to take a chickenpoxy child away for trip, partially on public transport?

[dappply]

since yesterday DS has chickenpox. Doesn't seem to be feeling very bad, but is very spotty. we had plans to go and visit friends this weekend. It's a four hour trip, an hour of it by public transport (boat trip as they live on an island).
Am I meant to isolate him? Should he not be going on public transport? WIBU to go?

OP - Look, you cannot take an infectious child on public transport. A run around some woods or a park with nobody in sight yes, a prolonged presence in a confined space and close contact with people - no. You probably won't raise the level of risk in teh community at all because chicken pox is incredibly common at this time of year and children are infectious befor it comes out BUT you know he is infectious and you would be putting him close to vulnerable people. I have taken chicken poxed dcs out for fresh air but I wouldn't take them in to close contact.

mrs devere, do you think you can catch it from someone if you pass them briefly as they cycle past couple of metres away? or if they are across the road from you? or they are on the same beach, 50 metres away? because nothing i've read today suggests you can.

YAB massively U. How can you think about taking him anywhere on public transport? Do you have no sense of morality or responsibility?

Seriously OP, you don't keep a chickenpoxy child at home because they are ill, you do it to protect the rest of the population. Including, hell, especially, those with reduced or compromised immune systems.

How will you guarantee to keep your child away from a newly pregnant woman (who may not know she even is pg yet) who hever had cp as a child? How will you spot the person recovering from chemotherapy? The child with a severely compromised immune system?

I was housebound for about 6 weeks - my 3 caught it exactly 2 weeks apart. Yes it was tedious and a pain but I couldn't bear it if a pregnant woman or someone with a compromised immune system was made ill by us.

I dunno, I keep kids home because they are ill too and IME they get better quicker if they are resting, even if they look fine.

people, read the thread! or just keep slagging me off for asking for public opinions to help me counter and contast with confusing, conflicting and medical advice. if you like. deary me

Haven't read the who,e thread, but YABU.

My mum has a serious autoimmune condition and she is on serious immunosuppresants, and could become seriously ill if she came into contact with chickenpox. There are lots of people in similar situations, and you can't know by looking at them.

You have a moral duty to consider them and not put them at risk!

Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

Dapply - you're right - it's 'close' contact that is the issue. Chicken pox is so endemic that nobody ever knows where they caught it. You may have very strong suspicions but nobody knows. My dd3 caught it I think from a child who was bought to church by his parents despite being in a classic case of CP. His doctor mum thought it wasn't CP. I didn't actually see him but the sunday school teacher said she thought that's what it was. Dd3 then infected 35 children at her nursery - she was there full time and infectious for up to three days at nursery before the spots came out. I assume she was the source but tbh it could have been anybody.

Both my little ones had chicken pox only a few weeks ago.. one had it at the start of march.. and the other had it the middle of march.

day 1-2 - they were fine.. but they got much much worse day 3... and my youngest was really very ill on the 4th day - and i could actually see new spots on him.

i really wouldn't dream of going away for a weekend break - with an ill child... and i would NEVER let one of my children on public transport - where as we all know... chicken pox is airborne.

i would think shame on you if you did to be honest.. and would think you were mightily selfish!

nothing personal - just my opinion generally on the subject.

If I were you, I would be rearranging the trip and finding a new GP.

I have a compromised immune system. If I am near someone with chicken pox (obviously I know its not always possible to know until the spots appear) then I have to go to hospital and be put on antivirals as I could become extremely ill. To be honest I get a bit miffed when people send their poorly children to nursery as I get everything through my DS. I sort of assume that public transport contains a risk for me but taking an obviously poorly child on public transport is a bit selfish. But I do understand you wanting to take your family on a trip, could it be rescheduled?

OP - you're right, I posted before reading the entire thread. Even so, I'm concerned that you're still looking for more input/advice on this, after the initial responses, which came with links to various useful bit of information, such as NHS Direct.

It really doesn't matter what your friends and family say - it isn't their opinion that's important. For that matter, it doesn't matter much what MN says, either - except that the advice on here appears to tally with the 'official guidelines', which are really all you need to pay attention to.

For the record, my ds had cp a few years ago, and it went on for bloody ages. We kept him home/in the garden for all of it (didn't know anyone who'd had cp already) and it dragged by, but we got through it. Didn't take him to the park etc as I knew he'd want to play in playground and that he could infect other children just by touching equipment.

