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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

chicken pox

39 replies

saladfingers · 19/10/2011 10:24

Finally DD2(4) has caught the pox.She appears to have it quite mildly. 50/60 spots mainly on head(although on 2 on face) and torso. She is mildly itchy but mainly bored. This is day 3 of spots.It is a beautiful, if cold day here today. AIBU to consider wrapping her up and taking her to the park for a quick play?

OP posts:

hazeyjane · 19/10/2011 10:26

Yes, YABU, there will be other children at the park, and other people who may be vulnerable to infection. It is an airborne infection, which is why quarantine is recommended until all the spots have scabbed over.

lukewarmmama · 19/10/2011 10:29

YABU. It can cause serious problems, just be thankful that your DD isn't suffering too badly.

You would not BU to take her for a nice walk in the woods etc where you won't bump into anyone else.

squeakyfreakytoy · 19/10/2011 10:32

YABVVVU and would be putting others at risk. Keep her indoors, until she is no longer contagious.

Schnullerbacke · 19/10/2011 10:36

YABU if there are lots of kids and other people around.

YANBU if its only you and no one else will come in contact with her.

hildathebuilder · 19/10/2011 11:16

I am with Snullerbacke. An I say that with a child who has just had chicken pox, but who I was told to bring into an outpatient hospital ward for a routine appointment as the paeds were happy that he could be isolated and so long as he was whisked through reception and not with others for 15 mins, the risk of infection was so low they wouldn't worry about it. If anyone ele appears though you must leave

Summerblaze · 19/10/2011 11:46

My sister has not had chicken pox and is pregnant. If she catches it then there could be serious problems for her and her baby.

YABU!!

Original poster

saladfingers · 19/10/2011 11:46

I had read that she was most contagious 48 hours before spots appeared.I realise that there still is a chance of passing it on until the last spots have crusted over but that this decreases with time.Maybe the woods might be a better option.I am actually relievedthat my DD has caught it but understand that not everyone would feel the same. I'm hoping DS(3) and DS(2) catch it too.

OP posts:

ShowOfHands · 19/10/2011 11:49

The reason why other people might not be 'relieved' to catch it is that it could mean serious illness or loss of life for them.

DD had chicken pox over the easter holidays during a spell of beautiful weather. She was meant to be going to a couple of parties and playing at friends' houses. Yes it's annoying but it's a week out of your lives. There are a million and one things you can find to do at home.

hazeyjane · 19/10/2011 11:49

Good plan for the woods.

For some children it can be very, very serious, and if you are an adult with suppressed immunity then it could be awful.

Good luck.

TheBrideofFrankenstein · 19/10/2011 12:21

It's actually pretty horrible if you get it as an adult too. OP, I sympathise as DS currently has hand, foot and mouth disease, and we are confined to barracks.

I'd just do woods.

Minus273 · 19/10/2011 13:03

YABU to consider the park. Although you are technically correct that it is infectious before the spots come out it can still be considered infectious until the spots have dried up. While the majority of healthy children just have an unpleasant few days CP can kill.

People on immunosuppressants (transplant patients, those on strong arthritis and psoriasis medication, asthmatics who are taking higher dose steroids to control their condition, those on chemotherapy and those suffering from certain medical conditions are at high risk of both contracting CP and of suffering severe complications if they do. By severe I mean bad enough for ITU or death. Pregnant women can lose their babies or have a very sick baby. You cannot know nor can you control who you may come into contact with at the park.

I appreciate why you want to go out, my dd started to feel better when her spots came out so was bouncing off the walls with energy/ Still we stayed in because IMO it is the right thing to do.

CointreauVersial · 19/10/2011 13:06

Nice to get out and about, but try to make it somewhere she won't come into close contact with anyone.

Remember, it won't be for much longer.

Katiepoes · 19/10/2011 13:21

The advice here is that they are infectious before the spots appear - even the daycare say it's okay to bring them as by that stage the infection will ahev been spread and they are no lonegr a problem. So what's correct?

I am in the odd position that I only think my daughter has had them. We thought she had but after only a very very small number of spots and les than half a day of a raised temperature she was fine again. The outbreak ahs been and gone at her daycare, is there a way of confirming if she had them or not does anyone know?

hazeyjane · 19/10/2011 13:47

Where are you, katie? The nhs advice is to stay in until spots scab over, and I thought this was the advice for pretty much any daycare setting.

