..to send DD to nursery tomorrow? (Chickenpox)

[aIways]

DD came up in chickenpox spots Monday evening. Has been pretty much fine all week, not a great number of spots and only one day where she's been complaining of itchiness a bit - we have both been going absolutely stir crazy stuck in the house though!

NHS website says people are not contagious anymore once all the spots have scabbed over, usually after 5 days. They pretty much all have, except a couple which are just tiny and have slight pinkness below the skin. These have been there since Monday and have not blistered at all and don't look like they will if that makes sense. Not raised or anything.

Will she be alright to go to nursery? I really don't want to take any more time off work if possible. I'm a single parent and have quite a lot of responsibility at my work and have had to work from home loads which has kind of been substandard in regards to what needs to be done, and also not fair on DD.

She's absolutely desperate to go back and see her friends. Also, I feel a bit anxious about them turning her away at the door, or inspecting her once I've left and making me come back and get her (long commute). Obviously don't want to give it to any other kids (though there's been a bit of an epidemic throughout the nursery). My mum (a previous nursery nurse) reckons they're fine. Should have took a pic but didn't think before she went to bed.

Have googled to no avail... any thoughts?

Both my DSs had CP a couple of months ago - in the last round of spots that appeared on day three there were definitely spots that appeared that didn’t blister/scab. I assumed they were not contagious by that stage.

Maybe keep her off tomorrow. It must be so hard as a single parent when DC are sick for nursery.
I understand they can't take them it, at the same work won't always accommodate you, my employers gets really pissy with anyone who calls in sick, they always follow up with passive aggressive punishment, they give them the shit shifts.
Do you have a neighbour who could help for tomorrow, if not try the nursery, mine have always been around other DC and have never got them.
I hope she feels better soon.

I never hide my revulsion (at parents) seeing a child who obviously has chickenpox out in public. Keep your kid at home until they are completely better. Save the rest of us, including pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems the real danger please. Don't be so selfish.

Our nursery policy was 5 days from first spot appearing. Do you not have a list anywhere in your contract with illnesses and exclusion periods?

The risk is not just to other kids, it is also to vulnerable groups. If she's still contagious you have no way of knowing whether the child she might infect has contact with someone who is pregnant, or undergoing chemotherapy.
She sounds like she's still contagious so I wouldn't take her in. I'd phone 111 or the GP for advice, not the nursery.
Some employers provide paid compassionate or carers’ leave. Typically this is around five days per year, to deal with situations like looking after poorly children.

From the TUC website

Just checked DS preschool CP policy, 6 days after spots appear, so she could be OK.
It really was a mild dose from the photo.

Do you not have a list anywhere in your contract with illnesses and exclusion periods?

Nope. The policies are online but all the pages of their website are saying their server is down.

I'm not being selfish. If I knew she was contagious, I definitely wouldn't take her in. I'm just not sure if she is! Hence my question.

Well if you're not sure, there's your answer. You should keep her at home. That's responsible parenting and being a responsible member of the community. Asked and answered. Though I'm sure you'll just put her in a long sleeved top and trousers and pass her off for well at nursery. So many do.

They might not even be chicken pox spots? I'd take her in given they are not even full if fluid.

Are they definitely new spots or could they be existing blemishes which you saw bec you are looking for CP? In my experience of CP the spots come up and blister within a couple of days. There were some which never blistered. Were these some of the last spots to emerge? They might not blister.

I'm not sure those 2 spots are chickenpox spots, they just look like little spots that happen to have come up at the same time. I would ask nursery in the morning as the rest are scabbed over and those two have looked the same for about a week, so quite possibly won't scab over.

This is what they should be following:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789369/Exclusion_table.pdf

says both 5 days and all crusted over. However this doesn't help your specific query. Usually spots go from bumps to blisters to crusted in 36-72 hours so I agree that if they haven't ever blistered at this point they probably won't. crust. So at some point she will probably be going back with non crusted spots. I would call the nursery and ask them what they want you to do. (Annoyingly many nurseries make up their own guidance- note that conjunctivitis and hand foot and mouth in table above do not need any exclusion).

