To take DS out when he has chicken pox?

[ElphabaTheGreen]

He's 10mo and not at all unwell with it, but definitely still infectious. We normally go to a baby swimming class on a Saturday, so obviously we're staying away from that. As it's a nice day, though, and there's a food festival on in the city, we'd like to go to that with him in his pram, not really coming close to anyone. The only other thing is we may go to lunch and stick him in a highchair.

AIBU to want to do this?

OP I am glad you are staying at home but pretty gobsmacked by your attitude especially as a HCP. As a HCP you should also know that chicken pox does not require 'pretty close and relatively prolonged contact' to be caught. 15 minutes in the same room is counted as at risk.

Of course there will be plenty of cases of pregnant women who have not caught CP from their infected children but that is hardly the point here!

Someone on here suggested a trip to the safari park, wish I had thought of that when my 2 had it. They kindly got it 3 weeks after I returned to work from maternity leave!

I know you said you'll stay in, so I won't add another YABU but I'm very suprised that as an HCP, you even entertained this as a possibility.

Glad you decided to stay home op.

I was grocery shopping last weekend and was standing waiting for my friend to catch up with my six mo in the trolley and my ds. Suddenly I caught a bit the group standing next to me conversation. The woman was asking 'are you itchy?' to which he replied 'yes' . I turn around and see the little boy is covered in cp spots that definitely didn't look scabbed.

Fuming wasn't the word that they would think to bring a contagious child out in public. My ds is on steroids and probably immune-suppressed. I myself landed in hospital for a week when I caught cp as a healthy child so I'm very aware that sometimes it isn't just a simple illness.

Even so, the OP was aware it was contagious because she said she'd ensure he didn't get too close to anyone. So, I'm afraid that doesn't wash with me.

Hi

Hope you have a nice day in the garden.

Having read your posts ( I am a healthcare professional - used to be a therapist before a change of career) have you had a recent update from infection control nurse? I only say this because I had my update yesterday - and was shocked at how easy it is to be complacent about infection risks (myself included). Interestingly our nurse stressed the importance of correct precautions especially for chicken pox, so it is important not to underestimate the risks.

She had some scary pictures showing airborne infection spread from sneezing (up to a metre) - I don't have the images she had but worth googling

www.filterair.info/articles/article.cfm/ArticleID/4E5F1627-6E08-4742-B464B55332F68ECC/Page/1
www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/transmission.html

As cp can be spread by sneezing - then that is at least a metre exclusion zone - added to which viruses can survive hours on hard surfaces.......

It worries me a great deal that you are even asking this.

You should know ( and its not your fault) that you have to absolutely stay in when your DC are infected. and you should also be warning people who your DS had contact with before he got the spots as that's when he would also have been infectious.

In fairness, I've worked in hospitals as a clinical specialist therapist for over 10 years, including with children, so I do know about how infection spreads, and the seriousness of many infections out there, including CP, which in fairness, is serious only a tiny proportion of the time. That's not to discount the very bad experiences many people on here have had, at all. That's awful, and I can undersrand why the subject is probably upsetting for you. However, he was not going to be spending 15 minutes in any room with anybody. He would have been in his pram, outside, at a pretty reasonable, non-infective distance from anyone, unless they chose to pick him up and let him cough in their faces. The biggest risk would have been the cats bum faces from people who thought they could catch it just from seeing the spots on his face.

But there we go. I don't deny I'm BU, since I don't want to worry people unnecessarily by going out.

Glad you have decided to stay at home. Chicken Pox would be really quite serious for me as I am immuno-compromised due to the drugs I take for a health condition, plus have watched my elderly mother almost be hospitalized from serious shingles.

We were in a supermarket when we met some friends whose little girl had leukemia. DS and the little girl played in one of those toy helicopter ride together.
Next day cp spots came out. Rang up the mum and she had to rush her Dd up to GOSH for the special vaccine.
They felt because it was only a few minutes because it was a small enclosed space she was at risk. 4th time she had to have the vaccine as it only lasts 2 weeks.

Thankfully she was fine and is grown up now with s baby of her own

When I am out with my DD in pram other Dc are always running up to her and prodding her, even when I try to shield her it can be too late, people leaning in etc...

We have all been there and done it.

Quite a few people on here are very vocal about why they don't it, and how bad it can be. I know three people in RL who have also had DC's with v bad cases of it.

Exposing others - no matter how small the risk is perceived to be, is not something I would want on my conscience.

"The biggest risk would have been the cats bum faces from people who thought they could catch it just from seeing the spots on his face."

