To think that unless you are going to quarantine your child for a fortnight before spots appear then going to a 'chickenpox party' is irresponsible

[ridingsixwhitehorses]

I mean, you might want your kid to get it but I don't really want mine to. So if you take your kids to play in a pox house specifically to get it then you should tell people you've done this while waiting for their spots to appear given they are infectious prior to them appearing, and not just send them to nursery as normal.

JustMum, chicken pox is an infectious illness that can make someone seriously ill, no matter their age, particularly immuno-compromised people. Pregnant women are also at risk, are they not? CP also can lead to complications later in life (shingles). This is why vaccinations for CP exist.

As to where the line is drawn, if your kid has the flu, stay home. Vomiting, stay home. I just don't want to be sicker than I already am. It's just courtesy, isn't it?

Pox parties are always irresponsible.

YANBU

That's why my 5 month old caught it, was seriously ill, and has scars on his face for life. People were deliberately taking their two year old to pox parties and then bringing them to baby & toddler groups whilst contagious.

Such a cruel and stupid thing to do.

Yes but we aren't talking about children who are actually ill, we are talking about kids who may potentially come down with these things because they have been exposed to it- in the same way I may have been exposed to any number of infectious illnesses whilst out and about yesterday.

You can't keep kids quarantined just in case, it's ridiculous.

I think if you're expecting yours to come down with it then it's reasonable to limit others exposure if practical. After the older one had it and I was was waiting for the smaller one to break out I did keep the small one away from a party as I knew a 5 week old would be there. I'd definitely warn people before playdates etc.

DS was 14m when I got a message warning me that the child he'd played with a couple of days earlier had broken out with chicken pox. The mum hadn't knowingly exposed either child to it, it's just one of those things.

I started a new job 2 days later. In the end, he didn't catch it on that occasion, and DH and I certainly couldn't have justified 2 weeks off work just in case DS was going to be ill.

After several exposures at nursery, he finally got it soon after the birth of DS2. Because I was still struggling and recovering, we hadn't been out much in the contagious phase. Most of the time that DS2 was potentially contagious we were in because of DS1. Naturally DS2 broke out with it towards the end of the contagious period having reached a strapping 9 weeks old.

Being exposed to the illness isn't a guarantee of catching it, so we can't go off into quarantine just in case as a matter of course. In families with siblings, that could easily add up to a month or more!

It is fair to warn people and let them come to their own conclusions.

As DS2 was just about crusting over, we had a Brownie off site activity. Another leader was pregnant and struggling with the nature of the activity, so she missed it. I had to go for adult ratios, so took DS2 in the pram with rain covers on and kept to the rear of the group to minimise the risk of contact with anyone else.

Society also relies on the fact that most people only get it once, although this is not foolproof.

JustMum, if you know your children have been exposed - pox party (which you wouldn't do), another sick kid, etc. - that's when to keep them home. Otherwise you'd never go out - no-one's expecting that. Just when you absolutely know they have been exposed.

"another sick kid, etc. - that's when to keep them home"

Well, not according to NHS it isn't. And one case in a reception class doesn't lead to the rest of the year group who haven't had it getting 3 weeks off.

Ds caught CP when he was 2. Dd was 3 and at nursery and I mentioned to them whether I should keep her off and they told me not to be silly and to send her in until her spots appeared (she caught it 2 weeks later)

The amount of friends from dds nursery who 'popped in' to see me with their kids when dd had it was unreal - I guess I unofficially hosted a weeks worth of CP parties and when dd went back to nursery half the kids were off with it.

It's ludicrous to suggest isolation for known exposure. There is a confirmed case of CP at my child's nursery right now, if he gets it he gets it. There is no way whatsoever I would even consider keeping him in the house for 3 weeks on the off chance. I would warn people coming to ours that he might be contagious but I absolutely would not take time off work or keep him away from people.

Yes it can make children very ill. Much much much more likely, it won't. You can't stop them catching it.

