Furious re chickenpox

[Wigwambam10]

I am a TA at DS school.
Lunchtime last Tuesday I saw one of the kids sitting out ready to go home that is in DS class. When I asked his teacher she was really mad and said she saw spots on him as he was getting ready for PE and thought chickenpox. The teacher rang mum who said “oh yes I thought it was but sent him in anyway as he was ok in himself”. Apparently chemist has confirmed chickenpox

During the weekend I had contact with 2 mum from DS class who have both come down with chicken pox

Anyway last night my DS was not himself and this morning had woken up covered in spots. He will miss his nativity play, school Christmas party and all the other good things happening that week. I will also have to take today and tomorrow off to look after him as grandparents can’t help till Wednesday. It also looks like DS is really going to suffer as I think he has then in his eyes whereas this other boys dose was really mild

Livid is not the word. Ok he could have got them anyway but it’s a bloody coincidence. And to top it all off the mum who sent the boy in orginally is a stay at home mum so could not use the excuse she had to get to work.

God knows how many other kids have gone down with it. They have been reversing the nativity with 2 other classes so they have been exposed to it. Also to top it all off DS teacher is pregnant (luckily has had them). How can anyone be so stupid

Exposure to wild chicken pox is supposed to boost the immune reaction and help prevent shingles in those who have had chicken pox before. They are not contagious for ages before spots appear- just 1-2 days

YANBU. We vaccinated for this reason. Your ds would have caught it earlier however the woman’s son is still contagious until the spots scab over and could have passed it to others who will get the spot on 2-3 weeks. I don’t think it’s up to her to decide to pass it on tbh. Yes,it’s children will get it. Yes, it is doing the rounds. But what right do people have to decide when. It makes me livid too. Did she know the pregnant teacher had already had it? If not, even more unbelievably selfish. There could be immune-suppressed children/caters, people who shock horror just don’t want it over the Christmas period, people going away, people with newborn siblings etc etc. I know it’s pretty much inevitable unless vaccinated but why do people think it’s up to them?!!! Selfish, selfish, selfish! As you can tell, this annoys me!

Also, you can’t catch shingles from someone with chickenpox, but you CAN catch chickenpox from someone with an active shingles rash.

CAN catch chickenpox from someone with an active shingles rash

Only with direct contact with fluid from the blisters whereas chicken pox itself is airborne

Christmas, you can only catch CP from someone with shingles if you come into contact with the liquid inside the blisters. It's not airborne. If you feel well enough you can go to work with (covered) shingles. It's nowhere near as easily spread as CP.

Oh get a grip it's Chickenpox, and I guarantee any kids that's off school would still have the school banging on about attendance.

Only with direct contact with fluid from the blisters whereas chicken pox itself is airborne

Aye sorry my sleep addled brain thought I’d said that in my initial comment, reading back I realise I didn’t.

YABU to be planning a pregnancy while working in a primary school and not to have got vaccinated. So is your colleague.

Even though she clearly states in her OP that the teacher has already had chicken pox? It also sounds like the OP has had it. Do people who have had chicken pox need the vaccination?

Oh get a grip it's Chickenpox

🙄 It is very dangerous to many people. Keeping a child with know chicken pox away from people is the right and considerat thing to do. Only an idiot would think otherwise.

YANBU to be cross, but YABU to think your ds might not have got it otherwise (as I am sure has been pointed out). My two got it pretty much exactly two weeks apart.

On the vaccine, I'm in a country where MMR+V has now become standard (was just being introduced when my other two were little) and although I could have chosen just MMR for much younger dd, I went with the vaccine. I'm aware that it doesn't work so well to prevent shingles than catching it wild, but due to the fact that most parents are now opting to vaccinate, it's less likely she'll get it in childhood and I would prefer her to be spared it in adulthood. I'm not sure I'd vaccinate if the vaccine wasn't the majority choice. I'm very pro-vax but not completely convinced of the case for MMRV. My older two had it mildly - if they'd had nasty bouts I might see that differently.

@ChristmasTwatteryDoesMyHeadIn as dementedpixie says re-exposure to chickenpox stimulates your immune system and acts as a booster to keep your own dormant virus at bay. Silver linings and all that!

It's really difficult to manage chicken pox in my experience.

With my eldest I had dressed her at 8 and she went to nursery. Noticed nothing on her. Call from nursery at 9 to say she had chicken pox. We got her at 9.30 and she was covered. Couldn't believe it. So it doesn't always allow you to avoid other people as it's so fast.

That said the mum was a twat for sending him in. I'm sorry DS will miss his nativity and party but they're always going to miss something with the pox and hopefully the worse is over by Xmas for you

shouldwestayorshouldwego not for pregnant women or people who are immunosuppressed for whatever reason.

