being fed up of seeing kids out shopping with active chicken pox?

[jellybeans]

Hi I have a nearly 6 month old DS and 4 older kids. The older ones all had CP and when they were infectious I kept them in unless I had to go out and then I was careful to keep them away from people. However, the last two days i have seen kids in Tesco shopping and in Boots with full CP (ie not scabbed up). I would much rather DS was at least 1 when he gets it, also worry about the newborns and elderly getting it. AIBU to think people should keep their infectious kids at home?

Recommended period to be kept away from school, nursery, or childminders 5 days from onset of rash according to Health Protection Agency

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If I had a penny for every child I know who has or has had chicken pox, I'd be rich!
Ds had it just after Christmas, he was kept off nursery, we stayed in the house only venturing out once to go for a walk just to get some fresh air!
It was bloody frustrating and annoying, had to make DH do all the shopping while I climbed the walls. But I would have just felt awful if I'd allow DS to come into contact with other people while he was still infectious! Especially as I knew one of my friends was TTCing!
It's no wonder it's so common when people are so laissez-faire about it!

I took DS1 to feed the ducks when he had CP, didn't let him touch the railings though. Then DS2 (who was 3 weeks old at the time) kept vomiting, so after 24 hours we took him to out of hours surgery @ the hospital. DS1 was with us the whole time, though once DS2 was sent up to paediatrics they put us in a side room, and when he was admitted gave us a private room so that DS1 didn't infect anyone else!

If chicken pox...not on

Interesting to read that you can get the vaccination in the UK if you ask/pay for it. I wonder if it affects your chances of getting shingles later?? My mum had shingles when she was in the early stages of cancer, and the pain lasted for many months. It was truly awful. So, whilst I am fairly liassez-faire about kids with strong immune systems catching cp (both my kids have had it), anything which helps alleviate or stop the misery of shingles is well worth investigating in my book!

Of course there are situations where it's unavoidable to leave the house with a child with live CP. But those are rare. I met a dad with his DS who had it last summer. On a camping weekend

When dd had chicken pox I was in hospital within 48 hrs of her spots coming out with my 1st M/C. Whilst I was in there dh came down with it as well and friends very kindly dropped any shopping they needed in the porch and I settled up with them when I came home. When DS had it I was again in hospital within 48 hrs of his 1st spot. My mum took dd to school and collected her and dh stopped home to look after ds till I could. We took it in turns to do the shopping till he was no longer contagious.

I know that there are times when it is unavoidable and you have to take sick kids out but it doesn't mean I have to like it. Most people have at least one friend they could call on to drop of a bit of shopping. Whole families with cp infected kids do not need to all come trooping round the shops together one parent could stay at home or in the car with infectious children.

When my DC4 gets chicken pox I will have to leave the house with her to do school runs, etc. I'll try to be responsible, and make people aware (so that anyone at the school gate who might be pregnant can steer well clear), but the bottom line is, I won't be able to stay inside. And many other people are in this position.

EldonAve - how do you interpret that advice if your dc is producing fresh crops of new blisters every couple of days for 3 weeks?

I would have thought it would mean five days after the last new crop?? Not 5 days after the first spot. IYSWIM.

It seems pretty clear to me

"onset of rash" = when the rash starts

jee, the infectious stage lasts only for a short time.. are you saying that you know absolutley NO one in school who would do the school drop off pick up for you?

i get really really really annoyed when i ssee kids with infectious chicken pox in school. my kids are older now, and have already had it, but there are always newborns and pregnant women around. andit is impossible to 'steer clear off' a kid with chicken pox. i would quite happily do pick up and drop off for a mom with an infectious child, and most moms i know would too.

bringing an infectious child into school is disorganised and unsocial at best. i wont say what i think it is at worst.

I don't think it is clear TBH. The new blisters shed active virus until they have dried up and scabbed. This process takes roughly five days. That is fair enough.

But, if the child is producing a new crop of fresh blisters every few days, surely those new blisters would be shedding live virus until they too had dried up and scabbed over?

I presumed my ds was still infectious while he was producing new crops. It was 3 weeks from the first appearance of the spots, until the last crop dried up IYSWIM.

I am not trying to be difficult, I am just puzzled.

i'd think the same as you, frogs. with both of mine it was quite clear that the virus was dying as it was replicating, each day's crop of spots was smaller and less livid, and in fact they all scabbed at more or less the same time. but if they'd had new big spots, i'd assume the virus was regrouping somehow and that it presented a danger.

I would say - genuinely - that if your crops were lasting 3 weeks I would question if it was chicken pox or a related virus/bites/something else - that is not normal. I think chicken pox spots are typically all out within 48-72hrs.

