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.

Do they vaccinate for C pox in the UK? I am long out of the game.

No! I had no idea, thought it was the one you can’t immunise against!

Oh OP you’re getting a really hard time on this thread. I’m sorry your son is poorly and will miss his first week. This must be hard for him - at this age missing out on those first few days making friends and getting to know the school is really important to them so I can see why you’re all upset.

For those going on about the vaccine and how chicken pox is a common illness etc etc - this isn’t about chicken pox - it’s about a family knowingly allowing a contagious poorly child to play with other children just before back to school. The specific disease is irrelevant. And OP I don’t know anyone who has had the chicken pox vaccine, it’s really not common place in the UK.

YANBU about being annoyed that this family allowed their contagious child to play with other children which has not only resulted in your child being poorly but he’s now missing his first few days of high school. I hope he feels better soon.

It's not standard in the UK

Well we can get it from our GP in NZ - children get a free chickenpox vaccination when they are 15 months old. When my children were little we had to pay but it must be cost effective to vaccinate. On the other hand, we can actually make an appointment with a GP in NZ and see them in person - sometimes even on the same day as we call.

This is what I mean about people lacking basic knowledge. Some people think the same about the COVID vaccine: that it means you can’t catch it or infect others. Obvs there’s a much lower risk. But can still mean kids have to be off nursery/school.

you definitely don’t take kids with chicken pox on holiday and let them run around… but also… Surely if you make it to high school age without having had chicken pox you get vaccinated?? It’s so much worse when you’re older

Maybe read all of the OP's posts....?

It’s £150 at Boots. That may be hardly anything to you, but perhaps don’t assume others are in that position.

Sorry just seen the updates about the vaccine. You’re not being unreasonable to be annoyed

Although it's a common childhood virus, it can still be very serious. My two year old was hospitalised with sepsis from an infected chicken pox. And she's a normal kid, not vulnerable particularly.

So no, I wouldn't purposely send out my kids to infect others.
Had I known about the vaccine sooner I'd have got it for both my kids!

OP it seriously pisses me off when other people are selfish pieces of shit and don't care about the consequences or infecting other people. I once went to a party where the birthday girl had been sick the night before and the mother only told us halfway through the party. Lo and behold the kids got sick, then I got sick. So about 2 weeks off work in total and a fucking awful time.
If it happened to them, they'd be fuming too. Totally avoidable.

And the advice for chicken pox is SO clear. Stay at home until they've scabbed! I hate inconsiderate people.

On the other hand, he's had it now, it is what it is, hope he feels better soon!

Chickenpox vaccine advice link: https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine/

The OP is overreacting, but seriously - the chicken pox vaccine isn't given on the NHS (it might be now, but it's a very recent thing). The private vaccine is expensive.

It's not a serious illness for most kids. It's more of an inconvenience for parents because you have to take time off to look after them until they can go back to nursery/school.

You'd think since covid that people would be a bit more aware about infection control.

Post after post slating you for not having him vaccinated (you've explained why) instead of focussing on the shitty family that allowed their child with chicken pox that was still contagious, amongst other people. Some who could be vulnerable.
I feel for your lad OP because it's really shitty timing. Hope he feels better soon.

What are you talking about. Shingles is nasty but arises when someone who had chicken pox years ago is unwell with something else and the chicken pox virus comes out of it hiding place and causes a nasty painful rash and becomes a danger to pregnant women and immunocompromised

Calm down, its just a week off school. Hunting down the family won't do anything in the long run. Whilst you do that, do you want to hunt down the person who brought Covid 19 in as well? Ridiculous threat title.

I'd be surprised if he caught it on holiday from the timings you've listed.
CP has an incubation period of 10-21 days, but 14-16 days is the most common.
Even at 10 days, it seems unlikely that your DS caught it from the boy on holiday.

Having caught chickenpox, he will now be at risk for developing shingles in the future, though it most commonly occurs in people 50 yrs old or older.

People aged 70 to 79 are eligible for the two-dose NHS shingles vaccine (Shingrix). Private Shingrix vaccinations are available through some pharmacies and require two doses. It costs in the region of £400 to £459 for the two doses.

Superdrug:

"The shingles vaccine is suitable for patients aged 50 years and over who have either had chickenpox or have received the chickenpox vaccine in the past.

If you have neither had chickenpox nor the vaccine, you are not at risk of developing shingles and the vaccine won’t be suitable for you. In this case, you could benefit from the chickenpox vaccine.

You will be unable to have the shingles vaccination if you have had one or more episodes of shingles in the last 12 months."

Ah OP that's rotten luck. On the plus side, though, it's best to get chicken pox out of the way in childhood. Despite being vaccinated, I got it in my late 20s and have never felt so ill in my life. Apparently the symptoms tend to be worse when you're older. I was off work for 2 weeks and still barely had the strength to return.

Try to think of it as another baddy ticked off the list. It will be good for him in the long run!

You should have had him vaccinated if he got to 11 without getting it.

They recommend 6/7 as the age to vaccinate I think if you've not caught it. It's easily done, in boots or similar.

I'd have imagined most big kids would've had it. I would've kept mine away from babies/ old people/preschoolers but older than that is on you.

DS had it at 2 and gave it to newborn DD. She was too small to build the immunity so had it again at 2 herself. It's part of childhood.

It is not the best timing, but he was going to catch it sooner or later. Could be worse and he caught it during an exam time later.

RTFT - the first dose of the vaccine put him in hospital.

Tough luck to those immunosuppressed adults, eh?

Yes it's annoying but not a big deal in the scheme of things. It's bad timing but was bound to have happened sooner or later.
I certainly wouldn't be hunting down the parents...

Unfortunately you can't change the behaviour of other people as we all found during lockdown when people wouldn't stop socialising (yes you Boris etc)