To think chickenpox is not guaranteed

[Feelslikespring2]

My DC was exposed to chickenpox over Easter wkend. We have 3 holidays booked for 2 weeks time and are due to be away all of may. It was outside and they were playing for less then an hr and not constantly but did hug and touch.

AIBU to think there's a chance they could of dodged it?? I have 2 DC so trying to work out logistics of holidays and knock on effect and wondering if I should cancel them or not?

It’s about a two week incubation period so you won’t know for a while.

My DD didn’t catch it till she was 8, she’d managed to dodge it multiple times until her baby cousin caught it at the childminder and passed it on.
My 3 dc then caught it all at the same time, DD first then DS2 then DS1 within 6 days of each other. It was a bit of a nightmare but I was glad to finally get it out of the way.

In your position I would try to get them vaccinated. I didn't know it was possible when my ds was tiny and he caught it twice, mildly the first time and more severely the second.

At least there's something you can try rather than just waiting hopefully..?

My father is one of 7 children and the only one to have never caught it and at 66 chances are he won't catch it now. Interestingly enough my son never had it and my niece hasn't and they are 23 and 18 so maybe not everyone will catch it?

I've never had it despite my siblings and friends having it as a child and my toddler having it and I couldn't avoid him.

But it seems rare that people don't.

Personally I'd look at getting them vaccinated ASAP. If it's given within 3-5 days of exposure it can potentially prevent CP altogether, or make it less severe.

Outdoors you may be in luck and they may dodge it, but it is so infectious. Although DD had it go round her preschool and nursery class 4 times and she never caught it, I’m looking at getting her vaccinated now to make sure she has immunity.

My dd got spots a week before a holiday. Luckily she didn’t get it bad and the dr gave us a fit to fly note as she had all scabbed up. Unfortunately the little one got it way worse out there! We had to use our insurance to travel home in two groups as they wouldn’t let him fly!

Usually 2w to the day

I tried for 5 years to get children I nannied for cp as that's what the mum wanted

Didn't happen till my last day and new nanny had to cope with 3 c cp children

Own daughter I took her to see a friend and had close contact with her as she had cp

2w later dd popped

She was also scabbed over in 3 days. This stuff is god !!!

Smear on like sun lotion 3 times a day and bath in head and shoulders - really dried out the spots

Not necessarily. My DD managed to avoid several rounds of it at nursery and school. She eventually caught it from her cousin at 8, which is quite 'late' these days

Having evaded it unintentionally until I was 26 and pregnant, I'd strongly suggest that above all, your niece pays for the vaccination asap. The others would be very sensible to do so, but your niece and any future baby could very easily end up in intensive care (or worse) if she catches it in pregnancy.

Could do. One of mine has been in close contact to chicken pox multiple times and has still never contracted it. A few people in my family are the same.

Mine has it recently, 2 weeks and 1 day after playing outside with a friends kid who was recovering/scabbed over and their sibling who hadn't displayed any symptoms at that point. They thought they'd dodged it for the sibling, too, as did I! Alas no.

They were due to fly 2 days after the sibling came down with it and managed to postpone their holiday by 1 week. Can you postpone or do something similar?

I was exactly the same, and didn't get it even when my younger brother had it.

I finally got it at 36, and was really ill.

Well, it’s £300 (for both doses) she wasn’t expecting to have to find and there are still some supply problems in some areas from the shortage last year. The vaccine is only effective 3-5 days after exposure so the first dose will need to be administered tomorrow or Friday to have any effect and if the exposure happened on Good Friday it’s already too late, unfortunately.

They will get the pox soon. Chickenpox is very contagious. Pox is coming.

@LudicrouslyCapaciousBag no o get that it might be too late this time. I meant that they could get them done asap if they hadn't already got it.

As for the cost, it's something we recognised that we'd have to budget for when we had kids. I'm surprised it's a surprise.

PP sharing stories of their DC dodging CP when it did the rounds or having it only very mildly: please have a conversation with your children as they approach adulthood about getting their antibodies checked and consider vaccination if they aren’t immune, especially if you have girls. Chicken pox as an adult is awful (I had it very badly and was very ill in my twenties despite having had a very very mild childhood case) but it is very dangerous in pregnant women with no immunity.

You can also have it with very few spots or be covered, so if the symptoms in the incubation period are less, spots less, it may be the chicken pox was not noticed! It is an easy one to catch though and nasty for adults who've not had it.

I’m nearly 40 and I’ve never had it. We went on holiday with another family and their children came out in it while away, my toddler got it but I didn’t. I’ve got 3 other children through it without catching it too. I was exposed when I was pregnant and didn’t catch it… the gp said not to worry as she was pretty sure I must be immune!

This may vary by region but it’s incredibly difficult to get a chicken pox vaccine around here at the moment. The private providers are still working through a backlog as the NHS was (rightly) prioritised for supplies during the global shortage last year, plus we are several weeks into peak chicken pox season so there has been increased demand for post-exposure prophylaxis vaccines. There’s no way OP would get an appointment in the next two days here. Hopefully it’s better elsewhere.

They may well not catch it. My kid is 7. Has been in close contact 3 times and not caught it yet.

I think it can depend on when immunity from mum is lost. My DD was around many cases at nursery and never caught it then. Had it quite badly at 7 after catching it at primary school.

My son must have had it asymptomatically at some point. He was exposed it several times as a child , but never got it. When he was 15 he got shingles ( confirmed by GP) which is only possible if you have had chicken pox. It's always been a bit of a mystery when he actually had it!