Chicken pox and flying

[Suzeyshoes]

We are due to fly to Spain for a much needed holiday on Monday and my DS has had chicken pox since yesterday (Tuesday).
I have seen my GP and she is more than happy that he will be out of the the contagious period (5 days since the 1st eruption of spots) and therefore ok to fly.
HOWEVER, and here is my problem, Ryanair have the most ridiculous policy of not allowing a child to fly until they are 7 DAYS AFTER THE ERUPTION OF THE LAST SPOT!

So, basically this means that by the time he is fit to fly we will have missed most of the holiday..despite the fact that according to the GP he will be fit and well.

We all desperately need this holiday and the worse thing is that we won't be able to change to another week as my DH is busy at work until June.

Any advice please???? Easyjet have the same policy so can't change for them. And yes he does have spots on his face!!

i would ask the GP to sign a fit to fly letter.
not including any dates, just saying that in her opinion the child is not contagious and is fine to fly

then lie about when he first came out in it

(whispers) we took 3 yo DS on an Air NZ flight from LA to London when he was covered in spots. Under a blanket...I think we panicked.

Ha ha, I have thought about making him wear a balaclava but i thought that might be a bit obvious.
Good idea about the fit to fly letter with no dates. I have a letter but the date is the date the outbreak started ie. 1.02.11 and is impossible to falsify...

hmm but you could say the GP saw him on day 2, unless the letter specifically states otherwise?

It specifically states that the illness started on that date.
I've got another appointment booked for friday though so will try to get a better letter.

I don't think the Ryan Air policy is ridiculous! I'm surprised your GP thinks the child will be ok to fly. You're talking less than a week since the child broke out!

It's a highly contagious disease and very dangerous for some people. If you were on the plane next to me, I would complain.

2 different gps stated the 5 day rule to me and if you look on any website on the subject it says exactly the same thing. And pretty much all nurseries exclude kids with chicken pox only for a period of 5 days for this reason.
I'd rather listen to someone medically qualified than Ryanair any day :)

BTW, I do understand that it is highly dangerous and wouldn't want to put anybody at risk. I just think its a bit cheeky making people cancel their holidays when medically there is no reason.

Don't get me wrong, I despise Ryan air as much as the next guy. See what your GP says on Friday.

I thought it was when all spots had crusted over. And that they are contagious even before the spots present.

I don't think you'll get away with it tbh.

Will your insurance cover you?

health protection agency advise is 5 days after the appearance of first spot, NOT when all spots have crusted over.

having said that, RyanAir are, of course, free to set their own policy, and I'm not sure what you can do about it

you could try outlining to the doctor why you need the letter ot say it differently - after all, the doc is happy that your ds is non-contagious, as per hpa advice, so it doesn't really matter what he outs in the letter.

Thanks everyone. I'll see what the doctor says, although to be honest DS isn't recovering very quickly so I'm not sure he'll be in good enough shape to go anyway.
Grr, typical!