That said the spread of chicken pox in the community is via the respiratory tract - which is where the 5 days advice comes from I think. The virus is shed via the respiratory tract and tends to be acquired via the respiratory tract. Yes the pox can and do shed. But that shed virus tends not to be a risk to others - because most of it will be shed onto clothes which go in teh wash. Not only that but AFAIK it doesn't tend to invade the skin of others (unless there is broken skin - and even then I am not sure) - so the small amount of virus that gets shed onto teh trolly isn't likely to be a problem.

The HPA guidance says 5 days from onset. That is what I stuck too. (oh and I and everyone I knew has done the school run with a child with chicken pox - we just lurked alone at end of playground - or with friends who couldn't care less as they were not high risk/had had it/weren't immuno-compromised)

It was definitely CP. GP came out to see him twice as he was so ill. He was almost admitted to hospital at one stage, but started to improve within hours of the GP considering sending him in. (We had to wait until isolation arrangements could be made) - and that was 10 days after the first crop.

It is rare, but GP said some children just get overwhelmed by the virus.

A friend brought her recently recovered children to visit, thinking he might be bored, and was shocked by how ill he was.

Fair enough - there are always some cases which are not typical.

Another point is that the survival time in the environmne t (i,e, on the trolley - for shed virus) is so short the risks are minimized.

3littlefrogs - similar situation here. My ds's got chicken pox at the same time a couple of years ago. I don't know if it was a particularly bad strain, but they were both extremely ill. My elder ds was also nearly hospitalised due to dehydration (very high fever had induced severe vomiting) and massive secondary infection. He has very bad eczema so skin diseases are bound to hit him harder, but my younger ds also had a bad time with pus pouring out of his eyes etc. They both ended up with anti-virals and massive doses of antibiotics and ds1 was off school for more than 4 weeks.

dd is getting vaccinated.

YANBU. I think it is quite selfish to take children out with chickenpox unless you are completely sure that it has gone past the infectious stage. It will not affect you but may completely change the course of someone elses life. I have a friend who is completely deaf because his mother caught a childhood disease (measles in this instance) when pregnant.

yanu at all!! Darren had to have 2 weeks worth of anti virols ontop of his chemo as some selfish cow had taken her kids to the farm. He was there enjoying a day without worrying about hospital visits that week and then ended up taking more pill

Yanbu.
I am terrified of getting it as I am ttc and do not have immunity to it despite having had both the illness and the immunisation.

There is no excuse for potentially harming someone else's wanted unborn baby in that way. Makes me furious tbh.

The risks to immunosupressed people are awful.

Anyone who knowingly takes their CP infected child out in a public area should be ashamed of themselves. It can be a serious and life threatening illness. If you need to get out, go somewhere where ther will be noone else around (ie:the middle of nowhere) or stay in your home/garden.

I got told by my consultant that the jab is not as good as the real thing,you can still catch it and it can run out. I have no rubella immunity either as that has run out(I had the jab at 13).

Eldon I had it as a child(obviously not severe enough) but found out I have no immunity when pg. Personally I don't think I will get it again (apparantly you can) as I think nursing 3 kids with it is pretty much the most exposure you can get.

YANBU

It is very dangerous for immunosuppressed people and there are a lot more of them about than we think.

Most of the kids I work with have immune issue and they have quite enough to deal with.

CP couldve killed my DD when she was on chemo. It was a constant worry. She did catch it eventually. She also relapsed at the same time but Drs put down the pain etc she was in to the virus. It wasnt their fault and it didnt cause her death but she DID suffer because of CP.

So frankly I could punch anyone I see blithly taking their kids out because 'well everyone wants their kids to get it' (actually heard a few weeks ago).

IF people want CP parties that is their business and although i wouldnt do it, it is their choice.

DONT inflict this infectious disease on others without their permission.

Its different if you dont know. That cannot be helped. But if you DO then you are being hidiously selfish.

I am biased but seeing your darling child screaming in pain for hours on end will do that to you.
FFS people just do not get it.

Interesting about the virus remaining on clothes.

I got chicken pox at the age of 30 and am convinced I got it after lying on my couch against a cushion. My partner's friend had been round the house with his 3 year old son who was ill with chicken pox (fresh spots and all - nice)and he'd been lying and sleeping on this cushion. I might be wrong, but as far as I knew I hadn't been in contact with anyone else with chicken pox and this was pre-children days when I didn't have any contact with children.

My only trips out were to the doctor who would always see me instantly so that I didn't have to wait in the waiting room.

Chegirl - so sorry to hear that you have such terribly painful, first-hand experience of what chicken pox can do to the immune-suppressed. My heart goes out to you.

It used to be the case that if your child got chicken pox and you were in posession of library books, you had to inform the library, as they were not allowed to take the books back due to the risk of fomite infection.