Chicken pox incubation: stay in or no?

[marshmallowpies]

I just found out yesterday that a friend of DD has chicken pox- her spots appeared Tuesday, and they played together on Friday & Sunday. They played for a long time on Fri, lots of physical contact (squabbling!) but only for around half an hour on Sunday.

So there is a good chance DD has picked it up but is still incubating & not contagious yet. Is it ok to take her out today just to stock up on food, etc, but keep her away from other children? From when should I start keeping her indoors? As things stand I may not know for days if she is infected yet - we are going to be bored stiff if we have to stay in waiting to see what happens!

[Anotheronesoon]

I would go out until I see the first spot then it's five days solitary I think! I have had too many scares to stay in with ds now- too many false alarms where he has been exposed but hasn't caught it. What I wouldn't do is go to hospital, Gp or old peoples home where there is A higher proportion of at risk people.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I'd go out, my DC have been exposed lots of times and never had it, your DD might be the same.

[TarkaTheOtter]

It's not certain she's got it. The incubation period is up to three weeks. I don't think it's feasible to quarantine for three weeks every time there is a chance of exposure.

[marshmallowpies]

Thanks for the answers - this is the first time (that I know of) she's been exposed so I went into 'lockdown' mode.

She is due to go back to nursery on Monday, it's a very small nursery group & at least 2 of them have had it already - I do feel like if any of the other parents are uncomfortable about it we ought to stay away, just waiting to hear what they all think...

[ilovepowerhoop]

they are only contagious for 1-2 days before the spots came out so you may have been lucky and she wasnt in the contagious phase when your dd played with her.

The incuabtion period is 10-21 days so you have a while to go before you know whether she has it. She wouldnt be at the infectious stage yet anyway.

I would go out and about until she shows signs of it which she probably won't.

[ilovepowerhoop]

you cant isolate for 3 weeks every time she is exposed or you would never get to go anywhere.

[Coffeemonster1]

I work in a children's hospital and have seen many bad cases of chicken pox. Once the child has caught chicken pox, they are contagious up to two weeks before you see any signs of spots etc. So your DDs friend could have passed it on two weeks before she even got the spots herself. You won't know for a few weeks if she has actually caught it or not but you can't stay cooped up for that amount of time. It can't be helped and it's actually better to get it as a child. Adults tend to really suffer and can get quite poorly with it, more so than the children do.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Go out. Seriously if you kept them. In every time they had possible exposure to something you'd not leave the house.

[ilovepowerhoop]

they are not contagious for up to 2 weeks before the spots appear - they are contagious for 1-2 days before the spots appear.

[ilovepowerhoop]

from nhs:

Chickenpox is infectious from one to two days before the rash starts, until all the blisters have crusted over (usually five to six days after the start of the rash).

[marshmallowpies]

Thanks everyone! We are having a bit of a duvet day today as the weather's so gloomy, but going out later.

There is one parent at nursery a bit worried because they are due to be at a wedding the following weekend, but even if DD passed it on to their child next week, the following weekend is much too soon for symptoms to be showing.

I'm of the view that DD has to get it some time, but our nursery is tiny & run as a co-operative by the parents so I would be failing in duty of care if I didn't inform them.

[Coffeemonster1]

I though it says they are MOST contagious for 1-2 days before the spots come out, not that they are only contagious for those 1-2 days. Once the child picks up the infection there is a chance it could be passed on until all the spots have scabbed over. Like the original post said it could potentially been caught on the first day they played together and the other lg's spots didn't appear until 5 days later, so it's possible to passed it only early than the 1-2 days before the spots.

[Coffeemonster1]

I'm not arguing. I'm just saying it's possible. Not that op should stay in anyway.

[ChewyGiraffe]

Isn't it the case that you have to be in a room with someone in the contagious stage for 15 minutes to stand a good chance of catching chickenpox? So as it would be difficult to keep your DD in for weeks maybe (as you don't know if she caught it or not) you needn't be too concerned about popping to the shops or anywhere where she wouldn't be in contact with others for very long?

However, I do think it's reasonable to let nursery know and see what they say. Its not just kids but adults who haven't had chickenpox who would be wary. I'm thinking what if any parents / siblings of kids at nursery hadn't had chickenpox already and were immunocompromised (say on steroids or chemo even) or pregnant? I say this having gone through the whole of my first pregnancy pretty terrified of catching chickenpox as my Mum had always insisted I'd never had it. As it turned out, once baby arrived I had private antibody testing in advance of having the varicella vaccine and I did already have the immunity. But I know I would really have appreciated information about possible exposure so I could have decided whether I wanted to avoid it or not.

[marshmallowpies]

I think the adults are all ok, no health risks I know of, but one of them has a newborn (well, 2 month old) at home so am waiting for his verdict & the pregnant one is me! Luckily I have had chicken pox and at my stage of pregnancy (18 weeks) it seems the risks are lower. Not that I can isolate myself from my own DD, anyway, poor love.

[biscuitsandbandages]

I have leukaemia and am waiting for a bone marrow transplant. I am at home with 3 kids at the moment and everytime I go to the park with them or shops I am taking a massive risk as so many people ignore the quarantine for chickenpox and it could kill me if I got it. After the transplant I will not be able to immunised for at least 2 years. I cannot stay in my house for 2 years.

But.... even I wouldnt expect you to quarantine a well child with a possible exposure and neither do the guidelines. If you have close contact with anyone (ie she sits on their lap or kisses them) it would be considerate to let them know so they can make their own judgement.

[marshmallowpies]

Thanks biscuits for your opinion - of course she would be fully quarantined if I saw a spot and for the time being I'm going to avoid other close indoor contact with children (no swimming, playgroups, children's centres, etc), just go places where we can be out in the fresh air, or play dates with friends who've already had CP.

Hope that you find a transplant soon & sending you very best wishes xx

[biscuitsandbandages]

Thank you :-) I would happily have her over to mine to play without being worried at this stage so I hope that gives you some reaaaurance.