And one case in a reception class doesn't lead to the rest of the year group who haven't had it getting 3 weeks off.

Yes, this. Especially as NHS policy on CP is that it is better for all children to get it.

You can stop them catching it by vaccinating Jed - including after exposure if you act fast.

splendide yes, of course if you choose to vaccinate you can stop your child catching it - if you have a spare £160 or whatever it is now. If everyone took that route it would be a much more serious infection for anyone catching it in adulthood, particularly pregnant women.

That's not correct Jed - there are countries where everyone is routinely vaccinated and has not lead to more serious illness in adulthood.

You are right about the money, I wish it was part of the NHS vaccines.

If you have deliberately exposed them then you need to be prepared to quarantine them for long enough to be sure they don't have it.
You can't be 100% sure a child is not incubating it.
When DD was younger it went around her Playschool. We checked her every day and she had 1 tiny tiny (so small you wouldn't notice it unless you were inspecting every inch of her like we were) spot but as it never turned into anything else we assumed she'd been lucky and not caught it. 2 weeks later both the boys came out head to toe completely covered in spots.

Oh is it not correct splendide - I wonder why they say it is on the NHS website?

*Why isn't the chickenpox vaccination part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule?

There's a worry that introducing chickenpox vaccination for all children could increase the risk of chickenpox and shingles in adults.

While chickenpox during childhood is unpleasant, the vast majority of children recover quickly and easily. In adults, chickenpox is more severe and the risk of complications increases with age.

If a childhood chickenpox vaccination programme was introduced, people would not catch chickenpox as children because the infection would no longer circulate in areas where the majority of children had been vaccinated.

This would leave unvaccinated children susceptible to contracting chickenpox as adults, when they are more likely to develop a more severe infection or a secondary complication, or in pregnancy, when there is a risk of the infection harming the baby.

We could also see a significant increase in cases of shingles in adults. Being exposed to chickenpox as an adult – for example, through contact with infected children – boosts your immunity to shingles.

If you vaccinate children against chickenpox, you lose this natural boosting, so immunity in adults will drop and more shingles cases will occur.*

TheClaws- I don't understand your post. The OP doesn't want her children to get chicken pox unless unavoidable. It's people who deliberately expose their children to chicken pox (especially befor 18 months old) who risk shingles for them later in life. People who have never had chickenpox can't get shingles and you can't catch shingles.

It's the theory but it hasn't been borne out in countries such as Australia where universal vaccination has been very successful.

I found this article very convincing - www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2014/may/15/real-reason-british-public-chickenpox-vaccine-shingles

Thanks Dumbledore. Aware of that. Maybe I wasn't clear. Anyone who has had chicken pox can develop shingles later on as the infection lies dormant.

I've obviously read you post completely wrong. Apologies.

People who deliberately infect their children with chicken pox are arseholes. My friend has just discovered that her son is almost completely blind in one eye after chicken pox. If they catch it by accident fine - if you give it to your child you are horrible.

People who swan about with poxy children are selfish arseholes. It may be dull and inconvenient for folk to stay home with sick children but if you bump into someone whilst out whose immune system is compromised you could kill them.

I really don't understand why people don't get this.

sheer ignorance op, awful truly awful.

some dc - many in fact become very very ill with it

According to Netmums () 90% of children catch chickenpox before the age of 10.

I doubt pox parties make much difference.

Chicken pox is so much nastier the older they get (perhaps with the exclusion of tiny babies) so you really are better to let your kids catch it. I know it's rough when they're poorly but it's only a nuisance in childhood whereas it can be quite nasty for a teenager. Calamine and baking soda at the ready!

Apologies if this is a stupid question, my son is 11 months (my first) so I have no experience with this.

I take him to a playgroup a couple of times a week and yesterday I was told that one of the toddlers had caught chicken pox the week before. The parents didn't know at the time, but she would have been contagious.

Can I just carry on as normal? I have been keeping a close eye on him and I haven't seen any signs of a possible break out yet.