I get that we can’t stop exposure to things, I really do, but there’s an enormous difference in people unwittingly exposing people to it, and consciously choosing to. The former is unavoidable, the latter is shitty.

shouldwestayorshouldwego sorry that sounds like I was arguing with you, I actually agree with your point.

Mmh I don’t get it.
Either you vaccinate, and you don’t care about other DC being contagious.
Or you don’t vaccinate and then you wish they get CP sooner rather than later, no??

I know, some people can’t have the vaccine, how many? 1-2% of the population? So statistically most people complaining can have it!

But OP doesn't say that she is pregnant or her parents are immunosuppressed so should be fine.

^

Wigwambam10 Mon 17-Dec-18 07:38:55
Also I am in early pregnancy so obviously wanted to check I had had it

Also I am in early pregnancy so obviously wanted to check I had had it

It was a much later update shouldwestayorshouldwego though I'm surprised the nativity was her worry not that. The other teacher is pregnant too.

The mum was a prat and irresponsible to send her obviously ill child in. Towards both the dc and anyone else. Her son did not infect the OPs though sk fuming at her for being a prat- right- but not for her son's cp.

The misinformation on this thread is staggering.

You only get shingles if you’ve already had chicken pox. You cannot get shingles from someone with chicken pox. You can get chicken pox from someone with shingles (personal and fairly horrible experience).

Recent US studies show that the theory about protecting the elderly may not hold true. They showed an increase in shingles in young adults, but not in the elderly. In any case, there is a shingles vaccine.

The two-dose vaccine is 98% effective in children but only 75% effective in teenager and adults.

The two-dose course lasts for at least 10-20 years. It does not last only that period, it does not ‘wear off’ at that point. The evidence base is obviously still developing, and the case for boosters will become clear if they are indicated.

JCVI has given several reasons for not proceeding with the vaccine currently - one is acceptability, and the idea that introducing MMRV would reduce uptake of MMR even further (ie - Andrew Bloody Wakefield still hurting the health of kids), the shingles theory (both not backed up by evidence and largely irrelevant thanks to shingles vaccine) and direct cost to the NHS.

CP is not contagious for ages. It has an incubation period of 7-21 days but is not contagious until 24-48 hrs before the spots/blisters appear, it then remains contagious until all of the blisters have dried up and scabbed over. CP is airborne and as little as 15mins of exposure is enough to infect you, it can also be spread from contact with the blisters fluid and contact with contaminated surfaces. It is also possible to catch it more than once and this is not a rare thing, several children in my DC's small school (including my DD) have had it more than once.

Chicken pox is considered a minor illness in children but that doesn't mean the symptoms aren't unpleasant and no one knows in advance of their child with get a mild case, a 'normal' case, if it'll be severe, or if they'll have serious complications. The most common complication is the spots getting infected, which in itself carries the risks such as sepsis. I didn't know that hearing loss is a risk until one of my DC got blisters inside her ears and we had to have her hearing tested once she'd recovered because scarring can damage normal function of the ears. Scarring is the other common risk, especially in children who aren't old enough to know not to scratch/pick at the spots or if the spots become infected. More serious complications include pneumonia, encephalitis, meningitis, and cerebellitis, these are thankfully rare but are not just limited to those with weakened immune systems or underlying health conditions. It's a gamble and to knowingly expose other people's children when you know your child is contagious is selfish.

The mother in question knew her child was contagious and still sent him to school, OP has every right to be pissed off about it.

Chill. Chickenpox is contageous before spots appear. Here where we live (NL), school policy is to send kids to school when they have spots, as it's no longer contageous, unless child feels ill with fever, weeping spots etc, common sense etc. Chickenpox is something all kids will get, and it's better to get it when they are relatively small.

CP is still contagious when they have spots. It is contagious until they have all dried up and crusted/scabbed over. It takes a little while for them all to drop off after that, unless that's what you mean? A spotty child isn't contagious if the spots are scabbed and I would send that child to school but I wouldn't send a child who still has wet blisters.

I was very poorly with chickenpox when I was 5. Our local hospital was part of a trial for a new version of the vaccine and DS was offered the chance too take part (he was about a year old at the time). We took them up on it and if we hadn't I would have paid for him to have it as we did the men b jab. OP YANBU to be upset about it. The other mother was foolish but to be honest the infection had probably spread before the child's spots came out.

DoingMyBest2010

You've been woefully misinformed. It's only when the spots have all scabbed over they aren't contagions. What if a classmates mother is pregnant.

Also this 'Chickenpox is something all kids will get, and it's better to get it when they are relatively small.' is not true. You can have them vaccinated.

Of course a child shouldn't be sent into school with chickenpox. But as everybody has pointed out the child was contagious before spots appeared so your DS would almost certainly have got it anyway.