I want your opinion please ladies before I go ballistic....

[jmg1]

My son of 5 has come down with C Pox today, he is not feeling well and is at the very contagious stage.
I just nipped out for half an hour and my late partner's Witch of a Mother has taken him into the busy town centre for Lunch. Am I over reacting or is she totally oblivious to his welfare and any kids or adults around who haven't had C pox.

oh thats different to me, they wouldnt give me the jab without the results of my immunity check which believe it or not took 4 or 5 days!!!! and i was 16 or 17 weeks preg at the time so i really really understand your stress. Thankfully for you you are now in the final lap and all should be fine, looking forward to hearing your announcement soon then!!!!

Yes, the homeopathic varicella I was very impressed with (although I imagine the VZIG helped quite a bit too ) - Potency 30c, take 2 times a day for 2-3 days.

If you want to check with a homeopath first though, jimjams had a phone number for a homeopathic helpline which was excellent. I've mislaid it at the moment, but I'm sure she'd be able to post again or you might be able to do a search on the original thread.

did wonder if that might cause a giggle, not telling now anyway, (she says sheepishly!!!)

Aha! But I bet it DID cheer you up though, jmg!

stace - you ought to send another big kiss - not leave either of them out

4 - 5 days that's attrocious, stace! Gawd, you must have been out of your mind with worry. Did you turn out to be immune then?

stace, my gp called me week before last and did blood test, yes I am immune.

Excellent news, jmg! One less thing to worry about, at least.

jmg - thank god for that
georgina - yes it was hell but luckily i was immune after all, i was told the VZIG was really hard to get hold of and cost approx £500-600 its scary stuff though isnt it !!!

and

{} for the 'big boy'

GeorginaA, there is a proper vaccination for cp now (being used in the states), but our health service think it is too expensive v the risks of cp. I think you can pay for it though.
are you interested in more info?

Jmg will get big-headed! (so to speak! )

cp i think you are a really cyber voyeur,

Oops! Meant about Stace's second 'big boy' kiss, not the cp info!

ooh i know and i meand ct not cp its getting confusing now!!

stace - I was told by my midwife the VZIG was £3000 a shot!! I was flabergasted. Don't know where she got the info from though.

jmg - been there, done that I fought tooth and nail for the chickenpox vaccination a year ago. It's 2 doses, 8 weeks apart and has an 80% success rate (with a 90% success rate of reducing symptoms if you do get it). I was phenominally unlucky - it didn't take and I have no residual immunity from it at all

I'm probably a bit late in this and someone has probably already said it. I noticed your MIL returned from Scotland. My MIL's generation firmly believe that if a child has an infection like chicken pox, measles etc, you take your kids to visit this child as it's a waste of a good chance to get some immunity. I also think that generation believed in the power of leeches and being sewn into your clothes at the start of winter.

I would have lost the plot, apologetic or otherwise. This sounds like a dose of someone wanting to be fun granny when the kids have been told what the situation is. I hope you get a chance to calm down. Hopefully your little one feels better soon.

Does anyone know if it's possible to have chicken pox without any obvious symptoms? There have now been 3 outbreaks at ds1's playgroup and he still doesn't seem to have caught it - despite going there 5 mornings a week.

mine was exposed so many times at nursery over a two year period and never got and then all of a sudden just following from a viral infection in march he got in april i can only assume that its luck of the draw when and if they get it and maybe if they are a little low they will be more susceptible.

It probably is a good idea to deliberately expose toddlers to chickenpox as they tend to get it mildly at that age (once you get to about 12 years old, then complication rates go up and they tend to get it severely). I'm pleased that ds has had it, even though he chose the worst possible time to catch it!!

Yes, coppertop, it is possible for the very young to gain immunity without any symptoms (hence why 97% of adults are immune even if they don't ever remember having it) or extremely mild symptoms. That said, my niece has had chickenpox 3 times - the first 2 times so mildly that she didn't gain enough immunity from it (just had a few spots). Ds has certainly been exposed (unintentionally) to chickenpox several times before he actually caught it, so I wouldn't rely on the fact that your ds is immune! Sod's law states that he'll get it just as you're about to go on holiday or something...

Dd2 had shingles aged 5. She was in incredible pain with it.

As well as being careful around pg women, cp can also seriously affect people with lowered immune systems.

So I've probably gone and jinxed it now, haven't I? I'll just carry on keeping an eye on ds1 & 2 when the next outbreak hits.

Hope your ds is feeling a little less poorly today, jmg.

Sorry to hear he has been poorly and what a stressful wee time of it, that woman is living in a parallel universe I shouldn't wonder, very strange ideas she has!
Whenn dd had measles, I had loads of calls from non vaccinating parents asking for exposure to it!
I do remember taking my son everywhere there was cp to try and get him to have it earlier, but his body didn't let him get it until he was 4!
DD has had too many illnesses in a row so not keen for her to get cp just yet, it would knock her for 6 again!
Hope you've calmed down now

is the woman stupid no offence ment everyone knows when they got chiken pox not there not aloud out of the house or around any adult who havent had them

oooh she is a bint isn't she JMG - glad it sounds like she is starting to realise that you aren't a doormat to be walked all over.

Keep it up!