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.

Chicken pox is mild, the vaccine uses the live virus and the spots tend to come out and scab over within 5 days. It's not bloody polio for crying out loud. By getting the vaccine you're exposing your child to the virus anyway so why bother. Just go play at the pox party and deal with it like you would a stomach bug for a week

He can still make friends when he goes to school. Are you transferring your anxieties to your child?! If you’re that bothered then you should have had him vaccinated. Good job he caught it young as it can be a very serious illness if caught as an adult. I feel your anger but you need to put some perspective on it.

I know a couple who took their infected kids on a flight with lovely recycled air.

No, this is shit OP. Sorry about your son but needless to say he is going to be absolutely fine making friends and settling in!

It's essentially a form of insurance. You pay a small amount upfront to insure against losing a lot more down the line. With chicken pox, it's a virus that almost 100% of unvaccinated people end up catching in their life so it's a statistically terrible gamble. Even the poorest people still have home insurance or car insurance. A child catching chicken pox can easily entail a loss of income or travel disruption that exceeds the cost of the vaccine. The concept isn't that hard to grasp but people in the UK are blinded by the entitlement of only accepting medical treatment if it's free. In almost every other country, it's perfectly normal to pay for healthcare, even if it's a small percentage in addition to your insurance. £150 is absolutely "reasonable" in comparison to the tens of thousands that basic medical treatment costs in the USA.

It’s not pointless as it’s not always mild. In addition, getting the vaccination means you’re not at risk for shingles in later life which can be horrifically painful.

When I saw your title I was inclined to say YABU but having read your post I can understand why you’re so upset! My DS also starts secondary this week and I would be gutted for him if he missed the first few days. I can’t imagine wilfully exposing anyone to chicken pox. Dreadful :(

I don't know why but I thought it was only contagious before the spots appeared/scabbed..

Sorry to hear that OP. I agree by that age there really isn't a good time to get chicken pox. Unless you get the vaccine it's pretty much a given that they will get it at some point. My children got it at ages 7 and 4 and even then my then 7 year old was one of the last in the year to catch it. It's very contagious before the spots appear too, so my 7 year old would have spread it before we knew he had it - I felt awful because it was over the summer holidays.

I hope your DS makes a speedy recovery.

How will you hunt them down?

What's the plan?

This.

If this was the case then vaccination seems like the obvious thing to do. Why would you not vaccinate yet simultaneously expect never come into contact with an incredibly common and incredibly contagious virus that virtually all unvaccinated people contract at some point?

I had chicken pox as a child, all 3 DC have had it when they were little and it never really crossed my mind about where it came from and who was the source of the infection- it was just an inevitable thing that was going to happen.

They’re like the terrorists of MN.

Not that it's much consolation now, but it's better that he has it when he's young. My DH caught it from our then 2 year old eldest, and let's just say, it was far from pretty!

Over 90% of the UK population has had chickenpox, usually get it much younger than your son, but as others have said, it's much better to have when younger, it can be a serious illness when caught as an adult, so I would venture to say those people have done your son a favour, if there were no plans to have him vaccinated very soon (dons hard hat and flameproof overalls)

Vaccines aren't always safe and can have side effects, especially since it contains the live vaccine. So catching chicken pox from a kid at school has the same risk and shingles us a reactivated form of chicken pox which would happen vaccinated or not

as far as I’m aware, the chicken pox vaccine was never available in the UK. My paediatrician said that it was all about the esthetics rather than actual benefits. Must be true. DS was covered but no scars remain.

A friend’s child had a stroke as a result of chicken pox - was touch and go as to whether they would survive, and lingering questions around long term impact. Mostly it is fine, but seems like an unnecessary risk when a vaccine is available.

Even the poorest people still have home insurance or car insurance

Often they don't have the first, the second is a legal requirement if they even have a car.

And it is completely irrelevant what the cots would be in the US.

Very much available, just not covered by the nhs.

I know I had shingles in my 20s and was very ill for a long time.
i just think the world has gone a bit mad since covid. You can’t vaccinate everything and as has been pointed out many people wouldn’t be able to afford it.
Anyway getting back to the point of the question, OP your son will be fine and make friends in no time x

Chicken pox isn’t a big deal, it can also be caused by deficiencies. You may have found it’s been a complete fluke for him to “catch it”
theyll do anything to charge you for a vaccine nowadays.
its a short illness, very few complications. Don’t get upset about it, I think I’d be glad it’s happened as an adolescent over being an adult

This vaccination is not actually part of the national vaccine schedule in the UK

Oh lord, where to begin? So many incorrect assertions in such a short post

It’s a normal childhood illness, we vaccinated our kids but I wouldn’t cancel a holiday over it unless I could get the money back. May we’ll have come out with it whilst away anyway.

Either way, if it is not covered by the NHS, there are good reasons behind that. No need to berate a mum for not using a vaccine that is not even in the list of essential vaccines.