I think that if they have had it mildly then it is possible for them to get it again.

NorksAkimbo · 19/10/2011 13:54

Katiepoes I apparently had a very mild case when I was 5, and was told as an adult I could either have the test to see if I had immunity, or just get the immunisation(this was in the US). I never got round to either, so when my DCs had chicken pox, I was a bit nervous that I might get it, but nothing happened, so I guess I had 'enough' of the virus to get immunity.

MiseryBusiness · 19/10/2011 14:06

I came into contact with a child with CP when I was at the park with DD1 and pg with DD2.
I told the parent that I had never had CP and being pregnant I didnt really want to catch it or have DD catch it at that time. She wasnt very sympathetic so we left immediately and I called my midwife.
I had to go straight to hospital for a blood test to see if I was immune, got a phone call that afternoon telling me I wasnt immune and I had to go in again to be immunised against it.
I was actually quite frightened about catching it and what might happen to my unborn baby, it was quite stressful.
YABU to take her somewhere that may have a lot of people although I understand that you both probably want to get out and about.

OurPlanetNeptune · 19/10/2011 14:08

I am currently immunosuppressed because of a medication I am on. I've never had chicken pox and if I were to get it now it could be fatal.

However, I do sympathise. Being stuck indoors with a bored 4 year old can't be much fun.

ScarlettIsWalking · 19/10/2011 14:10

YABU

Katiepoes · 20/10/2011 12:22

I'm in Holland - they seem very laidback about it here. The daycare let us know they had confirm cases and what to look out for, but not to be worried about bringing them.

elizabethtailored · 20/10/2011 13:28

This is probably a very silly question but I am three months preg and have never had chicken pox. Am spending time with my little nieces this weekend (who have had it). If they have been playing with a friend with chicken pox is there anyway they could sort of carry the virus and pass it to me?

Think/hope I am being neurotic! It is my first.

Minus273 · 20/10/2011 17:16

If they have had it then it is highly unlikely elizabeth. If you are worried in general you could ask for a check of your immunity. It's normal to worry about things like that when you are pregnant btw.

For anyone who doesn't have immunity but has definite exposure in pregnancy they can get an injection of immunoglobulin which would give short term immunity.

HerScaryness · 20/10/2011 17:55

elizabethtailored: you CAN catch CP through a 3rd party. I caught CP (aged 30) from a colleague whose kids had it.

Call your SIS/SIL to find out if CP is going around at the moment so you can ascertain the risk.

OP: YABVVVU to even think of going out of the house with a child on only day 3 of CP. Keep the child indoors for a WEEK. Then see the condition of the scabs.

Yeah it's tough, but so is losing a child to CP, or an immuno-suppressed adult just cos you're a little stir-crazy.

HerScaryness · 20/10/2011 17:57

Oh meant to say, when DS caught CP a couple of years ago, because I had only had CP relatively recently, I had ALL the same symptoms I felt at the time. I genuinely thought that I was going down with it again.

If you are immune to it, doesn't mean that you are not carrying it.

BartletForAmerica · 20/10/2011 18:17

There is always such hysteria on Mumsnet whenever chicken pox is mentioned (and I know my post will be followed by a flurry of people cross about the actual medical advice!).

You do NOT need to stay inside for a week. Just avoid close contact with other children. Go to the park if it is quiet.

You can NOT catch chicken pox from a third party. You can only catch chicken pox from someone else with chicken pox, so HerScaryness's colleague will have had chicken pox, even if she didn't develop the spots. If you are immune to it, you cannot 'carry' it. You can however, rarely, not become immune to chicken pox the first time you get it and so get it again later on.

You do NOT need to stay in for weeks at end. The Health Protection Agency (which exists, you know, to protect health) says children can go back to school five (5!) days after the spots appear.

www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947413887

hazeyjane · 20/10/2011 18:32

1 in 8 people get it more than once

keep children away from others until all scabs are crusted over

(nhs advice)

I think the thing is that whilst it is a pain in the arse to keep your dc in for a week, it really can be horrendous for some people and can have awful consequences for a few.

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