To wonder why people are so ill informed about chicken pox?

[knackeredmother]

I have encountered 2 people in the last 2 days who have allowed their infectious chicken pox children to mix with others.
My ds has respiratory problems and is frequently on steroids so needs to avoid contact. We are just waiting for him to be off steroids for a few weeks so he can be vaccinated (on hospital advice). I am also a health professional so have seen first hand the devastating effects the pox can have on cancer patients and pregnant women for example.
I realise therefore that I am more sensitive than most about this topic.
However, last week a new neighbour invited my ds to play , when I picked him up I saw her dd was covered with weeping ( not healed) chicken pox sores. When I asked her if her dd had chicken pox she just replied 'oh has he not had it?'. I explained about his immune system being suppressed with steroids but she did not seem to get it.
Today I have just met another mother in a soft play with her...yes you've guessed it.....chicken pox laden ds. Again not healed over, spots came out yesterday.
This mum is intelligent and lovely and I think I may have just spoiled a potential friendship with my little rant about the risks. She genuinely did not realise and said she thought as chickenpox was so common that people didn't really bother keeping them inside anymore.
So, AIBU to think the majority of people are ignorant of the quarantine advice re chicken pox and if so WHY is this?
Oh and expect a post from me in a week or so with a ds hospitalised with varicella pneumonia (pessimist, me? Never!)

You can catch CP twice as some have said. Same with rubella, some people are unlucky and never develop immunity no matter how often they are vaccinated. It's important to bear in mind that when you are immunosuppressed by definition your immune system doesn't do what it's supposed to do.

I've a vague memory of reading something about them now thinking there are 2 main strains of CP for which you will not necessarily have cross immunity.

You cannot catch it twice. You are immune.

Unless you were immune suppressed of course. Didn't see that bit.

The lack of herd immunity with Rubella is an issue as it allows it to spread across the country to others. it is fine if you are immunised before pregnancy but given the serious issues with contracting it if you are pregnant it is a real problem.

Folks who think they have had chicken pox twice have not had it. Speak to a doctor, seriously. You have the antibodies, you are immune. It is only the immune suppressed who have an issue. There are many viruses that superficially seem similar to chicken pox. Don't rely on word of mouth for this speak to a doctor.

Not according to the NHS website and various others. It's unusual not to develop antibodies and 90 something percent of people do the first time. But not everyone does. Apparently.

It's a very small minority of peoplewho will get it twice but that minority I think exists, probably. My GP insisted no one can catch it twice but I don't like to argue with him as he is German and very dogmatic. (I'm sure you can be German and highly reasonable, but he isn't)

didn't see the other bit either. IF there are 2 strains then yes there would be a chance of catching a different CP but that is different. This isn't like the cold that mutates so rapidly is is beyond belief and is caused by loads of different rhinoziruses. I hadn't heard that there were 2 strains but if true it doesn't change the basic facts for each one. You only get shingles from having had CP and CP is not an illness you want at any point due to that and the fact it is nastier than the label "childhood illness" would suggest.

One of my children had CP twice.

DS2 has had CP 3x.

why then, when ds was vaccinated did our gp tell us that it would still be possible for ds to catch chicken pox (albeit mildly).

I think there is also a theory that there may be a genetic link with people who do not develop the antibodies fully when they catch it first time round.

It's probably highly unlikely to get CP twice but possible, someone told me if a child under 1 gets CP then it's possible they won't develop immunity but obviously that could be heresay.

The countries that use the CP vaccine have a higher rate of adult shingles so I think that's why the UK don't routinely offer it. Perhaps there is less chance of developing shingles if you have had wild CP compared to those that have had the vaccine?!

Hazeyjane, no vaccine I'd 100%, that's why they give the MMR twice in order to catch the non-responders and even then it might not work on them. I had the MMR twice and have had all three diseases.

My DP is a HCP and has to have the HepA vaccine to which he is a non-responder, he's had it 3 times but his antibodies don't reach the levels required by NHS protocol.

A friend's DS is nearly 5 and has, to date, had CP no less than 8 times. He doesn't develop antibodies to any illness or vaccines, so all vaccines don't work, nor does catching the disease itself. I would never knowingly take an infected child out to a public place, for the reasons lots of PPs have outlined.

My mum DID end up at the drs both times she had chicken pox (and both times she had shingles) and it was confirmed by the gp both times

I'm in two minds about this. I wouldn't take out a child who had chicken pox - I'd keep them indoors until they were better.

But it's also true that because our lives have much less risk in them than they used to, we develop an exaggerated fear of the risks that exist. Somebody said that people are more selfish about this kind of thing than they used to be - I don't think that's true. When I was a child, measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and chickenpox were all considered a normal and inevitable part of childhood, and it was considered quite acceptable to expose children to measles or mumps, for example, even though some of these diseases could kill you or leave you infirm. Of the ones I've mentioned, chicken pox is definitely at the mild end of the spectrum - about 30 people die of it a year.

But childhood mortality has declined hugely since the 60s and 70s. The numbers who die of cot death or shortly after birth or in car accidents or household accidents or from disease are all far smaller than they used to be. It doesn't seem to have made us worry less - the opposite, in fact!

Here's the NHS view on catching CP more than once.

