If you had an immunocompromised child...

[TubbyTabitha]

...would you now pull them out of school?

Now that they're not going to do contact tracing and only test those that present with severe symptoms needing treatment...it's going to be silently widespread in all areas isn't it, with no way of knowing if it's on your doorstep unless someone at the school gets really sick with it?

Now that they've stated they're not going to close schools and let it rip through the population...is it down to us as individual families to make these decisions to protect our vulnerable?

We aren't, but I think it's a personal choice.

Yes but would try and continue working at home with them.

If my child was of school age I would

I would

I think yes, but be prepared for the long haul. Early summer at the latest.

Yes, we are

Yes I would, without hesitation.
I don’t agree with stockpiling or the mad rush to buy loo rolls etc etc but I think anyone who is immunocompromised (or parents of!) are absolutely right to take sensible precautions, and schools are germ factories.

Thank you, I agree. I wish the government would make it clear - if your child is compromised - you are advised to take them out if you can/will not be penalised for home educating/will be financially supported if you have to stop work to home educate.

I am so worried that deaths that could have been avoided will happen because many parents will either blindly carry on because the school isn't closing/have no choice because they have to work.

Immunocompromised, yes.

I have 2 DC. One is immunocompromised with problems seriously affecting the lungs.

I HAVE taken both DC out of school. But I think the difference here is that the DC school has had 2 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 4 more suspected cases.

If you believe it is the right thing to do or there are multiple cases in youre area I fully support you. You have to make the right decision for you’re family.

I didn’t let them go in, contacted rheumatology about DC1 and took their advice.
I contacted the school afterwards and said I was taking them out for at least a week on the advice of rheumatology and would reasses afterwards. As soon as I mentioned autoimmune, affects the lungs and acting on medical advice the school were very supportive.

I’ll just add that they have been following their school timetables and doing work at home with mine and DH support where it’s needed.
The financial implications of what I’ve done can wait as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather be in debt than have a dead child.

Not immune compromised but my youngest DC has a condition which means if he gets ill and stops eating or has a temperature, without medical intervention/admission to hospital it would be fatal.
I am not pulling him from school, he has 2 brothers and I can't pull them too, plus my husband travels on the tube for work every day and he can't stay off work.

We will prepare for hospital admission and hope for the best.

I posted in response on other threads about this.
My daughter had a 11 year old with serious health issues life long, she has been off school just over a week with viral infections (this is high risk to her anytime), school will probably be expecting her in soon but daughter will not be sending her to school as many children are carriers with no symptoms, she will probably be taken to court if schools do not shut down soon.
Think that if you or yours are healthy and follow precautions etc fine, but children with serious high risk to infection / life should be able to completee school work at home.

School have already told me it’s fine to keep my daughter off if I think it appropriate, but she is in remission from a rare, life threatening, cancer-like immune disorder which was initially triggered by a virus (Epstein Barr).

COVID 19 is too new to have any officially confirmed & published data but the previous, similar viruses are all known triggers (SARS-CoV, MERS-Cov, Avian and Swine flu etc).

I’m a bit freaked out by it all, not sure how and when I’m supposed to decide such things? She only went back to school in September after almost a whole year off. Our MacMillan nurse doesn’t have any official advice because it’s all supposed to come directly from NHS England via 111.
Clinic appointment with DD’s brilliant consultant next week, but that could easily be cancelled because he’s a paediatric oncologist specialising in bone marrow transplants so all the children on his ward are seriously immunocompromised.

I think, depending on what happens on the weekend I might keep her off from Monday...

She was in PICU on a ventilator less than 18 months ago.
I really don’t want her to end up back there, especially in overstretched, emergency circumstances. She’s only 8 and she’s been through way too much already.

@DuLANGDuLANGDuLANG please keep her out of school!

Don't wait to be told what to do. Nothing is more important than keeping her safe. This is a very serious situation and absence from school pales in comparison to her life. Remember that the NHS is going to be absolutely buckling in a few weeks.

Yes I would.

This epidemiologist tweeted that the vulnerable will be asked to self isolate for 12 weeks 'when the risk is greatest' and claimed that was in the press conference/statement Boris gave... but it's since been deleted

twitter.com/SMHopkins

My son was off school ill yesterday anyway, and is off today although would have been well enough today. When it looked like schools would close from a week on Monday I had planned to just keep him off next week leading into that.

Now I am not sure I’m very much in two minds over what is best so will see how things develop over the weekend and then decide

Re my previous post, some good news they have sent school work for her to do at home for now.

please keep her out of school!

Thanks Tibblestoe - you’ll be pleased to know she’s at home!

School are very understanding, thankfully (I know lots of oncology mums who have been threatened with fines for non-attendance but we’ve only ever had fantastic support from school).

I had a late night message from a local friend saying she knows someone nearby who has been specifically instructed to self isolate by NHS England due to having symptoms after travelling to a known problem area.
This poor person has been promised a test but nothing has actually materialised yet, despite having had symptoms for several days.
As my DD’s illness was dramatic enough to be well-known locally, this friend of a friend had specifically wanted to warn me that a) she believes she has it and we’re located in the same area and b) the government response isn’t efficient at all, in her experience thus far.

Apparently she and my friend had been carefully wording the message so as not to panic me, but also to convince me of the seriousness of it all.

So it was a no-brainer after that.

School have asked me to phone on Monday purely for information sharing purposes (both ways) so if it looks like we’ll be staying home for a while, I’ll be able to request some home work.

For now tho, it’s crafts for DD and bleaching surfaces for me 😂