Sending a 3yo to nursery with chicken pox

merlin1

bearing in mind my story is from approx 13/14 years ago, i got a call from my son's nursery advising me that one of the children there had chicken pox, and they told me that it was my choice - i called our gp and they advised to take him, let him catch it. my memory is vague but it was something to do with having chicken pox as a child reduces the risk of shingles as an adult, which (apparently, like i say memory vague) can be extremely dangerous and painful. my younger brother didnt get chicken pox as a child but did get shingles, it was horrible.

i'm interested to know if the advice has now changed? quite simply from a friend of new mums point of view?

dibuzz

What an idiot.
When my daughter got chicken pox as a toddler we were friends with a couple who had little boy undergoing chemo. Luckily we hadn't seen him for a couple of weeks but it could have had a devastating effect on him if he'd caught it.
I was also told by a health visitor that my daughter was overweight at 6 months and to stop giving her solids (she wasn't having anything except a bit of pear and banana) and to water down her milk (not easy when you are breastfeeding)
A couple of weeks later she was rushed to hospital and lost so much weight the doctors said she wouldn't have survived if she hadn't been a big baby. I am so glad I ignored the HV which I may not have done had she been my first baby.

balancelife

I'd be worried if a parent knowingly allowed a child with chicken pox to be in a group with others. But then my 3 year old has difficulties with his breathing and is often on a steroid which suppresses immune system and last time he played with a child who had it the next day i was told he would have to be admitted yo hospital to be assessed or complications and severity if he got it. he didnt. ( and i wasnt upset with that parent as she didnt know at the time) I'm dreading chicken pox, in fact I have an appointment next week with his consultant where I'm going to see if he is well enough to be immunised yet.

My daughter had it when she was 3. I thought it was just a childhood thing and she would be fine. She was very unwell for a week, got them in her ears and infected.... Ended up losing some hearing in one of them which they say was due to scarring. Since had 2 ops for grommets as well but still the hearing is limited in one ear.

It used to be thought measles and mumps were ok to get too.....

fluffysox

In the USA they immunise against chickenpox because it can be quite nasty. I had it in secondary school and truth be told wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Currently have shingles whilst pregnant- not good!

geoffky

I would not report the hv because i think the consequences of reporting people in these times are too much for some people
What if she loses her job..The house may go, the car may go ect ect....

gunsandbanjos

balancelife wrote: »

I'd be worried if a parent knowingly allowed a child with chicken pox to be in a group with others. But then my 3 year old has difficulties with his breathing and is often on a steroid which suppresses immune system and last time he played with a child who had it the next day i was told he would have to be admitted yo hospital to be assessed or complications and severity if he got it. he didnt. ( and i wasnt upset with that parent as she didnt know at the time) I'm dreading chicken pox, in fact I have an appointment next week with his consultant where I'm going to see if he is well enough to be immunised yet.

My daughter had it when she was 3. I thought it was just a childhood thing and she would be fine. She was very unwell for a week, got them in her ears and infected.... Ended up losing some hearing in one of them which they say was due to scarring. Since had 2 ops for grommets as well but still the hearing is limited in one ear.

It used to be thought measles and mumps were ok to get too.....

My daughter has some medical issues and she was hospitalised last year with chicken pox. Doctor said he had been seeing more and more cases of chicken pox that were more severe than they had been previously. She also got a burst ear drum into the bargain.

thegirlintheattic

geoffky wrote: »

I would not report the hv because i think the consequences of reporting people in these times are too much for some people
What if she loses her job..The house may go, the car may go ect ect....

What if she tells that to a parent who does send the child in? Someone might die. People can have bad reactions to chickenpox and it can kill. No HV should be advising this!

Re:Shingles - Having chickenpox as a child does not make shingles mild. You cannot get shingles if you've never had chickenpox because shingles is the same virus, it just lays dormant in your body after chickenpox.

cutestkids

geoffky wrote: »

I would not report the hv because i think the consequences of reporting people in these times are too much for some people
What if she loses her job..The house may go, the car may go ect ect....

So you are saying that it is OK to simply brush under the carpet the fact that this Health Visitor is dishing out wrong and potentially dangerous advice to people in case she loses her job :eek:.

Chicken Pox can be dangerous, it can cause birth defects if a pregnant woman catches it, it is dangerous to people with suppressed immune systems.

notanewuser

merlin1 wrote: »

bearing in mind my story is from approx 13/14 years ago, i got a call from my son's nursery advising me that one of the children there had chicken pox, and they told me that it was my choice - i called our gp and they advised to take him, let him catch it. my memory is vague but it was something to do with having chicken pox as a child reduces the risk of shingles as an adult, which (apparently, like i say memory vague) can be extremely dangerous and painful. my younger brother didnt get chicken pox as a child but did get shingles, it was horrible.

i'm interested to know if the advice has now changed? quite simply from a friend of new mums point of view?

No, it's because chicken pox is more dangerous in adults than in children.

That's why they don't immunise against CP here. More info here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3643888/Chickenpox-vaccine-is-bad-for-children.html

LandyAndy

kat360 wrote: »

On tuesday morning my lg got up with spots all down the one side of her back, the same day a HV (not my normal one who's on holiday) came to weigh my 6 week old. I showed her the spots and she said they were chicken pox (the third time she's had them). She went on to tell me that I shouldn't keep her home from nursery as "most children need to get it before they are too old"

I haven't sent her but am I the only one who has a problem knowingly infecting other children?

Can you get chicken pox multiple times?