Realistically, its a bugger, but you really wouldn't want to risk anything more serious than a bout of cabin fever....

i might take the advice earlier in the thread now to hide it and stop posting, because i'm pregnant and hormonal and likely to get angry if people keep calling me names when they can't be bothered to read the thread.

just for the benefit of the lazy

WE AREN'T GOING ON OUR TRIP NOW. I WAS ASKING FOR PUBLIC OPINION NOT BECAUSE I WAS PLANING ON GOING, BUT AS I'D BEEN GIVEN CONFLICTING AND CONFUSING ADVICE FROM FAMILY, FRIENDS AND THE DOCTOR.

Hi dappply.. Have read your decision to cancel the trip.
My concern was the being on public transport with other people.
Regarding taking your little one out over the weekend to enjoy the weather.... absolutely, but just steer clear from people as much as you can.
You didn't say how old your little one was... or have missed it...
Some people at school, in the playground, even put their little ones in the buggy with the raincover over.. just in case. but of course, you cannot do that with an older child.
just from having had kids recently with it - and the entire preschool came down with it too.. and from walking around town etc... parents do take their pox covered little ones out and about... i think it's healthy to let the sun and open air get to the spots. but, generally, they steer cleared of cafe's and soft play - areas where people were inside. i feel that going to the park is absolutely fine - in the fresh air.

it was the thought of being cooped up in public transport with people - just really worried me... the stares from people and tuts...etc...just wouldn't do it myself...

congratulations on your pregnancy by the way...

hope you can find something nice for you and your little one to do this weekend...x

fillybuster, i was continuing to ask because none of the links that anyone here has posted, none of the official guilelines i've read or any information i've researched and read myself has any guidelines about being outside.
i don't have a garden and if possible i'd like ds to be able to get some sunshine this weekend, in open spaces such as parks and beaches. So i have been asking for public opinion about that issue. that's all.

thanks vickles x

Dapply, this might be useful

"You should keep your child out of the sun while he has chicken pox and while the lesions are healing. Being in the sun can cause your child to become overheated and sweaty, which may make him more uncomfortable and increase his itching. Also, the areas where chickpox lesions are healing are also more prone to sunburn until they have totally healed and they are more likely to permanently scar if exposed to too much direct sunlight."

by Vincent Iannelli MD

thanks hop and a skip, that's kind of you. although that directly contradicts other info and advice i've read and been told about sunshine being good for healing them! gah. there's too much information sometimes

That's good.

Fwiw, with you being pg and all, and already having taken a kid with known pox on the bus to the surgery, the doc probably didn't want to panic you further. If he had said 'christ, no, don't take him on the bus or near any pg women or anyone that might be immunocompromised, that's really dangerous,' that would have freaked you out completely.

He's quite right - Ds will have been extremely contagious for the last two weeks, without you knowing, and of course people do get exposed this way, before the spots come out. Yu can't protect others if you don't know you are a danger. It doesn't mean that you should carry on regardless when you know damn well he is infectious, though. (I know you aren't planning to, just trying to explain why the doc might have been a bit lasses faire. Still out of order. And conflicting advice doesn't mean they are all equally right. Just that the conflicting stuff is pretty stupid if you happen to be the one undergoing chemo and got infected because auntie Jane said it didn't matter.

I assume with the results of the test he'll swing into action if necessary.

Sorry OP I didn't read the entire thread either

I was more shocked though at the advice your GP gave you.

Hope your little one isn't feeling too poorly over the next few days

Can't believe the advice from the GP, especially with you being pregnant! I'd get a new GP, or at least complain.

When DD was 1 she had chickenpox and ended up in isolation in hospital for four days and nearly lost her sight. We were sent by our GP to A&E and DH had to wait in the car park with her while I went in to give them the referral letter from the GP. We were then whisked straight through the waiting area and within 20 mins were on the ward in isolation. They NEVER take any risks with infecting others.

dapply look at my profile.
Thats my DD
She is dead
She had cancer and then she got CP.

Save your fucking snarky posts for someone else.

Dapply - just wanted to post to say that I think you sound pretty reasonable and thanks for listening to most of the sensible advice on this thread.

I think you might have avoided some of the more heated replies if you had posted in Children's Health rather than AIBU, by the way.

This is all I can find on the NHS Direct website about how chicken pox is spread - I think it's all a matter of relative risk and your attitude to it:

Someone actually touching your DS's spots = very high risk of transmission

Your DS talking directly to someone/ coughing on them = high risk

Someone being in the same room / public transport carriage as your DS = high risk

Someone being in the same playground as your DS = medium risk

Someone being in the same open space as your DS = lower risk (not zero risk, but surely much lower than the others).

I think personally I might go to an open space with a chickenpoxy child (not a playground though), if the child was well enough and if the child was going crazy in the house .

I am hoping that is a x post

OhDoAdmitMrsDevere - I am so sorry about your DD .