To take my pox ridden ds on public transport

[veryworriedme]

am feeling a bit sorry for myself and my ds and so wonder if this has made me very selfish. My ds aged 2 has been in a hip spica cast from his chest to his ankles for the last month which has been tough. Now he has chicken pox. My dd has not yet come out in any spots but I kept her away from activities just in case she is infectious. However, I have taken my ds on the bus as it's about the only thing he can enjoy at the moment. This was in fact an empty bus and I would not have got on it if we could not have kept away from people or if there were children but the bus, but that's not really the point is it - there could be a pregnant woman for example. Is keeping him at home or just walking outside the only decent and responsible thing to do?

Genuine question-what do you do if one dc has chicken pox but another has to go to school and no one else can take them? Are you allowed to keep all children off if only is infected?

Poor OP. I think she gets it now.

crystal speak to the school and ask to go in after registration so you miss being in contact with the other children/parents?

How on earth did you knw the bus woud remain empty throughout it's journey, unless you hired it privately??? Even if you got off when someone else got on, things your DS touched could still infect someone else.

YWBU.
Can I ask why you waited till he had chicken pox for the bus journey? You said he has been in a hip spica for a month - why did you not take him on bus rides a week ago?

I have had 2 children have chicken pox back to back - house bound for both out breaks. I know how boring it is, but I also know how badly DS suffered with it due to his eczema and wouldn't wish that or worse on another child.

Sorry that your son is having a horrible time of it and you too, but that was an awful irresponsible thing to do especially as you knew that at the time of doing it!

Your HV is stupid.

I've been practically housebound for weeks while all 3 of mine had chickenpox so I know what its like, but I wouldn't think that gives me the right to risk others lives.

To answer some questions - I knew bus would remain empty as only going one stop and no he didn't touch anything as he cannot move. I thought cp was transferred by coughing, sneezing and if spots touch something if you see what I mean. I didn't think it would linger in the air on the bus so with the permission of the driver I did not actually think it was doing any harm. However it got me thinking about what is the right thing to do and I think it is clear that it is what I am doing with my dd( who may not even have cp).

What a horrible, selfish person you must be.

what about the people who NEED to go on public transport with a child with chicken pox?

I HAD to go to a jobe centre interview with a dd with chicken pox, i had NO choice. I HAD to get on the bus to go there.

She was too big for our pram at 5, and she couldnt have walked all the way there with a temperature etc.

and yes, when one sibling gets chicken pox, the other is likely to be carrying the infection even though spots havent come up yet, and may take up to two weeks to come? so shouldnt the other sibling be kept at home as well, incase there are any immuno suppressed people around? since chicken pox is infectuous since before the spots are visible?

There is NO excuse to take a child with chicken pox on public transport.

a sick note?

so go to the GP were there were actual pregnant women and new babies with dd with chicken pox? how is that better then getting on bus?

anyway it is virtually impossible to get appointment, chicken pox is not an emergency so i wouldnt have been given emergency appointment, i would have had to pay for sick note and anyway Job centre didnt tell me that that was an option, they just said I had to come in.

Very selfish. You have no idea who you could have come into contact with!

nailak - with your job centre example, if you are dealing with a completely unreasonable organisation, you've explained your child has chickenpox, you've explained the danger to immune-suppressed people and pg women and they are STILL insisting you come to the interview, and you genuinely have NO childcare... then I guess you have very little choice if you don't want to risk benefits being withdrawn and your children left without food. But outside those extreme circumstances, it's highly irresponsible to take a child with chicken pox out and about and expose passers-by to the infection.

and my ds fell down the stairs when he was like 18 months, my husband took him to a and e by public transport to check him out.

he had chicken pox. the people at the dest were aware of this, still sent him up to the kids ward where there were actual sick kids, my husband checked again before he entered the ward if it was ok they said yes.

ooh, I didn't know you could get a sick note.

Answer to any question should be: ask MN and find out if there's a way round what seems like an impossible problem!

actually i led he brought him home by public transport a friend dropped him there

nailak - you ring the Drs and tell them your predicament. They have proceedures in place for when children have chickenpox and need to see a GP. Or they could have done the sicknote and left it for you to collect once chicken pox is gone.

As for the ward - hospitals have proceedures to follow when children have chicken pox - son should be isolated and ward areas effectively clean.

I have been through chemo this year and that could have killed me.

DS has just recovered from chickenpox. As soon as it was suspected, I told the GP's receptionist over the phone and we kept him isolated at the surgery until it was confirmed by the doctor. We kept him away from everyone until it scabbed over. The most we did was go for walks, keeping away from shops and the park and even then I was panicking. The rest of the time we put up with his boredom because it's what you have to do to stop it spreading.

YABU.

Bloody hell. OP made a mistake, she sees that now. Not a 'horrible person' just made an error of judgement. Give her a break. Some times this place is savage.

Shocking. Absolutely shocking.

So for boredom, you risked people's lives. And their unborn babies lives.