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.

I agree with you OP that it was selfish of them to knowingly expose others to CP. It’s dangerous for pregnant women who’ve never had it and immune compromised children/ adults could be more badly affected as with any virus. People forget sometimes that not everyone is like them.

I had CP as an older teenager and was really ill with it. I then had shingles in my early 40s which was very painful. My DD never had CP despite her being exposed to it multiple times so I had her vaccinated aged 6. She was actually able to have it for free on the NHS as I’m immune compromised (in case anyone else is in the same position and wants their child vaccinated.

The other lot sound like arseholes but in all honesty he’s lucky to have avoided it so far if he’s 11. I had it as an adult and it was dire.

However if it was only a few days ago he may not even have got it from them, I thought the incubation period was longer.

Hope he is better soon

@Beezknees and the reality is some of you have gross attitudes towards poor people.

It would be worse if he got chicken pox later in life. Most parents want their kids to get it young so the worst is over. Getting it as an adult is far more serious and the fact your kid is 11 and hasn't had it is a miracle itself. Easy thing to catch.
The boys parents with chicken pox are not selfish. Everyone is selfish if that's the case who leaves the house with a sore throat or a cold or any virus at all.

Because it’s not lifelong and when it wears off, it then exposes you to getting it as an adult, and that is not funny…

Was the plan for him to avoid it his whole life?

OP isn’t that skint, her DS caught it while on holiday!
Priorities! £150 once in a lifetime to vaccinate or much more £ on one caravan holiday…

I bet most people spend more each year on alcohol than £150

But why are you being so nasty? A mum is upset that her kid is ill and sad, and you’re twisting the knife.

There are also real dangers for older people and especially pregnant women from contracting chicken pox.

Only a complete arsehole would bring a child with a communicable disease to a holiday park. You being salty about being poor doesn’t change that.

I couldn't afford to vaccinate my DS. So I fully accepted that he may catch chicken pox! You can't expect that everyone will behave in exactly the way you want them to, life doesn't work that way. Deal with reality. Yes the child's parents should have kept him at home but you can't control how others act.

It is lifelong. The early 1990s versions weren’t, but it is now.

@JulianFawcettMP - £150 is way cheaper than two weeks off work with a sick child or being left with a child who is permanently disabled because of the side effects. Think of the long game. Lots of things aren’t common in this country. It’s astounding to me that so many people think because the NHS doesn’t offer something for free, it’s not worth having. Open your eyes! The US have had the CP vaccine since 1995! You pay for ear syringing now, why not a vaccine against an illness that could kill your child? And for those who didn’t know the vaccine existed - really? Where have you been?

I get Universal Credit, I am poor!

No I didn’t know. But then there wasn’t even MMR when my kids were small…..

I don’t think there’s ever a good time to get chicken pox.
i wish i had my older 2 vaccinated.
the gp told me that it’s going to be in the childhood immunisation schedule next year (Scotland) which will be fab

That is so selfish! When my daughter had chicken pox at age 2 I lept her away from elderly people and pregnant woman, or any child who could pass it onto their potentially pregnant mother or elderly grandparents.

I was not aware of any option to vaccinate against chickenpox- this was 16 years ago.

The entitlement of the unvaccinated to expect to be protected from a virus!
You can’t depend on herd immunity. Vaccinate or you accept the risk.

It's annoying but he will be okay. 😎

Someone who hasn't had chickenpox is always going to be at risk of catching it though, because the virus is contagious before the spots even appear so they could be in contact with someone who doesn't even know they have it themselves at that point, although kids can often be snotty and poorly before the spots come out (mine were anyway!).

Doesn't excuse the caravan family being so laissez faire though, as they obviously knew their child had it. Hope your son is better soon.

Risk of shingles later in life. I also know of someone whose child had a stroke as a result of chicken pox. And on a basic level, I have never seen my child so miserable- one of them anyways, the other had a dozen spots and was mostly fine- but one of mine was about as ill as I have ever seen her, still has scarring and on balance would have preferred not to have had the experience.

It’s astounding to me that so many people think because the NHS doesn’t offer something for free, it’s not worth having.

Yeah! Teeth and eyes aren’t free on the NHS, but I definitely need both and so do my DC

Don’t think it’s as much concern about the illness as being rightly cheesed off at morons knowingly taking their infectious child on holiday to mix with other children.

Really selfish of them, but better he had it now than later on.

Well yeah, I get that but what can you do? It happens.

It's £150. That is quite a lot.