If you knew the real fear of those who are immunocompromised, you would not have made that snarky statement.

How the hell is being in a restaurant for lunch not being in a room with people?!?! The people on each of the surrounding tables would have been within an infective distance of you for probably an hour or more. I'd question your clinical judgement tbh if you really think that's okay.

You would be extremely U.

Recently my friends kids got chicken pox, spots came out a couple of days after I'd spent time with them. I work with a colleague with an auto immune disease and one who was undergoing treatment for cancer (sadly has since died, not through chicken pox I might add) I have has chicken pox as a kid and felt well. Obviously I couldn't be off work in case I fell ill. So I emailed both colleagues, told them about friends kids, suggested they may like to avoid me. Pointed out that I sit downstairs and them upstairs and so I would not come upstairs. Both thanked me, said not a problem and to let them know IF I developed any spots. I didn't get any. But there's no way I wouldn't have warned them and no way if I had any symptoms that I would have left my house. Just not worth it

I came into contact with a kid with chicken pox at a birthday party when I was pregnant. I didnt know at the time that he had it, he was well covered up. I gave birth 2 days later 3 months early. Stay away from people.

It's not to do with worrying people unnecessarily, it's to do with risking people's lives. Surely what is posted on this thread shows that?

My story is that I have no natural immunity to CP despite having had it badly 3 times now. I also have a DS that is very immunocompromised due to steroid medication for chronic asthma.

I was 17 weeks pregnant, so well into my second trimester, when supposedly CP isn't as great a risk.

I went shopping. Someone had two toddlers with obviously active and infectious CP in their trolley.

I did my best to avoid them, but it seemed like every part of the store I went to, they were there.

I caught CP.

My unborn baby died just two weeks after that brief contact with someone who couldn't be bothered to shop online or get a friend or family member to shop for her.

And the day after that, my immunocompromised DS2 caught CP. He was rushed to hospital as he developed encephalitis as a complication of CP, and nearly died.

He already had development delay, but he regressed after this. At 9yo, he is like a 6yo. He also lost part of his hearing in one ear too, as a complication of the CP.

So in my eyes, taking an obviously infectious DC out in public is nothing but selfish.

And I believe that many people underestimate the risks of CP, and the level of contagiousness.

As mentioned upthread, 90% of non-immune people will catch CP after just 15 mins breathing the same air as an infectious person.

Those who have had CP more than once, and still have no immunity to it will not be helped by the vaccination either, as if the 'proper' disease didn't produce the correct immune response, the vaccination won't either.

Believe me, I have asked numerous medical professionals on that.

So it IS utterly selfish to do that.

And just because a woman isn't in the first trimester, it DOESN'T mean that they won't have a SB or MC, it just means that it is statistically less likely. But I can assure you that I didn't give two fucking craps about 'statistics' when it happened to me...

There is most defiantly a very laissez faire attitude to the Pox out there.

I was at a baby class with a lady whose other DD had come down with it the day after our class. I had to ask her to email the whole group because some babies were attending GOSH for various reasons and her baby may have also broken out any moment.

She had sneakily been exposing her DC but not telling the whole group thereby taking away our choice as to whether we also wanted to expose our small babies.

Then whilst still in the possible exposure stage she secretly met with other mothers from the group again without telling people.

If people feel like this its not really their fault its down the HCP.

However even when shown NHS info on catching CP she said:

" Its a bit of a myth really, like falling pregnant on your period".

What to do to drive the message home to the know it all types?

On the other hand, the gov doesn't want the cost of adding it to the vaccination program so perhaps they want the risks of it played down>?

"What to do to drive the message home to the know it all types?"

Treat them the same as those who deliberately infect others with HIV might be worth a consideration.

To knowingly expose someone to an infectious and potentially dangerous illness is way past know it all, it's out and out contemptable.

Make a few examples of people, drag em through the courts, community service or something and perhaps then it'll get taken seriously.

"However, he was not going to be spending 15 minutes in any room with anybody. " This doesn't make much sense as your plan in the OP included going for lunch and sticking him in a highchair.

Being a clinical specialist therapist on hospital wards for over 10 years does not really confer medical training. I understand you extrapolated from your experience with a patient with shingles to reasoning that CP would be alright with similar precautions but sometimes a little knowledge leads you in the wrong direction.

I don't really understand why you are arguing that sceptical faces are the biggest risk when CP is such a risk to immune-compromised people etc. The awful experiences some people on this thread must have gotten that across?