/11/2021 01:24

How old are they? My kids and most others seemed to constantly be coughing and catching bugs from September til March every year til they were about 7. They often missed school. Things got much better after that, immune system got better I presume and then they maybe got a cold or two each year. This was all pre covid as they’re teens now.

Hospedia · 21/11/2021 08:41

One of my DC attendance is down to 79% so far this term thanks to catching every bug going. Since September they've had a sick bug, the mutant cough and cold and school wanted a PCR before he could return, a viral infection that landed him in the hospital and then triggered mesenteric lymphadenitis which kept him off as he was in pain. School are aware and are understanding but still have to make us aware that it's too low. Other DC are ranging from 87% to 94%, again all thanks to catching every bug going. I'm putting it down to them not catching anything during lockdown and their immune systems playing catch up, it's shitty when they've already missed so much school.

MarshaBradyo · 21/11/2021 08:45

The older two are ok but the three year old has had loads, her friends too

CreepySpider · 21/11/2021 08:46

Lowered immune systems from isolating and lots of bugs doing the rounds. It’s inevitable.

ItsAllAboutTheLighting · 21/11/2021 08:47

Totally normal.
All the kids are getting it. A&E are full of anxious parents with ill kids because the GP's surgery aren't available.

All the kids are being exposed to all the normal viruses that they have been shielded from all this time.

It will all come out in the wash eventually.

GiveMeNovocain · 21/11/2021 08:52

@ItsAllAboutTheLighting

Totally normal. All the kids are getting it. A&E are full of anxious parents with ill kids because the GP's surgery aren't available.

All the kids are being exposed to all the normal viruses that they have been shielded from all this time.

It will all come out in the wash eventually.

Well let's hope it all comes out in the wash. We've subjected our children to an unprecedented experiment on developing immune systems. Usually this would be a tiny minority eg because of cancer but instead we've got no community resistance for protection
Sprostongreen21 · 21/11/2021 08:53

Our paeds wards are always rammed at this time of year. Going back to school and sharing all those lovely germs from September onwards.

It’s definitely worse atm because of lockdowns but also people have forgotten what it’s like to be ill/deal with illness because we weren’t mixing and spreading illness like normal.

Lots of toddlers are dealing with illness one after the other as they got very few if any while babies so are on catch up almost. New parents haven’t dealt with their child being sick in the first 18 months of their lives so are much more anxious too.

I’ve worked with covid not caught that but had the super bloody cold/virus for three weeks now. Keeps subsiding and then the cough coming back! I’m lucky I don’t get il much not even colds but this is awful.

visitingagain · 21/11/2021 08:57

It's totally normal, from September to March in school and nursery it's just a sea of germs, those long days locked in the classroom in the rain with lots of children coughing and others lying on the bean bags grimly because no one can get the parents to pick up Hmm" But he had calpol this morning !"

ChristmasScrooge · 21/11/2021 08:59

Mine haven't been unwell at all. Stomach bugs, heavy colds etc going round but they've not caught a thing.
I think some kids just have lower immunity than others.

Hospedia · 21/11/2021 09:01

My DC are usually very rarely ill and in a normal year have 100% attendance or close to it (we sometime holiday in term time depending on when DH gets allocated leave)

Oblomov21 · 21/11/2021 09:15

My kids never catch anything and haven't had a day off school in primary or secondary. Just luck I think, some kids have low immunity and catch everything going.

Abraxan · 21/11/2021 09:17

It's fairly normal at this time of year, even without the lockdowns beforehand.

Infact autumn 2019 was really bad with a vomiting bug that closed several schools in the north if I remember.

Last year some of them were prevented or minimised due to the covid precautions, such as social distancing, masks and increased hand hygiene.

frumpety · 21/11/2021 09:18

Its the Season for bugs. All you can do is make sure you are stocked up on essential medicines.

FreeBritnee · 21/11/2021 09:18

This is why we need to keep these kids in school. Directly they don’t come in contact with mild illnesses regularly they then overreact to them and are just constantly ill.

DinosApple · 21/11/2021 09:20

Yes the no mixing for months so no resistance.
Plus it is normal for this time of year for kids especially to have cold after cold, plus the odd sickness bug.
It must be quite scary for new parents who've not encountered this before, but children really are germ factories. DD2 in particular was always ill and very grumpy from October to February from tiny. Probably catching it all from her sister.

At the beginning of the pandemic the government were saying children weren't spreaders of Covid. Any parent, teacher, childcare worker could have told them that was wrong. The fact the government didn't want it to be true doesn't stop children from coughing and sneezing in your face, picking their noses, sticking pencils in their mouths, not washing their hands and generally being germ factories!

MarshaBradyo · 21/11/2021 09:21

I do think it’s worse this year just speaking to parents

Many commenting on the same

MarshaBradyo · 21/11/2021 09:22

@Oblomov21

My kids never catch anything and haven't had a day off school in primary or secondary. Just luck I think, some kids have low immunity and catch everything going.
If they’re older now it might not be the same

My older two are not getting ill as much as youngest

LemonElephant · 21/11/2021 09:23

I feel you. I have 5 aged 8 and under, currently have 3 with the cough/cold/chesty, and the other 2 with the stomach bug. The week before last it was vice versa now they’ve all swapped! Stay stocked up, really hoping I don’t catch any of it there nothing worse than looking after sick kids while your sick!

Fallagain · 21/11/2021 09:23

I think its more complicated than just immune systems not working. We need a virologist to ask but norovirus was very common this summer and that’s usually a winter virus.

The GP mentioned to expect non stop virus this year when I DD3 there (ear infection).

Theunamedcat · 21/11/2021 09:27

Its like freshers flu in primary school