Chicken pox and school run?

[annalovesmrbates]

A parent always drops her DS1 at school and takes Her DS2 in a pushchair. Today she said that DS2 has chickenpox whilst as usual he was sitting in the buggy without raimcover.

I am not sure what she could do differently but AIBU to be surprised that she is doing this, given the potential dangers of chickenpox?

When DS1 had Chicken pox I had to take 2 weeks unpaid leave because I worked with the general public and a couple of colleagues were pregnant! So I hardly think rejigging the school run by five minutes is too much to ask!

I think there's a huge difference between ongoing contact with it and passing contact such as the school run. You're no more or less likely to catch it from a passing child on the school run as you are from a passing child in the supermarket or anywhere else for that matter. At least those that have broken out already are a known risk you can spot and avoid. Those that are not broken out quite yet or just starting to break out are just as contagious but you can't tell.

Face it. It's out there. Use general precautions and for the most part it should be fine. You can't control everything.

oh, for heaven's sake!

I'm about as immuno-compromised/suppressed as somebody walking can get. I am at risk from every bloody thing going.

A little one with CP in a buggy, even without a raincoat wouldn't worry me even slightly!

ANYONE who's at risk won't cuddle up to kids/adults/whoever willy-nilly.

Seriously - nothing to fret about in this scenario.

I thought they were mostly only contagious before the spots actually appear, hence why it spreads so easily as nobody knows who has it!

I wonder why the CP vaccine isn't part of the standard childhood schedule in the UK? It is here now (Oz) and I haven't heard of someone having CP for ages.

I don't think YABU. If it was me my first choice would be for DH or I to stay home with dd2 while the other did the school run. If that wasn't possible I'd see if someone else could take dd1 to school. As a final resort I'd call the school and arrange to drop off dd1 late or early and collect her late to minimise contact, I'd also use the rain cover.

To me it's common courtesy, I wouldn't expect someome who was immunocompromised to stay in 24/7 or avoid taking their dc to school (forever potentially) just so I don't have to make adjustments for a week or 2.. There are certain medications used for bad asthma, psoriasis and arthritis that can put you at risk of CP. Just to add to what others have already mentioned. The fact it is contageous before the spots are out is unavoidable as you don't know they have it.

I honestly don't see the point in the CP vaccine. It is, for the most part, a common mild childhood ailment. Why have another vaccine?? God knows there are plenty of them as it is.

They have the vaccine in the states, and people act like CP is the plague now. It's just ridiculous. They also haven't proved how effective it is over the years, whereas for the most part once you've actually HAD chicken pox, that's pretty much it. (except for DD, who felt the need to have it twice, as her first time was such a mild case ).

SparkyDuchess, that is just the way you feel though, which is fine, but there are people who have suppressed immunity or children with suppressed immunity or other reasons for not wanting to contract cp at that particular time, that don't feel that way.

It just seems that if you have a child or you yourself have a contagious illness, then the onus is on you to keep as far away from people as possible, and that is also the health service advice. It is difficult for a lot of people, but there are ways around it as have been pointed out in this thread, and it is really for a very short period of time.

Also there seem to be lots of people who believe that it is not that contagious or not contagious at all when the spots appear (I heard a mum say this when she bought her pox ridden lo to a toddler group once!), this isn't true. So surely the best advice is to say keep away from people until spots have scabbed over.

Wasn't it SassySusan whose little girl named Catherine died from CP? Is she still on MN? I remember a terrible thread where she was jumped on with people talking about statistics and shit when her child had died from the disease they were talking about.

I personally have some quite deep scars and DH almost died from it as a teen, so we are pretty keen on the vaccine and have had both DSs done.

I like vaccines, were I grew up people were still dying from preventable diseases in the 70s and 80s due to the remoteness and difficulty in getting medical care. As we travel a lot including to the developing world I get them all done and a few that are off schedule as well. Sorry, not wanting a vaccine debate, I don't usually get into them, just seems obvious to me to skip a disease if it is possible.

