To think work can't expect me to come in

[Dollymixtureyumyum]

Basicly my Ds has just come out in chicken pox
I have never had them even as a child. At work my collegue is pregnant and has never had them.
I am on probation as just started the job. I had to take a week off for a kidney infection earlier and have been warned about my absence. My overall boss has been great but we have trustees who are a stickler for the rules etc.
What the hell happens now, i can't go in and potential infect a pregnant lady but how would this be recorded. I am not ill. Any advice or has anyone been in this position.

[Dollymixtureyumyum]

Can people please read the whole thread I apologised for the title and said I was not just going to ring in and say I was not coming in.

[DamedifYouDo]

DH caught chicken pox at 44, he was very ill, both dc came out in spots two weeks later on the same day, the day they were due to go back to school after the Easter holidays!!!

I had a very bad dose of chicken pox when I was 9, I was exposed to it at 37 weeks and mentioned it in passing to my GP but I wasn't worried as I knew I'd had it. Turns out I was not immune and I had to have antibodies asap which was a rather nasty injection!!!

If you were infected then obviously you need to avoid knowingly infecting anyone but the incubation period is long and you could come out in spots in 2-3 weeks time! Or you may be immune.

[Vedamakesthebesttoast]

dolly I think you've done everything right here and should be commended for your consideration and concern. You've approached your manager and explained the situation and also your colleague. Some pp are being really negative, and harsh.
If I were you're employer I would more than happy with the way you have handled the yourself.

[Snoopadoop]

I have never had it either. They test you at pregnancy, and it turns out I was immune. You can't take time off work just in case, any of us can come into contact with chicken pox at any time.

[BoffinMum]

This organisation does not seem to have proper policies in place. It's supposed to remove the pregnant person on full pay and get her to work from home or offer additional leave. Not penalise the non-pregnant person for something she may or may not develop.

And chicken pox is only really a major life-threatening problem for pregnancy women and babies around the time of the birth, as I understand it (someone medical correct me if I am wrong).

[DinosaursRoar]

No OP - I think you shouldn't take annual leave if someone else can look after your DS on the off chance you might be catching it and might therefore be infectious - that's bonkers and only something people on MN would think is a sensible solution.

You go to work, tell your boss. If they don't want you in, they sign you off on the sick or arrange for you to work from home. What they should do is tell everyone in the office who might be effected (the pregnant woman and anyone who is immunosupressed).

If those people feel they can't work with you, they might chose to use their annual leave to avoid you, or they might insist your boss makes arrangements like ensuring you can work from home or in a different part of the building so you aren't coming into contact with them.

It's not your responsibility to keep yourself away from them when you are a very low risk of infecting them with anything.

[Mistigri]

I'm glad you have found a solution.

It's great that you have a sense of responsibility towards your colleague, but it's your employer who has a legal duty of care, and who has to find a solution. Really this shouldn't involve you being forced to take leave (unpaid or otherwise) since you are not ill and are capable of working - if they don't want you working next to your colleague and they can't send her home, they should either have you work from a separate location or send you on paid leave. However, as you are in your probationary period your room for manoeuvre is slim, and it sounds like you have found a reasonable compromise :)

[StealthPolarBear]

Actually as the majority of adults are immune I suspect the chances of both you and the pregnant colleague not being are miniscule

[DinosaursRoar]

oh and DS had chicken pox when I was pregnant with DC2 (joy!) I didn't catch it. There were other pregnant woman in the office, and someone I knew was having cancer treatment so might well be high risk. I told HR. They told them, I was basically encouraged to stay at my desk and send other people if I needed to go to other parts of the office.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

The incubation period is around 10-21 days, so taking the first few days off, unless its a childcare issue doesnt make sense anyway.
You cant not go in everytime you might be incubating something. Save your annual leave for when there is no way you can get child care for another of your ds illness, he will get many.

[queenofthepirates]

My DD got chicken pox a week after I started a new job. I managed to find cover for me to work for the week whilst she went round a series of kind friends and relatives. I managed and she is none the wiser. Stay well clear of pregnant lady and get back to work unless you want to lose your job. This is the hard end of parenting; it's tough but if you want to keep your job, you go in.

I am a manager and I've had new people phone in sick with coughs and colds and I've let them go. Your probation is when you pull out all the stops to shine. Don't let yourself down!

[Pipistrella]

I think it would be prudent for you to have your own immunity tested ASAP.

The thing is if you are going to get it from your son then it's likely it won't show up for two weeks or so. And you will be most contagious for the few days before you know you have it.

It would be very good to know as soon as possible what sort of risk there is. Your GP can do it I think or maybe the practice nurse?

