to not stay in all day with a 5yo who has chicken pox

[lecce]

Just that really. His spots first appeared about 3 days ago and have not all blistered over yet. He is perfectly well in himself but getting bored and fed up having stayed in for 2 days.

I think you've been well and truly YABUed op! I feel a bit sorry for you, as I think you realised pretty quickly with the responses early on, even though it's wearing, you've just got to do the right thing, follow advice and wait til the little blighters scab over.

Just a thought- has your DS got any friends who've already had CP? We did as others have suggested and went for country walks, could have gone to a quiet beach etc, but any opp of a play date with some kids who've already had CP?

msnaughty, how can you read some of the posts on here about how serious it can be for some people and still say, but you have to get food, get kids to school etc. There is online shopping, and hopefully kind people who might be able to help get other kids to school. It is a few days inconvenience.

And, yes people are contagious for 2 days before the spots come out, but you don't know about it then! To go out with a contagious child knowingly, is selfish.

its not always as simple as home delivery for food. not everyone has a payment card they can use to pay for it.

with school runs. by law children have to be in school.

i dont have anyone i can ask for help with theses situations. i guess i cant be the only one

I would stay in, it's not for that long.

That said, for the vast majority of people it is better to have CP when young. My OH had it last year, in his 30's, he was REALLY ill. He did go the GP ontheir advice, and sat in the waiting room (after they insisted - he could barely stand) then endured being gawped at by 4 Dr's, none of whom had seen CP in an adult before. Before being given anti-virals and being signed off work for 2 weeks.

As soon as he recovered DD got it - she was fine never even got a temp.

I understand people being cautious, and I didn't go out with either of them while they were spotty, but both DD and I went about our normal lives while OH was sick, despite being exposed to it. I'd have had to have over a month of work otherwise and that's just not feasible.

my 3 younger children have had it, but not my 15 year old. although she has been exposed to it from her 3 siblings.

someone once said to me she could be a carrier and it means she gets the virus that she can pass on but no symptoms. dont know if thats possible

Like tethersend, I had my dd vaccinated for cp. It can be such a horrible disease. I had it badly as a child. One of the downsides of the NHS (which is so great in many ways) is that when the NHS decides that something does not offer value for money then it is not even offered as an option.

Tethers - thank you, the cp spots didn't actually come out until the morning after the horrendous day. DD had contracted cp on Boxing Day and, when my immunity was checked it came back as positive, so I didn't get the immunoglobulin treatment. Sadly, I came down with CP 2wk later.

The lovely end to the story is, I got pg 9mth later and had my beautiful DS, who is now 15mth. I had to avoid cp like the 'plague' though and DD had 3wk off nursery because there was an outbreak there. But, I try to believe in fate and I know I wouldn't have my wonderful DS if I hadn't gone through the trauma/horror that I did.

msnaughty - sorry, but there is ALWAYS an alternative. It might mean much inconvenience and having to beg, plead and borrow favours from school parents/neighbours, but I'm sure if you asked, the help would be there. People who are immunocompromised, don't have an alternative.

Oh and to answer your vaccination question Tethers, I think a vaccintation programme can only be a good thing - if there are less children suffering CP there are less opportunities to infect someone who doesn't build immunity to cp/is immunocompromised.

you are being stupid and selfish

yes tiggy i do agree with some of your points. i do think people should try and find away round things. but i mean if its just not possible at all. and that is the case for some people. its easy to say ask jo bloggs to help you. not eveyone has a jo bloggs to ask.

i agree with taking the school child to school slightly later. i never thought of that.

i took my toddler to a birthday party and when we got home i notice about 4 chicken pox spots on her a few more came up think she has about 15 spots in all. but when we went to the party her skin did not have one spot. so i never knew the other children ended up with it to. i felt really bad when i had to tell the other mums.

my son had chickenpox when i was preg doc just said dont worry about it.

also im wondering about the education of chickenpox. we dont really get told by gp's that it could be dangrous for some people. alot of people just think its a general childhood virus. few spots feeling a bit of out comes the calpol for a few days. i did not even take my children to the gp when they had it. i dont think it means people are igrant or stupid. people just dont get told.

How contagious is it? I had to go to work every day during the 2 sodding week period the DC's had CP. Was I likely to be carrying it out the house with me, not that I could have avoided work.

I did refuse to take the DC's to the GP surgery when they had CP and were very sick and we have our first and only home visits. They looked awful, there was no way I was showing them in public.

Although I had cp as a kid I tested negative for antibodies when pregnant and was exposed at 36wks which resulted in me having several vials of live plasma injected into my arse and being incredibly high risk for DD after being born. Very frightening. OP I feel you've been v responsible by posting this thread as the whole cp threat is almost unknown and certainly not routinely tested for in pregnancy. Not only did I have it as a child, I've been a primary teacher for nearly 16yrs yet somehow have no immunity!

Well if you come across my dh or mrsshreks dh who have cancer and on chemo, or misdee's dh who had a heart transplant, be sure to tell them you are risking their health and life because your toddler was bored
Your being selfish and very unfair

I think this is a really good thread, if only to inform people that CP is not a mild illness for everyone. I agree bunnyjo, there is always a someone to help. Or you have to think smart. Presuming everyone else will be ok whilst your spotty CP child potentially infects those around them, is selfish to say the least.

On the topic of vaccine, I believe it's standard in America - chargeable but effective. DS has a little friend at nursery whose been vaccinated and has so far come out of every wave without catching it.

why dont they offer the vaccine, in the same way as the mmr. they dont really shout out much about the chickenpox vaccine?

Because its not as effective as mmr in completely diminishing the risk of contracting CP. CP is not seen generally as serious as mumps measles and rubella. And it's expensive as a vaccine
I think !
Stand to be corrected

Yes, that's right Runningblue. The cp vaccine is not 100% effective (although even you get cp after having the vaccine it will be a lot milder).
But it's pretty standard in the us and Australia.

AFAIK, the efficacy of the vaccine is judged on the immunity of the first group of children to be vaccinated en masse. They are now 30ish and so it can only be said that the vaccine protects for up to 25 years.

They now give two doses 6 weeks apart, as a booster was found to be needed. Some children will need a further booster I think. Also waiting to see reliable data from the US, where children are routinely vaccinated and therefore not exposed to CP thereby boosting their immunity.

It's part of the schedule in the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and Hong Kong and possibly some others.

I think you know now yo have to stay in - sorry you're getting a battering!

You could kill me with your sons chicken pox as I am immunocompromised.

You can also damage my unborn child.

Chicken pox may not be dangerous to you but it is to other sectors of society.

I had the CP vaccine a few months ago and was told it's 75% effective.

I had it because I had a few scares during pregnancy (i've never had it and tests showed I wasn't immune), and was advised to get innoculated after the baby was born, to protect me in future pregnancies.

Did you have do pay for the vaccine xmas?

I feel sorry for Lecce - who started this thread, but quickly realised she WBU. But I think these threads can only be good for people like me, and many others. Raising awareness of the dangers of a 'mild childhood illness' can only do good - if these threads stop one mum going out with a CP infected child, then the time to post personal stories, like mine and many others, and the general good advice from other people has been more than worth it.

msnaughty - the latest NHS advice details how dangerous cp is to pregnant women/immunocompromised people. The same advice is in the pregnancy booklet and the birth to 5yrs booklet. Immunocompromised doesn't just mean chemotherapy or HIV sufferers, it can include asthma or arthritis sufferers who rely on steroid treatment. That is another thing that compromised me, I have asthma that gets worse during pregnancy requiring steroid treatment.