Chickenpox - when (OH WHEN!) can I send her back to school???

[jeangenie]

DD1 has had the pox and been off school since last thursday - they only started coming up properly on Friday but DD2 had had previously so we knew the tiny spots on DD1 on Thursday were the plague - anyway, she's been fairly ill - high temperature til Sunday, loads of spots, everywhere (and I mean EVERYWHERE - it's hurt her to pee poor pet!) but now she is starting to get much better and is driving us crazy at home - she is like a caged beast...

so, can I send her back to school yet? most of the spots have crusted over...there are a few stragglers still with the kind of deflated blistery head on them, not yet crusty...do I have to wait til they are fully crusty or what?

(hope you weren't eating!)

oh does nobody know? am desperate...

I think it is when they have all crusted over. Is a pita I know. Hope she is fully well soon.

TOTALLY CRUSTY? not just deflated and fairly innocuous looking?

how long have other poeple's kids been off?

aah, DD1 was off about 8 days now I remember [oh dear god!]

thanks pandag

Totally crusted over...and no exceptions!

Have you tried porrdige oats in a sock in bath water? It is fantastic at relieving the itching but I am sure it helped DD's spots crust over faster certainly in comparison to DS who had it just before her.

Lots of stories, drawing, dvd's, chocolate, fresh air in the garden helped my DC and my sanity

I read the other day that no child needs to be off for more than 5 days

yep - did the porridge oats thing - was the only thing to give her any relief when they were really bad - she has tonnes of the spots though, and some do still look a bit blistery, nothing in them iykwim, but not red and scabby (what a gross discussion!)

Anniebear, wonder where you read that?

GP told me 7 days after the spots first appear - that's when they stop being infectious.

that'd make it thursday...ho hum

Actually you count first day of spots as day one, so you could go for tomorrow...!

the virus is in the moisture when the spots are breaking - so still infectious until they have all scabbed over and dried up. dd's spots came out last monday, and by sunday she was fine. hth