To think it’s so selfish to take sick kids out in public places

[picturethispatsy]

Just this week alone I’ve had to sit with my immune-compromised child on a train and in a theatre near very obviously sick kids constantly coughing and visibly poorly with bright red cheeks/clearly running a fever.

Caveat: I know that there are occasions where you have to go out and run an errand or something similar & have no-one to leave said child with, but why would you take a very obviously poorly kid to the theatre (two adults and two children so one could’ve stayed at home), not least as it’s unfair to the child but also how selfish to knowingly spread a virus!? Especially in the run up to Xmas FFS.

I realise we can’t shield ourselves from every virus going and it’s part of being human to catch them but there is a difference between inadvertently spreading one and knowingly exposing others 😭

Do people genuinely not think or are they just that selfish?

I haven't heard this is coming, quite excited by the prospect. My understanding was that it wasn't recommended to protect the older generations from shingles, but f* me I have scars all over my body from when I had it as a child. I hope that if it comes in it is well accepted 😁

I think you missed the memo there...

YABU

Thanks 👍 will take that onboard…

Depends how sick they are and what they’re doing. A child with a cold on a train is different to a child with chicken pox going to see Santa as in PP’s example.

It’s a problem at the societal level. If school and workplaces encouraged staying home with a child that would set the culture differently and reduce the level of viruses in circulation.

As it is, it’s impossible to keep children from having colds in virtually alternate weeks over winter, and the government is effectively advising that they should just carry on as normal

i agree with you that this is daft though

We are supposed to send into school even if known covid.

Realistically public transport and a packed theatre will never be safe places for anyone who is significantly immune suppressed. There will always be people who are unknowingly infectious, even if those with mild illnesses stayed home.

I agree that people with chicken pox or d&v should stay home, but with a cough or cold I don't think it is a reasonable expectation.

No problem👍

You're absolutely right, OP. People are selfish and disgusting about things likes coughs and colds. I hoped societal norms would change with Covid but I overestimated the people of the UK, unfotunately. It's almost as if people are more determined than ever to exercise their freedom to run around making other people feel terrible over Christmas. And then there's all the terrible hygiene, after being rude enough to go out in public in an unwell state. Urgh. Utterly revolting. Hope you and your family don't get poorly.

The thing is, going out to places that have crowds when immunocompromised, is accepting the risk that you could catch something. With risk comes responsibility, so if you do catch something, you chose that as a possibility.

If it’s just a cold yes I still go out with kids if they are up to it.

That is not really fair. No one out in public with a cold is doing so out of malice. If you feel well enough to be carrying on with life, then that is what people generally do. Some people literally have no option but to carry on when unwell.
And even healthcare staff can still work if able if they have Covid now. Not their fault... it is policy.

This.
I also might be just about to come down with a cold and not know. So based on that I assume that if you are unable to manage catching a cold that you will stay home.

Can you remind me? Something to do with being in prison but with your family? Always wearing sweatpants and not getting your hair cut? Banging pots outside and needing to hoarse toilet paper? 😂

Up to a point yes. However, I once found myself stuck in a Eurostar carriage just across the aisle from a child with obvious, active chicken pox. I am immunosuppressed and I do take care to use hand sanitzer and wear a mask, but some people are thoughtless.

From a parent of an immunocompromised child, I get you OP.
It's selfish behaviour. A simple "cold" to them could floor my child for a fortnight.
It's already hard enough to take my daughter out sometimes let a loan shoving a mask over her face.
It's selfish behaviour but unfortunately unless you have a child who's immunocompromised, you generally probably don't get it and don't give a toss.
X

I don’t know why, but people in England seem to view it this way… You believe that healthy people are protected when they wear masks, but the real source of the virus is the sick person, who should be wearing the mask. In fact, to enhance protection across the general population, it’s best if both sick and healthy individuals wear masks.

Maybe they were due to come home and had no choice?

Travel insurance covers change of arrangement for chicken pox becsuse it is so infectious. You wouldn't be allowed on a plane with it. Coughs and colds are one thing but chicken pox is a much bigger deal.

Some people literally have no option but to carry on going to work when immune compromised. Work that, like the work of people who aren't immune compromised, could be important and valuable to society as a whole. You can't just assume that all the vulnerable people can just stay at home, any more than disabled or blind people can all stay at home. People have to work. That doesn't mean it's easy to stay at home with a cold, because sometimes that's not possible either. It just means doing what you can, and not saying it's all unnecessary because vulnerable people should just stay at home.

Yes, but this applies to everyone. I have done the food shopping many times with a cold. I can’t just stay home when I’m sick.
When I was working I would still go to work with a cold. we weren’t allowed to call in sick but that’s not the point of this thread.

I think you missed some of what I wrote. I said "That doesn't mean it's easy to stay at home with a cold, because sometimes that's not possible either."

We just have to do what we can, but crucially, deciding there's no need to even try because the immune compromised people should all just stay at home is not the answer.

But there will be at least a few people that are sick in any public location. I would like to avoid sick people too. But it’s just not possible. I wouldn’t go out if it was flu. But people can’t be expected to stay home with a cold.

Surely if you’re that concerned you wouldn’t take an immune-compromised child on a train and to the theatre in winter?! You know there’s a massive risk of illness - kids / adults go out in public all the time ill for various reasons