Chickenpox

[MissClimpsonsTypingBureau]

I have a 3 month old DS. I recently saw a friend with her toddler DD. A couple of days later she called to say that her DD had been exposed to chickenpox the day before she saw us - the other toddler's rash had just come out.

As far as I can tell the incubation period is 2 weeks and you're only infectious at the end of that - so even if her DD is incubating chickenpox she won't have been infectious when we saw them.

AIBU not to quarantine my DS?

You have absolutely no reason to quarantine.

The DD wouldn't have been contagious so hopefully your DS will be fine.

For future reference, you only need to quarantine if he actually has chicken pox. If you quarantine every time he might have chicken pox, you're going to have to put him in a bubble or home-school and never leave the house.

Good- thank you both! That's what I thought but then had a panic that I was being selfish and putting people at risk!

kids are most contagious 2 days before the spots appear, so it's hard to quarantine in that sense, but they do need to be quarantined when they've got them until the spots are all scabbed over.

The only time you need to be really, extra cautious is if you're visiting someone with compromised immunity or someone who is pregnant and has never had chicken pox. Obviously, if there is any chance that he could possibly have it, don't take him to visit a patient on a cancer ward or somewhere like that. For everyday purposes though, it's just not practical to quarantine unless they actually have it.