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Original poster

WWYD - Flying with Chickenpox

87 replies

PoxyProblems · 22/10/2018 14:18

I've name changed for this because the scenario is very specific/identifying.

We (me, DH, DD4 and DS2) are due to fly abroad on Friday. We are supposed to be away for 1 week over half term staying with friends. DD had chickenpox last week, the spots appeared last Monday, she has not been too ill with it, they are all scabbed over and she is back in school today

But I am assuming DS will now get it. If he gets it before Friday, fine. We just cancel and claim on our travel insurance. But what if he doesn't? NHS website says the incubation period can be anything from 1 to 3 weeks so its entirely possible he will be fine to fly out but could get it while we are away.

If he did get it while we are out there, the main problem is that the friends we are staying with have a 3yo who hasn't had it, and would be exposed to it. But more importantly, they run a business that involves frequent contact with children so I could be potentially introducing chickenpox to their business, which obviously I don't want to do.

I don't think the insurance will pay out on the assumption that he will get ill as he won't have doctors certificate. The flights are non-refundable/changeable. DH has volunteered to stay behind with DS and I take DD away, but I'm loathed to do this because we hardly get to spend any time together as a family, plus I don't really like the thought of being away from DS if he's ill.

Do I risk going? What are the chances he might not get it at all? I don't think there is any real answer to this, I just wanted to vent and hope that someone can come up with a magic solution that I haven't thought of!

OP posts:
toomanyeastereggsurghh · 22/10/2018 20:21

I’d go, you don’t know for sure that your ds will get it. If your friends are worried they should get their child vaccinated,

My two were both exposed to two friends who had it (spent the day with them indoors) and one caught it, one didn’t. The one who didn’t catch it then didn’t even catch it from sibling despite spending every day with them (school holidays). It was only 18 months later that they finally caught it from a completely unknown source (knew no one at the time with it). You can’t put everything on hold just in case.

Hideandgo · 22/10/2018 20:21

How will it affect your family if you have to stay there because he can’t fly back until he’s over the chicken pox?

Caprisunorange · 22/10/2018 20:26

I’d go. It’s just totally random who catches it and who doesn’t. I know loads of siblings who haven’t both had it

SparklyLeprechaun · 22/10/2018 20:28

If your friends are OK with it, I'd say go.

DS had it, DD caught it 2 years later. Neither of them caught it from school or nursery despite their friends having it. You just never know.

GenericHamster · 22/10/2018 20:32

Your friends kid will get it eventually if not vaccinated so I would go if he’s not showing by Friday. Some kids just don’t catch it very easily.

Fromage · 22/10/2018 20:35

If it were a cold or something similarly minor, I would agree with those saying that it's ridiculous to cancel because of a maybe.

However.

To repeat myself, we're talking about an infectious disease which could could make an immunosuppressed person very dangerously ill. Not just a cold.

BakedBeans47 · 22/10/2018 20:38

As long as he hasn’t got it when you’re travelling I’d go. You’ve warned your friends. Chicken pox would probably spread like wildfire around their nursery at some point anyway.

MrsFrankDrebin · 22/10/2018 20:46

This is in no way representative, and may be a whole lot to do with breastfeeding (but nothing scientific to back that up!) but my eldest had chickepox when her youngest sister was only a couple of weeks old.

Interestingly, baby didn't catch CP from eldest (ok, DC2 may have got some of my immunity from breastfeeding - I had CP when I was 6, so assuming I was still immune; they didn't test for CP in pregnancy in those days) but DC2 is now well into adulthood and has never 'caught' CP even now! (And believe me, I tried to get them to catch it when they were younger!).

All I can assume is that DC2 had a very mild dose from DC1/exposure through DC1 and was protected from the worst by me in the early breastfeeding days, and is subsequently immune.

Is that a even a possibility?? No scientific basis for this theory, only my own experience, but would love to know if it's right (shout-out to all those medical bods out there!) or whether it's just that my youngest has just been lucky all these years, and still might catch a mega-dose as an adult. Confused And I really wouldn't want that!

BakedBeans47 · 22/10/2018 20:50

I think littlies get immunity from the placenta as well as by BF. My youngest was directly exposed many times to CP before he finally caught it at 4 and the times he avoided it I assumed he must have still had placental immunity (not BF) as I was immune, having got it as an adult and a right bloody good dose as well!

