Chicken pox at nursery

[Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain]

DNephew 2 his nursery has an outbreak of chickenpox. He hasn’t got it yet. What are the chances of him getting it? Should he be allowed to catch it? My DM who’s immune compromised is freaking out about it as she doesn’t want to catch it.

There is a very high chance of DN getting it - when there was an outbreak at DS nursery it went round the whole room over a period of about six weeks. DS got it and his brother came down with it a week later.

It is very contagious but you can only get it once, personally I’d want DN to get it now, to get it over and done with. He will get it at some point, if not at nursery then at school. You wouldn’t want DN to get it when you are about to go on holiday or a family wedding or something else important because then you wouldn’t be able to go.

If your DM has had chicken pox she won’t get it again but there is the risk of coming down with shingles instead. Your DM should stay away if possible, MIL did.

The incubation period for chicken pox is 10-21 days before symptoms show so your DN could already be infected, it’s just not showing yet.

You can get it more than once, unusual but not impossible.

If your mum hasn’t had chickenpox it’s very very difficult as the incubation period is 3 weeks and if it’s going round nursery he could be infectious at any point. I would get the vaccine for him (like today) to reduce his risk of passing it on and getting it badly and stay away from your mum for a few weeks at least

It’s better for little one to get it now instead of as an adult.

Does your DM live with you?

No she doesn’t but she was planning on childminding her grandchildren on Saturday.

I don’t think my DM has had chickenpox we did as kids but I don’t think she got it then.

That’s a good idea to get him vaccinated now.

Impossible to say really. Chicken pox went around nursery when dd was 2. Of 26 children, 20 were off with chickenpox at some point that month. Dd was in 9-5 M-F, didn’t get it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ She did, however, get it the following year, conveniently the day before Dh left for a 4 day stag do (he was best man and organising it). Of course. 😂

I’m immunocompromised due to cancer and frankly wouldn’t be too worried about chickenpox (one of my dc has never had it). But if your mum is worried, she needs to just avoid him during the infectious period, which isn’t hard to do as easy to tell from the spots. She just needs to avoid him from now til they are finished. She will have almost certainly have had it as a child and she would have been exposed again when you had it as children. Immunity from infection (as opposed to the vaccine) is usually lifelong.

She may still have had it as a child but with little visible signs and symptoms.
Given it’s so infectious, it seems unlikely that she didn’t catch it from you when nursing you unless she already had immunity.

childminding though might still be tricky - you can go down with shingles anytime ( I have had it 3 times with no co contact ) - not just in contact with chicken pox but if there are weeping sores ie past the incubation stage then there will be a risk I think especially being in sole control of young children.

If he gets vaccinated within 5 days of exposure it’s very likely it’ll stop it coming out at all @Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain

We were both about 7 and 9 when we had it and we were just quarantined to one room.

Really?

So much wrong information here!

Yes you can get CP more than once. Both my DC did.

Shingles has nothing to do with it, you can’t catch shingles. You can only get shingles if you already had chicken pox as it’s the dormant virus reactivating in the body. You cannot catch it!

The incubation period for CP can be up to 3 weeks prior so chances are he’s already brewing it.

To be fair It’s extremely extremely unusual for someone to get chicken pox more than once. Most people who think they had it more than once did not have it more than once. There are other similar viruses it can be mistaken for .

It being extremely unusual is not the same as saying you can only get it once and you won’t get it again. This is incorrect. As is the part about shingles. It’s just not true.

You cannot catch shingles from someone with chickenpox. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/shingles/

You definitely can't catch shingles. It's like herpes - it goes dormant in the nerve endings & come out later when the immunity is weakened, for example cancer, waning natural immunity, old age. The reason it appears in the pattern it does (usually a band) is because that's where the particular nerve endings are in the skin.and yes, it's not unheard of to get chicken pox twice but it's very unusual.
Most adults who thi k they haven't had it probably have.
Thank goodness this will be irrelevant for the next generation with vaccination.

Thanks for clearing this up! I have no idea!

Can’t believe people still think you can catch shingles!

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain If i was immunocompromised i would defo be against -any babysitting for a while after contact with Cp.

Has your mum ever had shingles? My mum thought she’d never had chicken pox but she’s had shingles and that means (as far as I’m aware) that she had to have had chicken pox at some point, maybe mildly as a baby

No not had shingles nor chickenpox.

My mum is briefly seeing them tomorrow. No idea what she’s going to do.

Immunity from vaccination is also long-lasting, particularly if the vaccine is given in childhood.

There was a myth doing the rounds that it "only" lasted ten years or whatever - this was based on some people missing out the words "at least" from evidence of protection. Surveillance studies show good ongoing protection of up to 25 years at this point.

Protection is lower if the vaccine is given in teens or adulthood.

The vaccine has the extra benefit of giving much higher protection against shingles in later life.

Yep confirmed by a pharmacist when I was in the same situation