WIBU to take DS out and about - chickenpox related

[SambucusEbulus]

DS has stupidly not been vaccinated for chickenpox and has never had it, to my knowledge. Two weeks ago, he shared a tent for five days with a boy who broke out in chickenpox spots the evening they came home.

DS hasn't got it...yet. We've been staying home since.
There's an event he really really wants to go to that would be happening on day 18 after his last contact with that boy. It's a family event, so lots of other kids and their parents.

Would it be really irresponsible to take him to the event, presuming he doesn't show symptoms in between times?

Most people in the UK aren't vaccinated against CP as you need to pay for it. I dont know why youre beating yourself up at not paying for the vaccine. You could have had him vaccinated soon after exposure though and that could have stopped or minimised CP if he did catch it.

I would have never kept my kids at home for 2-3 weeks when they weren't ill!

If he’s showing no symptoms then I’d go about your daily life as normal. And I say that as someone who is immunocompromised due to cancer treatment. My own DS was exposed to the virus a few times and didn’t seem to get it, to the point I thought he was immune, only to come down with it later on.

I think you've probably got away with it this time but I'd absolutely get him vaccinated asap going forward.

That's a good point. No, I probably wouldn't have kept him off school.

Tbh, he hasn't really expressed an interest in going anywhere or doing anything until now. He's off school, we have a swimming pool (we're not in the uk) and we live in the country. So we've gone on walks and stuff, just not anywhere where he'd be in close contact with lots of other people.

We were going to go away locally this week, but I cancelled that because I was pretty sure he would get chickenpox and would want to be at home. But he's not showing any symptoms at all, so...

I fully intend to.

I did ask a doctor about getting the vaccine when I found out about the other boy, but because of the timing he advised against it.

Most people don't get their children vaccinated against chicken pox, do they? My two are late teens now but nobody got the jab when they were small. I tried for my youngest and was brushed off.

Yeah most people don’t. Chicken pox isn’t really a big deal, I don’t understand the drama over it. It can rarely be serious but it’s usually over in a few weeks. Just something annoying to take time off work for.

I think it can be dangerous to catch in adulthood, if you were not vaccinated in your life

If your child has already had chickenpox, they are considered to have lifelong immunity, so there is no need for them to be vaccinated.

However, if it is unclear whether or not your child has had chickenpox, they can still be vaccinated as this can prevent future disease and it is unlikely to cause any harm even if they have had chickenpox before.

Chickenpox is transmitted directly by close contact or droplet spread and it can take several days for symptoms to develop. If you believe your child has been exposed to chickenpox and is not showing any symptoms, they may still have the vaccine. Vaccination within 3 days of exposure may help prevent chickenpox or reduce the severity of disease, resulting in fewer skin lesions and a shorter period of illness. However, there is limited information that being vaccinated up to 5 days after exposure may reduce disease severity.

You can’t stay in just in case he gets it! Until you know he’s got it, you’re fine to live your lives!

Maybe you could take his temperature to see if there are any slight rises pre- obvious symptoms ?

It can be really painful and nasty to catch in adulthood, yes. Also potentially very serious for pregnant women, newborns, and the immunocompromised.
The CDC in the US recommends all children get vaccinated for it now.

At 18 days it is past the incubation period which is generally 2 weeks but can (highly unlikely) be a few days after this.

At 18 days you're fine.

My DS2 came down with chicken pox 16 days into lockdown. We were really surprised as he hadn't had contact with people for over 2 weeks!!!

Potentially. I wouldn’t drama lllama over it. And I say that as a woman who caught chicken pox when pregnant 😱

(nothing happened. It wasnt evenp painful)

Have the rules (or etiquette?) about chicken pox changed in the decade or so since my DC had it? Then, you isolated from when the first spot appeared to when the last spot had crushed over and dried. But otherwise,
you carried on with life as usual but being more vigilant if you knew your child had been exposed. Both my DC had been exposed to it several
times at nursery before they actually came down with it but, each time, they continued to attend nursery whilst we waited to see if they would come down with it or not. I never kept them at home in case they did come down with it.

It is being added to the NHS schedule for all young children starting in January next year.

if I had had to take a single day off to look after my child(ren) with chicken pox I’d lose more than the £150 it cost to vaccinate so I thought it financially worthwhile. Also I probably have a skewed view as an ex-colleague of mine had months off work when his daughter developed some sort of heart problem as a complication of chicken pox and very nearly died.

Most countries have been routinely vaccinating against it for 20+ years, the UK is very late to the party.

Please tell me you are going to get him vaccinated now!

I think most people know all this? It doesn’t change my post, complications are rare.

Still not on the NHS vaccination programme at least in my area!

I meant to get my son (5) vaccinated and never managed it.

he caught it 2 weeks ago, luckily was all clear in time for our holiday.

It was going around his school massively and he must have caught it from school just as the school broke up as it fits the incubation period.

Oh didn’t know it was being added to the schedule of NHS vaccinations that’s good!

Maybe book in that vaccination...

To answer the OP, there is no guarantee your child will get it and develop symptoms.

Until symptomatic no need to isolate!

Son’s nursery had it going round multiple times and he never got it from there!

You don’t need to stay in just because of contact, only if he’s actually showing symptoms, ie spots.

No one ever insulated just because of contact before Covid.

My son (now almost 15) was not vaccinated against chicken pox because we were in the UK the year he would have received his vaccine in Spain where we usually live.

He was exposed to chickenpox at nursery in the UK twice but never got it - or so I thought.

When he was 9 his younger brother had his chicken pox vaccine (part of the public vaccination schedule in Spain) and I asked about whether my eldest should have it.

The doctor booked an antibody titer as he was older. He had full immunity, suggesting he must have had it at some point, but without symptoms. Apparently my father also had it as a child without symptoms, as he also had full immunity,but never remembered having it (and my grandma also said he never had it).

So - your son could have it and not have symptoms. But also, because I'm not sure that an NHS paediatrician will order an antibody titer proactively, perhaps get him checked to see if he already has immunity before deciding whether to vaccinated him or not.

Before anyone jumps on me, I am very cautious about illness (I'm immuno suppressed) and very pro vaccination however it is worth mentioning as it seems to be a little known fact that you can have chickenpox and have maybe only one spot or none and it appears like a cold or other minor virus .