HannahnotAgnes · 22/10/2018 21:00

If he's not showing symptoms then I'd go - there's no guarantee that he'll even catch chicken pox.

altiara · 22/10/2018 21:07

Is it only when the spots are out that it’s infectious? If so, I’d go. My DS got it 3 weeks after DD. She scabbed up before we flew out luckily (as was all set to fly out later), DS was fine and then had it a couple of weeks after our holiday. Their cousins didn’t catch it as they weren’t infectious.

altiara · 22/10/2018 21:09

mrsfrank my DM had CP while she was pregnant with me, I didn’t catch CP until I was 13!!

GreenTulips · 22/10/2018 21:18

My sister has it 3 times before any other siblings caught it

Go stop living in what ifs.

Friends DS will catch it at some point anyway.

RabbitDabbit · 22/10/2018 21:24

People on the plane - I was immune-compromised and had no choice but to go on a plane (I had to travel abroad for chemo). You could have killed me.

Isittimeforbed · 22/10/2018 21:28

MrsFrankDrebin some people have antibodies without knowingly having chicken pox. That could mean they've had a mild case, but I think from your post it's an adult DD. Have you considered her being tested for immunity, as if she's non-immune she would be vulnerable to infection in pregnancy.

Caprisunorange · 22/10/2018 21:37

If you were seriously immune compromised wouldn’t it be better to either test for immunity for things like CP or if possible, vaccinate? I’m only asking because obviously it’s contagious before the spots appear so anyone could unknowingly spread it.

MissCalamity · 22/10/2018 21:59

We had this due to go on a family holiday & our child minder told us that her two eldest started with spots, 2 weeks before we were due to fly. We went & DS didn't come down with it, thank god - He did pick it up from CM's youngest 2 weeks after we got back though!
It is horrible all the what if's & obviously if spots appeared before you got on your flight it's a no brainer.

zippyswife · 22/10/2018 22:02

I’d go if your friend was ok with it. Ds 2 got it and neither of his siblings caught it. They were in the same house on top of each other for the entire period leading up to it.

Adarajames · 22/10/2018 22:26

Anyone could be incubating any of a host of very unpleasant illnesses and not know about it and possibly spread it to vulnerable people, you can't cancel things in life on maybes; if he's ill, obviously cancel, if not, go.

SpottingTheZebras · 22/10/2018 22:38

Where are you travelling to? The MMRV is the standard vaccination in many countries whereas in the U.K. we just get MMR and children tend to catch wild chickenpox or else have a private vaccine.

You can still get the first vaccine done to minimise the risk and minimise the symptoms for your DS.

RabbitDabbit · 23/10/2018 12:24

Caprisunorange
If you were seriously immune compromised wouldn’t it be better to either test for immunity for things like CP or if possible, vaccinate?

Chemo destroyed my immune system and I can't be vaccinated for 2 years with MMR or CP because they are live vaccinations.

twosillybulls · 23/10/2018 12:39

This is tricky. I always say if you want your kids to get chicken pox, book a holiday.
Our DCs had chicken pox this year. DS got it and then DD exactly 2 weeks later.
I would travel if there are no spots but if he gets it while you are away he might be quite ill for a couple of days and you might need to delay your flight back - would that be an issue?

lola006 · 23/10/2018 13:02

You’ll need to consider the return home IF your DS gets it. Years ago my friends DS must have been incubating CP (no siblings, no way to know he might get it) when they left for holiday. Spots appeared two days before they were due to fly home. They wound driving a rental car close to 24 hours to Calais, being picked up by a relative and taken through the tunnel back to England in order to get home in time for work.

What’s your plan if DS breaks out next week and can’t fly home? Worth considering possibilities!

Evilspiritgin · 23/10/2018 14:51

I’m 46 I was bottle fed and I have no immunity to chicken pox (I had a blood test a few years ago) Infact I’ve had no childhood diseases

Original poster
PoxyProblems · 23/10/2018 15:05

We are going to Turkey. I checked with my friend and he doesn't think that his DS has been vaccinated, but he was going to check with his wife. They split their time between Turkey and the UK, so he's had everything he's supposed to have in his Red Book, but obviously that doesn't include the CP jab.

If we did go and got stuck out there, it wouldn't be a disaster, although it would cause a bit of logistical headache. DH and DD would fly back, I would stay with DS. I run my own business so can be flexible. DH travels for work, so this would have to be rearranged but both sets of GP's are ready and willing if needed.

But when I spoke to my friend again, I did get the feeling he was worried about their nursery, although he stopped short of asking us not to come.

OP posts:
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