AIBU? - Out with a child with chickenpox

I think it's nicer for the child to be at home. I remember having all these things when I was a kid and one moment you're feeling fine the next you're really tired and shivering and just want to lie down in bed. Sometimes you just have to take them out if the only alternative was to leave them home alone, but social arrangements can and should be cancelled IMHO.

Someone with a compromised immune system could come into contact. We had a friend who had multiple myeloma and he contracted chickenpox and died.

MawBroonsback you say you “do understand about compromised immune systems” and despite this you also say that “The only group you need to keep a child with chickenpox away from is pregnant women.”
Just because Paw did not suffer the ill effects, doesn’t mean others don’t!

Several years ago I was unlucky enough to contract Chickenpox as an adult, presumably from a child at playgroup (where parents had to take their turn at helping), though unsure as my child who attended playgroup only caught it 2-3 weeks later, probably from me!

Unfortunately, by the time my rash appeared, my baby son was critically ill in hospital. Not only did I end up being admitted to hospital, but I and the rest of my family (who hadn’t had Chickenpox) were unable to visit my very sick son, who had to be barrier nursed! My son had to have the (unpleasant) Chickenpox vaccination and the whole Children’s ward was put on high alert (several children with Leukaemia) as I had had contact with other parents (shared sleeping room with one).
You can imagine how thoroughly awful I felt, to not be with my son when he was so ill, but on top of everything else, to not only have put his life, but the lives of these other children, at risk!

So, yes pregnant women, are at risk, but so are others, who you may be unaware of. Those with Chickenpox are most contagious 1-2 days before rash appears until all the spots crust over, so probably 5-7 days.
Please don’t just pass off Chickenpox as though it doesn’t matter! It’s not much to ask to keep your child indoors for up to 5 days from when you realise they have contracted it.

Gillyknits I am not aware that I anywhere suggested chickenpox could not be serious
I did say that back in the day, mums used to take small children to “chickenpox parties” (ie not avoid it) so that children caught it in their preschool years because it gets more serious as you get older.
(In those days of course pre school children did not go to nursery.)
So please don’t accuse me of belittling it.
I am also more than aware of the potential dangers to those who are immunospressed as we lived with that scenario for 20 years after DH’s transplant.

Would have made me furious too - I’m immuno-suppressed to deal with an auto-immune condition and any kind of infection can rapidly become very serious

My son's friend had chickenpox when they where both just 6yrs old,his mum sent him to school none the less, this poor child was taken really poorly in class and rushed to hospital where the spots had completly covered his body and his internal organs where affected the little chap died 5 days later something I have never forgotten him when I hear of chickenpox,such a dangerous illness imo.

I would have reacted the same as you. What about people that might have a lower immune system, or pregnant woman in their last weeks or adults that haven’t had it. I had a friend once that caught chicken pox from her children and she was hospitalised as her through has closed up due to them in her mouth and throat - she was very ill.

Of my 3, only youngest got chicken pox aged 2. She was really poorly. She was covered all over and I mean everywhere! with blisters. Coincidentally, the same age identical twin boys who lived opposite and with whom she played, had it at the same time. One, like DD2 was covered all over, while the other only had a few spots. I would not have dreamt of taking her out. One of the worst aspects is subsequent scarring.

I had meningo-encaphalitis which was from mumps caught when I worked in a library. I was very ill and took a long time to recover. I had to have a lumbar puncture to diagnose it which took even longer to get over!

I knew a lady several years ago who went down South to look after her son so his wife could look after the children including a small baby.

Her son had chicken pox, he took a turn for the worse ended up in hospital and died. So yes chicken pox can be serious.

We used to stay in with our children for at least two weeks when they had things like chicken pox. usually turned into a month as one son would have it and then when it was almost time for us to be able to go out the other son would catch it!

