chicken pox

[saladfingers]

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?

BartletForAmerica
I'm glad you posted this advice! There are so many myths and legends with regard to chicken pox!
Yes it can in some cases be dangerous but in others it's just another thing to add to the 'list of stuff what kids catch'. I personally, am glad my children caught it (at 11months and 3years) early on.
When I was young, if one child had it at school they used to have chicken pox parties in the hope that all the others would catch it and then become immune!

but the advice is wrong, it is not 5 days after the spots appear, it is specifically after they have crusted over.

"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."

Bollocks. Sorry but I was THERE! Dr told me the same, but my colleague was NOT sick, He never developed a single spot, nor any other symptom. he WAS carrying it. He himself had had CP as a child. He was in his 30s when I caught CP from him.

The only person I have ever met with CP was my son. and that was a couple of years ago. HE got it from a girl at nursery. SHE wasn't sick, not at all, not a spot, not a day off, nothing. Her baby BROTHER (who DS never met) was however covered in spots from head to toe.

If you have an illness that doesn't develop in you, but that you can pass on to others who have not had it before and have no immunity to it, it is clearly CARRYING the illness.

CP IS a dangerous illness to some. For that reason, keep kids at home for a week, then review the spots. We have mums here that have lost their DC due to CP, so FFS, a few bored days is nothing, go rent some DVDs or get them out in the garden. Take em out for a drive to the middle of no-where if you must, but don't mix with people. It's not fair.

CP is infectious through close contact. Sensible behaviour by you at the park would be fine. No trains, buses or lifts though.

I caught Chicken pox from a third party too. I had no contact with any of the children who got it, but went down with it 10 days after speaking to an adult whose child had it.
I also didn't catch it as a child despite playing with children with it, but I did then catch it as an adult when pregnant.

BTW my DH's Mum died from CP.

Nobody knows who they catch CP from. It could just as easily be a child on the bus who comes out in spots two days later or it could be a child you know. Complete waste of time trying to work it out. Amost as much of a waste of time as rying to avoid it altogther. CP is endemic in younger children. Autumn and Spring are the peak times. The OP can go to the park or dance around Heathrow Airport - nothing she and her child do or don't do will affect the overall level of risk in the general population. CP is a big problem for the immuno-suppressed and for pregnant mums. It's such a shame we don't immunise because that's they only way to reduce the risk. An illness that is infectious before it becomes apparent is impossible to control in any other way and it's a fallacy to suggest that it is.

I haven't read the other replies but I was looking after a 3 year old in a similar situation (she was bouncing off the walls, desperate to get outside!) I waited till it was pouring with rain and bundled her up, wellies, rain coat and umbrella and then we went out like that. Park was deserted, fresh air did her world of good and the novelty of being able to play in the rain and jump in puddles is something she still talks about. Worth a try if the weather turns?

Sorry to hijack, but to the poster confined to barracks due to hand foot and mouth, it is going around here but most nur4series ect do not exclude for it, so it is business as usual. Ds2 is just recovering and his pre school is one of a few that did exclude. Ds1 was sent home today as he now has it and was in pain with it but it would seem there isn't a need to stay indoors as such.

ime the parks are completely empty this time of year, anyway. I would have taken her, OP.

Yes we we'ren't excluded because of Hand foot and Mouth either. First time we definitely caught it at nursery. The second time with the same kid was a bit weird, as i didn't realise there was more than one virus that causes it.

I researched it and by all accounts although you can catch it more than once you should only get it once per outbreak.

Sorry to hijack, but to the poster confined to barracks due to hand foot and mouth, it is going around here but most nur4series ect do not exclude for it, so it is business as usual.

HiLazylula Thx for getting back to me on this. I shd have mentioned in my comment that I'm not in the UK, and here they do ask you to keep your infected child away from other children and "at risk" people until the spots have basically become scabs (which they now have- hurrah!!).

It's such a shame we don't immunise because that's they only way to reduce the risk.

I thought that, but then I found out that the vacc only lasts 10 years and then you have to get a booster, so the risk is that you forget to get the booster when you're (say) 20 and then you get it as an adult, which is usually worse.

I have had DS vacc'd for it, as it's standard in Hong Kong, but now I'm not sure if I did the right thing. Ah, the trials of motherhood- damned if you do and damned if you dont

I love chicken pox - I always use it as an excuse to get an earlier flight before the holiday season kicks off.

No one remembers - and especially now that DS2 has started secondar school. He can get it all over again and save us a few hundred quid!