To hunt down these bastards who exposed my son to chicken pox

[littleredbumblebee]

User name changed as outing

went on a caravan holiday last week for 5 nights and my son who is 11 played with some kids from other families and had a great time- all good

On the last night one of the smaller boys was running around with no shirt on and he has spots, one of the other families asked and his mum said oh he has chicken pox but we though getting away would do him good.

I told her my son had never had chicken pox and said I bloody hoped my son was not going to come down with them. One of the other parents also said they should not have brought the kid. Basically it ended up with them going inside the caravan in a huff. The next day we all left

So today the day before my son is use to start at high school he woke up covered in spots and now has chicken pox and won’t be in for his first week at high school. Tonight he is now crying saying he won’t name any friends now and he won’t know his way around and no amount of comforting will calm him down. Very few kids for his school are going to this high school and he is so upset he will have missed out on making friends.

We have been in touch with his form tutor who has been great and has said they will support him and catch him up but I could bloody scream. How can some people be so bloody selfish.

You think it is OK to knowingly put people at risk of an infection without their knowledge, and that it is for you to decide that you are doing them a favour?

I'm honestly kicking myself, why don't parents know about this (it's clearly not just me), my kids had an awful time with it last year and I feel so guilty now 😞

Parents were selfish and timing sucks but it’ll pass soon. I always said I’d get dd vaccinated if she hadn’t had it by end of primary. She got it in year 5 and one parent didn’t forgive me as dd gave it to her daughter (they sat together in class and it was before we knew so not deliberate).

I only know about the vaccine as I have family in USA and Canada where it’s normal and they were horrified I hadn’t had dd vaccinated.

It costs £130. In a country with generously free healthcare it's hardly too much to ask

No it doesn't. That was why chickenpox parties were popular, it's really contagious.

Absolutely! My oldest had it at 2.5 years,was so unwell that ended up in hospital and was off nursery for a month, and at 8 still has scars on her face and body from this
So we paid for our 2nd to get vaccinated, I was still on mat leave so we weren't exactly well off at that point, but it was a priority for us, so we put aside £10 a month and paid for it when she was 15 months old.

You normally have the virus a few days before the spots appear. When they are appear, that's towards the end of having the virus.

Thick as fuck?

See the NHS advice. Big yellow warning box: stay off school / work, and
“do not go near newborn babies, or anyone who is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, as chickenpox can be dangerous for them”

So doubtless the family on the caravan site could be sure that there would be no one pregnant, no child or adult with weakened immune system?

LOL if the family concerned now have childcare issues and have to take a week off work because their childminder / nursery staff etc have caught CP from a similar family who think everyone else is thick as fuck.

The spots have to have crusted over before you stop being infectious. If they look like blisters, you'll be infectious.

It's only recently that the vaccine has been easily obtainable in the UK so not surprising people don't know about it and aren't swamping chemists shops to spend 150 pounds. Anyone taking their child on holiday with chicken pox is really selfish and irresponsible.

I know that. But it doesn't take a few days of exposure to catch it.

No one can do anything about the most contagious period before the spots appear - if you don't know, you don't know. But DC with spots are still very contagious and shouldn't be out and about until the spots are crusted over.

Measles, mumps, scarlet fever, whooping cough, diphtheria, polio all used to be standard childhood viruses.

I was relaxed about CP too, until my child ended up in intensive care with it.

Lolz. on MN you're a twat if you send your kid into school after throwing up once because you KNOW it was due to them hoofing an entire packet of haribo on the sly, just on the 0.0009% chance it's a coincidental virus. 🙄

But your kid catches chicken pox from another that should clearly not be out and you're the arsehole for not paying to get him vaccinated.

Your poor DS op. Reassure him that friendships change extremely quickly in year 7. He'll be ok, but what a crappy thing to happen. Poor lad.

Why does it matter how educated you are? If you were all that involved and dedicated a parent then you should know about the vaccine. Chickenpox can lead to serious complications, is often extremely painful for the child and once you've had it then it can re-emerge as shingles later in life.

The idea that vaccines are only given if 'necessary' is untrue - the MMR wasn't introduced as standard until the late 1980s, even though it was available in the late 1970s. One child in my primary class was deaf from measles, mumps can lead to viral meningitis...etc.

Perhaps they were already on holiday when the spots appeared as happened with a friend's child (although they were abroad the time fortunately the spots had crusted before the flight home - oddly enough despite it being so contagious why didn't the siblings catch it.
What really gets me is people with shingles who will fly, go shopping etc and they are as much of a risk as a child with chicken pox. I got real aggression from friends of my parents as a young adult as refused to go and help look after them when they had shingles (before I caught chickenpox from DC which I could avoid)

Ok these ppl are beyond stupid. They should have asked you before letting their infected kid play with yours.
but hunt them down to do what exactly?! What do you plan to say/do to them? Sounds like a bad idea, and even pretty scary!

Or people who know their child has chicken pox should stay at home

I don’t think the OP means it literally.

Because a minority of children suffer severe scarring, blindness, hearing loss, and brain damage. This is why the vast majority of developed countries vaccinate. The UK is a bit backwards about this but it seems that things are changing and an NHS vaccination will be introduced soon.

If you think £130 per child isn’t a lot of money for many families, then perhaps you’re unaware of the shocking levels of poverty in UK. Many working parents are really struggling to cover basic costs. And IMHO free healthcare, especially preventative healthcare like vaccination, isn’t ‘generous’. It’s a basic human right. It should be a priority for any government. What’s more important than the spread of infectious disease?

Do people not realise the vaccine doesn't guarantee they won't get CP?? I know a few who have had it despite having the vaccine and then there's those like me who have no CP immunity. I am a HCA and have to avoid it should we get a patient with CP or shingles and I'm fully vaccinated. I've had it 4 times now.

I didn't know there was a vaccine and having just looked into it privately there isn't anywhere near me that offers it, its a 25 mile trip.
The people who went away knowing their child had it were in the wrong, they could have exposed someone with a weakened immune system.
My son was 2 when he got it and perfectly healthy, he also had it very mild with a handful of spots. However one got infected and it almost killed him, CP isn't always as mild as we think.

I don't know anyone who has had the vaccine and I do consider it to be expensive. There's been a couple of bouts of it at my DCs school. Both of mine had a week off but they were fine for most of it, we were just waiting for the spots to scab over. The woman on the campsite was selfish, I'm sure your ds will make loads of friends, plenty of kids move schools mid year and are fine

It’s a bit shit yes, but 11 is very late to get chickenpox- you had a good run but ironically probably would have been better for him to get it much younger. Surely you wanted him to have it as a child, as shingles is nasty!