Chickenpox - Would you/wouldn't you?

[mummytummy]

I am really paranoid about my two DDs getting chickenpox as we're going on holiday on Monday, and its rife in their nursery, and some of her other friends have it too. My mum has been saying that if they do come down with it, we shouldn't cancel our holiday (we're going on a Eurocamp caravan holiday in France) and that lots of parents would still take their children, which I have been disagreeing with. Anyway, today I went shopping to Bluewater, and there was a toddler absolutely covered in chickenpox, and they hadn't scabbed over. Am I being over cautious by considering cancelling my holiday if they did come down with it?

gggglimpopo, did your dd's vaccination against measles not work then?

can I make a suggestion - if you do go on holiday (and I hope you do!), make sure to take some calamine lotion and acqueous cream for any spots and anti-histamine (sp?) for the itching - if you are prepared then it won't happen! Have a great time!

can I just stress how really nasty this is as an adult disease, dp has it he is in such misery, seeing doctor tonight I have never seen him so sick

Thanks Catgirl - that's a good idea. Ninah, I hope DH gets better - I had it as an adult too, so know how he feels.

I don't know if this has already been said but chickenpox is a danger to pregnant women at times other than the last few weeks as Stitch says. This is from the nhs website:
" If you catch it within the first 20 weeks of pregnancy there?s about a 1 in 50 chance of the baby having an abnormality. This could be brain damage, birth defects involving the arms and legs, digestive or genito-urinary problems, eye infections, scarring of the skin, or poor growth. There is also a small chance of the mother miscarrying. The risk is highest if you have chickenpox between the 13th and 20th week.

If you have chickenpox after the 20th week of pregnancy, there doesn?t seem to be any risk of abnormality to the baby. However, if you have chickenpox within seven days before or after giving birth, your newborn baby may develop a serious type of chickenpox. Babies who catch chickenpox within a few days of birth have around a 20% risk of dying from the infection. "