Chickenpox and holiday

[Traveljo]

HELP! Anyone with chickenpox and holiday experiences? DS is on day 4 of the dreaded pox and we are due to fly out on Sunday. DD hasn’t had it before and seems to have dodged every case in school (praying that she has had it without symptoms)
Do we get a fit to fly (if we can) and chance daughter getting it out there or try to cancel?
hubby thinks if DS is ok to fly then we should go as DD may not even get it.
Any advice or experiences are grateful appreciated 😊

Snap. Mine were exactly 14 days apart.

You were totally in the right on that flight but irrespective chickenpox can be really nasty if caught as an adult, far worse than for kids so obviously it’s up to you but it might be worth looking into vaccination.

You could push now to have an unfit to fly cert issued? Postpone the holiday or cancel on insurance. You'd have certainty that way albeit always disappointing to cancel a holiday. I'd be more concerned about being stuck out there if your DD erupts before you come home.

A friends DD had a very nasty dose of it a few years back and was told to keep her out of the sun for 2 months to prevent nasty scarring. They have a holiday home in Spain and went ahead but said in hindsight it was a complete pain to keep her shielded from the sun for a month.

@Perzival shouldn't need a vaccine if they've had chickenpox as a child as that should give immunity. Both my kids have had CP and dh and I didn't get it as we had it when we were children.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams yes we could push for an unfit to fly. Hubby is against this though at this stage, he thinks we should wait.

When DC1 got chicken pox (having dodged it many times before) lots of people said DC would get spots exactly two weeks later. They were totally right.

thank you! This seems the likely outcome!

"Why haven't you asked the OP why they haven't vaccinated their children then???"

Eh? I was interested in cabin crew flying without having had chicken pox or the vaccine when it's well known people will fly whilst contagious rather than lose a holiday.

One of my kids was vaccinated as he didn't catch it from siblings. Not sure how that's relevant to the OP though?

"I had had chicken pox as a child but I didn't want to risk anything, why should I? They shouldn't have been flying. Not only that I didn't fancy dealing with an already porley child on a long flight at night."

Yeah I wasn't asking about the family and definitely wasn't arguing in support of them 😅 I did say as much.

Just wondered why if you were an adult who was at risk due to not having chicken pox as a child you'd risk it in that job. Now I see you were very very unlikely to catch anything so I understand why you wouldn't have a vaccine on top.

@TakeOnFlea if the vaccine was required as part of my contract I would have had it, it was required even if you hadn't had chx pox as a child. Any amount of risk was more than I was willing to take whether it was unlikely or not. If it'd had been the week after the wedding I may have been more inclined to not be so observant or if the child wasn't as spotty/ ill I may not have had the back up to ask for the offload.

#wasn't required not was required.

I suppose you as a crew cabin staff have the responsibility to act on the other travellers behalf if you notice a passager not fit for flying?

If so is fit to fly and daughter is well then you go on holiday

My daughter got it and was ok pretty much, a few rough nights but manageable. Son got it exactly two weeks later and it was horrendous. He was so poorly and unwell with it.

I can't believe people would fly with chicken pox, the mind boggles!

It is what it is…..I flew to Australia when my youngest had chickenpox….we would have lost thousands by not going…he felt ok….spots were scabbing over…but he was covered…...the practice nurse at gps said….cover him in long sleeves, bring as little attention to him as possible , and enjoy your holiday….so that’s exactly what we did

🙄

Great risking other peoples' health for your convience!

It wouldn't bother me at all if we were in a plane cabin with a child that had chicken pox. DD is vaccinated against it and DH and myself have both had it.

This entire discussion is bizarre considering there's a vaccine available and the vast majority of adults are immune. If you really don't want to catch chicken pox then just get the jab.

So he's volunteering to stay behind with her if DD gets sick out there? 🤔

I get it, I'd be gutted and everyone will be disappointed but time for a realistic conversation about who does what if DS is good to go and DD gets sick on arrival. Whoever is going to do the hard yards makes the call I think

But their DD may have already had it very mildly and not catch it? They could lose thousands to sit at home with 2 healthy DC. At the end of the day kids catch stuff. If it was going around in school you wouldn't not go in case. If all are fit to fly then fly. The son won't be contagious.

The jab doesn't protect 100%.

Just bad luck if you are pregnant sitting next to a child with chicken pox on a plane?

Hardly 🙄

If your son is fit to fly then insurance won’t cover the cancellation so I’d go and hope for the best

fwiw I was exposed to pox multiple times as a child, years later an immunity test proved I’d had it despite never having symptoms. That my mother noticed anyway!

Only a problem if you're not immune. You're tested for antibodies when pregnant if you don't think you've had it. I've had relatives in public facing roles go into work with shingles because they can't afford to be off sick any longer. I could have been sat next to someone with chicken pox in GP waiting room when going for midwife appointments. I could be a pregnant woman whose older child has chicken pox. It's life. Her DS will no longer be infectious. No problems with them flying out.

You do need to consider spending the entire holiday in the hotel room (no sun or swimming) for dd if she comes down with it. And also some children do require medical attention, do you speak the language to converse with drs if needbe? My son is vulnerable and has only just been able to have the cp jab, last summer he was not able, I thank those cabin crew who act to stop sick kids getting on planes! We have lost holidays through our kids being sick, it’s rubbish but that doesn’t mean you crack on anyway,