Phone and ask tomorrow.

[StealthPolarBear]

Boff I've just been looking at the green book snd it looks like the consequences can be nasty at any age.
that said my aunt got it just before she delivered my cousin. Cousin now 30, healthy and is a doctor herself :)

[Lonecatwithkitten]

There is a case at DD's school which they emailed about last week with this link to the latest NHS advice which seems to suggest that there is not a massive risk.

[Jollyphonics]

OP, couldn't you have a blood test to check for immunity to chicken pox, as your pregnant colleague is doing? if you both turn out to be immune, then everything is fine and no one needs to worry.

[Greengardenpixie]

If i remember right, its only if it something like early pregnancy that it would be bad. I cant remember how many weeks. If she is by that, it should be fine.

[Greengardenpixie]

You have a higher risk of complications from chickenpox if you’re pregnant and:
smoke
have a lung condition, such as bronchitis or emphysema
are taking or have taken steroids during the previous three months
are more than 20 weeks pregnant

[JCLNE]

By agreeing to use your annual leave and/or unpaid leave you're actually doing far more than most people would, OP. In fact, you'll be well within your right to refuse either (i.e. you're not obliged to sacrifice your own leave in order to protect another employee's health).

That said, of you've agreed with your employer and you're both happy, you've done nothing wrong.

I honestly don't understand people up in arms about this, never mind suggesting you should lose your job. WTF. When did we go back to 19th working conditions when illness is something to slag people off for? Receiving formal warnings for being in hospital is not normal, and nor is suggesting that the OP is somehow skiving because she's considering the risks of an infectious disease. Get a grip, people. Nobody's healthy forever, it will be your turn soon enough.

[StealthPolarBear]

Green book


Risks to the fetus and neonate from maternal chickenpox are related to the
time of infection in the mother (Enders et al., 1994; Miller et al., 1990):
● in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy – congenital (fetal) varicella
syndrome, which includes limb hypoplasia, microcephaly, cataracts,
growth retardation and skin scarring. The mortality rate is high. From
the largest available prospective study, the incidence has been estimated
to be less than 1% in the first 12 weeks and around 2% between 13
and 20 weeks of pregnancy (Enders et al., 1994). In this study, no cases
of congenital varicella syndrome occurred among the 477 pregnancies
in which maternal varicella occurred after 20 weeks’ gestation.
● in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy – herpes zoster in
an otherwise healthy infant. Occasional cases of fetal damage
comprising chorioretinal damage, microcephaly and skin scarring
following maternal varicella between 20 and 28 weeks’ gestation have
been reported (Tan and Koren, 2005), but the risk is likely to be
substantially lower than that of the typical congenital varicella syndrome
which occurs after maternal varicella in the first 20 weeks’ gestation.
● a week before, to a week after delivery – severe and even fatal disease
in the neonate. Before the introduction of human varicella zoster
immunoglobulin (VZIG) in the UK, half the deaths in infants under one
year old occurred in those aged less than three weeks in whom infection
would have been contracted either before or during birth or in the first
week of life.

[TheFear]

That's a ridiculous solution, in fact not a solution.
It can take up to three weeks for you to show signs of the pox. At which stage you'll already be back in work two weeks.
Your colleague may have immunity, or you may have. Have the simple blood test.
Your colleague is at risk walking down the street, going to the shop etc. You're over thinking this massively.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

OYBBK, it makes even less sense if she's now the one staying home and looking after the child with chicken pox. Surely that's just increasing her exposure.

I'm not sure you've even begun to cover your incubation period with your annual leave, you've just taken it off to look after your child. It seems a bit pointless if your DH has parental leave.

[ExConstance]

DS1 caught chickenpox in nursery when he was 2 and I caught it off him. I miscarried at about 10 weeks 2 days after the spots came out, so it is a very real risk. I have had measles and rubella as an adult too - only mumps left now.

[Viviennemary]

You absolutely must go in to work. You are not ill so cannot be signed off sick. Tell personnel about this and then it's up to them to make arrangements in accordance with H & S at work. It's up to the employer to make the decision as to what to do to avoid infection and keep workers safe.

[HanYOLO]

Can you go and get the jab? May be too late for you
Can she? it is - or was - available on demand around here for pregnant women.
Can you minimize contact with her?
Can you work from home?

[SmillasSenseOfSnow]

I have had measles and rubella as an adult too - only mumps left now.

Any reason you can't go get the MMR? I did after having rubella as a child and then mumps at age 20. I had what I assume was a separate measles booster at age 7, so wasn't overly worried about making it a set, but thought it prudent to go get the MMR anyway.