I worked as a summer student in a hospital for people with learning disabilities in the late sixties. There was a children’s ward where some of the children were perfectly ok until they contacted viruses like chicken pox and measles . The rest of these viruses and the complications from them on these children and their families was heartbreaking.The poor little mites ended up in their for the rest of their lives with their parents being told that there was no option but leave them there .
Thankfully we don’t have places like that anymore but I would never dismiss chicken pox or measles as mild illnesses.

Shalene777 that’s awful, so sad. (((( ))))

A few years ago my granddaughter got chicken pox about a week before she was due to fly to Cyprus for my son's wedding( her uncle) it was only the day before the flight the doctor gave her the all clear to fly, there was a very loud cheer from everyone as she wad really upset that she might not be able to go. I think it's quite irresponsible to take a child with any contagious illness out to infect others.

I somehow missed getting chickenpox when I was young but managed to catch when on teaching practice . I was in my early twenties and I can assure you Mawbroon that it can be serious. I was delirious for two days and the spots were in my throat and lungs.I ended up in hospital. I was very poorly indeed and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

I have a step=daughter and when she was 2 her mum insisted that we have her for the weekend even though it wasn't our turn (sounds awful) so we said yes and when she arrived you could see she was sick so off to the Drs and yes it was chicken pox. I was 5 months pregnant and lost the baby about a month later due to the virus. So you were right to be concerned about the child out in public if it is at the height of it's contagious stage.

Poor child; if he had just been diagnosed with chickenpox he would not have been feeling well, and should have been at home--in bed!
And of course pregnant women don't frequent cafes or shops or public lavatories.

I think the parties were mainly for rubella. Before the vaccination was available, it was good for girls to get this before puberty, to avoid future risks in pregnancy. Though I think we also had the idea that chicken pox was something best got out of the way.

it might be mild for children but it certainly isn't mild for adults. Shingles for adults who've had chicken pox can be very very painful and chickenpox ca have all osrts of complications.
As to the child, although the symptoms can be mild to begin with in the first few hours the child can then begin to feel very unwell indeed and need to be in bed. This happened to my gd who seemed fine and then became quite poorly for a couple of days.
So I think you were absolutely right.

As someone who has a compromised immune system, I am horrified that this still happens.

ANY virus can kill. Be it chickenpox, measles, mumps or even the common cold - due to the adverse reactions it can trigger in someone like me.

Thoughtless, ignorant and bl**dy selfish.

Neither of my daughters caught chicken pox when they were little, despite being exposed to it. When she was in her 20s and living in Paris my eldest daughter caught cp and was so ill that she phoned a friend to come and look after her and the friend had to get a taxi in the middle of the night.

When my youngest daughter got married, I mentioned to her that, if she was going to have children, she should ask her doctor if she should have a vaccination. Her doctor thought this was the right thing to do.

It’s not just those undergoing cancer treatment - I’m immunosuppressed because of my rheumatoid arthritis drug & am specifically warned to avoid anyone with chicken pox.

Yes it is very irresponsible. I have PMR ( polymyalgia rheumatica) and take steroids for it and it is very clearly stated that I have to avoid anyone with chickenpox or shingles. Luckily chickenpox is very mild for most people, but not for everyone.

Although you can't catch shingles from chicken pox , my practice nurse told me , that sometimes it can give the virus a little nudge and if you are a little low it can flare up . I developed shingles while working in a nursery during an outbreak .

There are people about with compromised immune systems due to illness or treatment. To say chickenpox is mild is absolute rubbish. Some children have quite a mild attack, but many do not. A neighbour's child developed brain complications and was in hospital for weeks; a parent at our local school was in bed for some time as he was so ill, having caught it from his daughter, that the GP visited daily - can you imagine that?
What a selfish woman - and that poor child might have felt absolutely wretched sitting in a cafe.

I take a dim view of parents/grandparents taking children out and about when they are clearly not well.
DH has never had any childhood illnesses and is presently very unwell after radiotherapy, very vulnerable.
As nurses we accepted the risk of catching something and sometimes it happened, one of my colleagues died from encephalitis after getting chicken pox.
A little thought for others woule not go amiss.