Also for useful to know that 90% of adults who think they haven't had chickenpox have and are immune so fairly uncommon for adults not to be immune. But obviously still possible.

DD still had spots coming out ten days after it started. Quite a few of them hadn’t scabbed and I called the nursery who said bring her on the Monday anyway. At that point 20 of the 26 kids had been off with it so they were pretty relaxed about it. Those spots never scabbed over and disappeared about a week later.

Here is a sample policy from a national chain - it says completely scabbed over but usually 5 days. Tomorrow will be 7 if you say she went down with it last Monday. I'd have thought she'd be ok.

busybees-nurseryschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Sinkness-Policy.pdf

That’s an interesting table Halloumi thanks for posting.

And the NHS advice which also says 5 days www.nhs.uk/conditions/chickenpox/

I never hide my revulsion (at parents) seeing a child who obviously has chickenpox out in public. Keep your kid at home until they are completely better. Save the rest of us, including pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems the real danger please. Don't be so selfish.

DD had spots on her face long after she wasn’t contagious. How can you tell if a child is contagious or not by looking at them for a few minutes?

No do not send your DC until every last one has scabbed over, and I know exactly what you mean by the ones that look like they never will.

Please don't send her in.chickenpox is highly.dangerous in pregnancy

Halloumi

But it certainly is possible for adults not to be immune. Some adults do get CP and it’s very nasty when they do. My DH and BIL both had it as adults and were very ill with it. But they both grew up in a tiny village school so probably that was why they managed not to catch it.

I would ring somewhere for advice, 111, chemist, or your GP if you can manage to speak to a nurse or doctor, anywhere that someone might be able to give a definitive answer.

If they have never blistered in all this time they will probably just fade away. They might not even be chicken pox spots.

If spots have stopped coming, after 5 days I would have thought all that are going to scab over will have done.

People will get all hysterical on here and tell you you are selfish, unreasonable, putting people at risk etc etc etc but there is a high chance the contagious period has passed.

I would check it out in the morning with a HCP and if they say it's ok take her into nursery and don't mention the unscabbed spots.

Are they definitely new spots or could they be existing blemishes which you saw bec you are looking for CP? In my experience of CP the spots come up and blister within a couple of days. There were some which never blistered. Were these some of the last spots to emerge? They might not blister.

I think they did come up with the CP but she does sometimes get a bit of a rash with viral infections so I'm half wondering if it's that. In bed now with her next to me looking at her back with my torch comparing it with that picture and the little scabs have come off of some of them and they've disappeared, she's not complained of itchiness since Wednesday. I really don't think they'll blister when the definite chickenpox spots appeared at the same time and have raised, blistered, scabbed over and are now shedding their scabs (ew) and have disappeared underneath. Seems weird that they would progress at such significantly differing time frames.

I've had all three of mine have chicken pox in the last month. I don't think those are contagious anymore. There isn't, and never will be, fluid in those. My baby, 6 months when he got it, had some on the sole of his feet, which even now, three weeks later, haven't scabbed, but are gradually shrinking away. He was absolutely covered but these were different. I would send her in, they are not going to examine her. When my daughter went back to nursery, it was 8 days after the spots appeared and she had fully scanned over, but still looked awful. Any sane person knows it takes time for the skin to heal. My second and third both had it so bad that they are marked all over still, after 3 weeks. I bought some vitamin e oil today to hopefully help.

We’re just coming out of several weeks of chicken pox (2 dc caught 2 weeks apart).

Just wanted to say yes we had a few tiny spots that never scabbed and just faded away.

Please wait - my daughter is recovering from a rare autoimmune condition and the chickenpox virus is very dangerous to her/other oncology kids/adults.

www.cclg.org.uk/CSOIR/Infection-advice