To be absolutely livid that a mother brought her child with chicken pox to class?

[Elphie54]

My DD is 20 months. She goes once a week to a music class that she absolutely loves. Today one of the kids was ther pale and had the pox starting to spread across his face. I asked the mom politely and she goes “oh yes, both of my kids have it. It’s not that serious.” I internally screamed “no you daft bat, it is serious!!!” I mentioned it to staff, who have now emailed all parents on the roster that there was an exposure (I’m assuming after confirming with her, email did not say which child). We called DD doctor and they have her coming later for CP vaccine. AIBU to be absolutely livid?

That's beyond stupid.

What a pathetic thing to do. In most cases CP is relatively mild but it can be so serious. And what if one of the mums in the class is pregnant?

I'm sure it's more contagious just before the spots appear. You never really know who has the pox, but once your child has it then they won't have it again (in most cases).

I had chicken pox when 16 weeks of due to a twat like that 😬

You should have told her how serious it can be for some people, maybe she doesn't realise, she must be spreading it all over!

A friend nearly lost her toddler thanks to him catching CP. people don't realise that whilst it usually isn't serious, it CAN be, even in an otherwise healthy child.

I didn’t want to cause a scene and she barely speaks English (I don’t speak Russian). At least the class center took it seriously. Apparently they have to disinfect everything the kid might have touched.

Arsehole.

My DD ended up in hospital with respiratory issues as a result of CP. It can be very fucking serious 😡

I understand if there are immunocompromised children or adults present then it would be risky for them, but any other children are going to catch it sooner than later, and it's best to get it young isn't it? The UK does not have chickenpox on the NHS immunisation schedule.

Fucking hell, she sounds absolutely stupid.

That would annoy me too. You don’t want it when pregnant!!

A small % of otherwise healthy children CP are brain damaged and suffer disability or death from CP. So no its certainly not just the immunocompromised who have to worry about it.

Whilst it's stupid to take your kid out knowingly with pox it is inevitable that your child will get it eventually. Better to have young than older. Cp isn't vaccinated against in the UK.

YANBU.

Cachailleacha Our DD is not immunocompromised. Yet we very nearly lost her in January due to encephalitis brought on by CP.
Because parents did not want to take time off work to keep their children at home.

She is still under treatment and we don't know yet if the brain damage is permanent.

I'm sure it's more contagious just before the spots appear. You never really know who has the pox, but once your child has it then they won't have it again (in most cases).

It's contagious from 24-48hrs before spots appear and stays contagious until they have all scabbed over. They are not "more contagious" before they appear, they are the same level of contagious throughout. Fifteen minutes in the same room as someone with CP is enough to infect you.

It's not all that uncommon to get it more than once. In a school of 190 children (the school my DC go to) I can name around a dozen of their friends who have had it twice. My eldest DD has had it three times and a girl in her class four!

RoyalChocolat I'm sorry your DD has been so ill.

I don't understand, if it can be so dangerous for some children, it's not on the vaccination schedule in the UK? It's contagious before the spots appear so is going to spread anyway even if parents keep their children home, and schools won't allow siblings to stay home if exposed but not yet showing symptoms either.

So no its certainly not just the immunocompromised who have to worry about it.

Exactly.

Some otherwise healthy children will get CP and will sail through it with no ill symptoms and no lasting effects.

Some otherwise healthy children will feel really unwell while they have it - fever, aches, etc - and will have minor side effects such as mild skin infections, scarring, sleeplessness.

Some will be seriously ill and will have serious side effects including encephalitis, sepsis, pneumonia, and more.

Some will die, usually as a result of complications like infection.

Trouble is, you don't know which category any given child will fall into until they actually catch it which is why deliberately exposing other people's children to your proxy child is twattish in the extreme.

I live in France and the CP vaccine is unheard of here.
I think it has to do with the risk of shingles in later life.
Our DD was just very unlucky, but I wish people wouldn't say CP is a harmless disease.

All children get it eventually.

Not all.

I've never had it.

We really need some sort of education campaign around CP. I just don't understand how some people are still not getting it 🙁

All children get it eventually. Mine hasn't had it at 12. I think because he has had one dose of vaccine overseas. I think I'm going to have to get him a second dose privately because I'm worried about him getting it in his teens or as an adult.

“All children get it eventually.”

This is incredibly stupid reasoning.

It IS on the vaccination schedule here, and required for entry into public school. My DD was just not required to have it yet. My cousin actually died from complications (encephalitis) from chicken pox, 2 years ago. She was only 2 1/2 years old.

“Isn't this a bit late, if exposure has already happened?”

No. You can get the vaccine up to 24 hrs after exposure.