Ds takes steroids which mean we have to be very careful if he gets chicken pox. However, I don't expect other people to keep siblings off school/nursery for the sake of doing the school run. Chances are the siblings will be carrying it anyway!

I think people are being overly precious about this. Honestly, the likelihood of you catching chicken pox from passing a child at the school on school run is very very small. Not any more than from passing them anywhere else.

And it's not like you're going to stick your face into the pushchair of a child you don't know. And if you know them, their mum will tell you right away that you need to stay away from the child.

As long as they're taking basic precautions to keep the child contained, they are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances. The world doesn't revolve around immunocompromised or suppressed people or pregnant people. Good grief. If you are so at risk for illness that you are that paranoid about children on school run, I'd say it's better that YOU alter your timings to avoid ALL children - those with colds and sniffles and possibly chicken pox and everything else that goes through schools all winter.

In the fresh air and if the child is prevented from physical contact with others (strapped in), I would say the risk is minimal. Which is why waiting rooms for contagious diseases are constructed so that you are actually seated outside in the open air.

Morloth Wasn't SassySusan banned from MN? I remember that thread too. I'm sure it ended up with things not being as they seemed with regards to SS though (if I remember correctly) MNHQ said at the time they did not know whether she had lost a child or not. It all got quite nasty and people were hurt IIRC

But people do die from CP and it can cause significant problems if exposed to in utero. This is why the vaccine should be available.

Yeah, it was a mess. I can't remember how it ended, but her pain seemed real and even if she was a troll it was bullshit to talk about statistics at that time I think - just in case.

In any case, I don't usually post on these as they all tend to go the same way and now I have been the person to introduce the vaccines to the conversation.

The UK attitude to CP came as something of a shock to this colonial!

Yes, I remember Sassy Susan being banned and it being to do with her dc and chickenpox.

Btw, the little boy with chicken pox and un-scabbed over spots was running around outside school today, not strapped into his buggy.

I would think it is pretty difficult to catch chicken pox outdoors.

Imagine all the air for the virus to be diluted into!

YABVU. If you are a parent, you and your child will at some point be exposed to chicken pox. Unless you arrange for a private vaccine, there is nothing you can do about it. You can't expect this mum to leave her toddler at home while she brings older child to school. And in any case, once the spots appear, the chances of your catching it from the child are pretty minimal.

I know how dangerous CP can be to those with compromised immune systems but on every single occassion where DS has been exposed to contagious CP it has been in the 7-10 day period before the spots appear and before anyone realises that the child has CP. There really isn't anything to be done about that. With regard to this child, running around is not on but strapped in the buggy for the school run seems OK to me. At the end of the day, the child without spots who could be equally contagious but not showing yet is allowed to go into school.

cp is very contagious i would have left him in the car and quickly dropped off older ones

when dd1 had chicken pox i stayed in the house till spots were scabbed over
was in the house for 10 days

I think you do have to be sensible about this. I've taken DS2 places when he had chicken pox many years ago but virtually rang a plague bell shouting "unclean!". Only necessary places where he would not be interacting with anyone.

With DD, the DSs were old enough to make their own way into School so no problem.

My reasoning would be that they had been on the school run when invisibly contagious anyway so if you take them but want as you approach but keep your distance, it is in fact safer than before you knew.

It does sound like the mum in the OP could have been little more cautious but in principle it's fine.

Life has to go on. Shock horror people even take babies with chicken pox to the supermarket. Single mothers have to buy food, pick up children however ill a child is.

Prehaps rather than criticising this mum you could offer to pick up her older child so she doesn't have to the school run.

Well in light of this thread, I have just found out about getting ds vaccinated!

I know life goes on, and the world doesn't revolve around vulnerable people. But it just seems considerate, and it is also the current advice to keep contagious children away from people.

And children are still infectious when the spots are out!