However the point MNHubbie makes about shingles following CP exposure is a good one. Anyone know why the shingles vaccine isn't routinely offered to older people, like with the flu vaccine?

It's very irresponsible. Not everyone has had it! When I was pregnant, I hadn't had chicken pox and was exposed to it for this reason. It was a stressful time. My hsband, who also hadn't had it, was exposed to it and had to move out of our house for 10 days until we had the all clear. People just do not think.

Hack mum, very good point about exaggerated fear of the relatively small risks that we come up against in this country these days.

Hubbie, we don't have herd immunity to rubella as it is. Nor do we have huge numbers of CRS becuase of that. Most women are immune to rubella either because they have caught it themselves or they've been vaccinated. They do not need herd immunity to protect them and, tbh, it would be irresponsible to rely on someone else to protect your unborn child given that you could come into contact with people everyday who have it without realising.

Chicken pox can be nasty.

My eldest came down with it about 6 weeks ago (apparently on the day we realised she had them half her class was also off with them as well!) and it spread through out the school as well.

Luckily she had a relatively OK case of them. Was jumping around like a lunatic still, eating and drinking fine etc.

She was recovered within a week.

Exactly 12 days later my youngest came down with it (21 months old). Her case was awful. She was covered from head to toe including all over her scalp, between toes, her girly bits were awful.

Then she also had them all on her lips and inside her mouth.

She had high temperature, struggled to eat and drink, was constantly crying and screaming.

It took her nearly 2 weeks before she got better.

We stayed in house on both occassions until all spots had scabbed over- was hard but I would not want anyone getting them like my youngest did- dread to think how it would affect someone with a low immune system.

It is rare to contract chicken pox more than once BUT IT IS POSSIBLE.
I had a bad case of chickenpox when I was 7, I was exposed to chickenpox when 37 weeks pregnant with ds (dd had it) and the GP insisted on checking my immunity - I wasn't a bit concerned as I knew I had it as a child and assumed I was immune. Turns out I wasn't immune and had to have a rather nasty injection of antibodies to give me immunity.
DH has chickenpox at the momment - we have come home early from holiday because of it. I have never seen him so ill, he is covered all over in huge blisters and is taking antiviral drugs to hopefully prevent it getting worse. He is asthmatic and we have been told to be alert for breathing problems as he is at risk of developing pnuemonia.

We don't know how dh contracted it but I really hope it wasn't from someone who didn't bother to quarantine their child.

I was fuming when DS1 was little and some daft mare silly woman brought her CP infected child to a party and wouldn't shut up blabbing about how fab it was to catch it young and how she was doing us all a favour by spreading it etc. I was at uni and sitting my finals the next week. A sick DS unable to go to nursery would have been a mess, not to mention him being ill would be unpleasant for him. Luckily he escaped it that time and succumbed the following year over Christmas. I really think spreading any illness just because you think it is OK and grew up going to measles parties or whatever is an awful thing to do, especially when you have no idea of the medical background of those you are spreading it to.

Yanbu at all. People are so bloody blasé about CP. I had my two vaccinated against CP but the vast majority of people I know won't do this as they do t see the point or simply can't be arsed to pay for it. CP can be so lethal but many people just ignore this and hope for a mild outbreak.

Candy, it is very rarely 'lethal' for healthy children. What we are talking about is taking children with CP out and potentially exposing people who are more at risk (non-immune pregnant women, immunocompromised people). Saying that chickenpox 'can be so lethal' and that people are just ignoring that and not getting vaccinated is just unnecessary scaremongering. For the vast majority CP is an uncomplicated illness but that doesn't mean you should be careless about spreading it around.

Flightty just seen your message, his doing well thank you. I spend a fair amount of time in the SN section, some days mn main board is too scarcy

We had three kids come out in cp at work. We have a number of pregnant mums in the group, a large amount of very young and one little girl with major problems. Had to call everyone and now everyone is just waiting to see the outcomes.
Lucky for us only one of the girls who is pregnant is under 12 weeks ad none passed 36 weeks so they are all safe.

Chicken pox can kill - but rarely and usually in imunocompromised people. BUT there are far more immunosupressed people about than there used to be.

In my lifetime childhood leukemia has gone from almost 100% fatal to the majority of children surviving, but they survive with compromised immune systems.

Transplant patients are another growing group, and transplants in children much more common, they were experimental.

Children with Down's Syndrome did not live past their teenage years, now life expectancy (due to antibiotics) is 40 - 50 years, but still with low immunity.

Chemo isn't just for cancer, it can be used in treating arthritis.

So if you think about taking your child into a town centre shopping will you encounter (with or without knowing) anyone who is/has:

Down's Syndrome
Arthritis
A transplant
Had chemo / currently undergoing chemo
Pregnant

In my mother's day the only one she would probably encounter would be someone who is pregnant.

Obviously it depends where you live and how you travel, in London on public transport you may encounter all of the above in one journey.

People are ignoring how nasty CP can be. It can be far worse than mumps but people get their children vac for that. Many other countries vac against CP, more patents here should make the effort to too.

I paid for my 2 to be vaccinated against CP a month or so ago.

I'm not in the UK, but the only reason it isn't on the vaccination schedule here, as in the UK, is because of cost.

It was a simple decision for us - we will avoid the hassle, discomfort, inconvenience and potential scarring of CP altogether.