Seems to be spreading through La Cote area at the moment! Think my kids are about the only ones in the nursery / playgroups not to have it yet..
Your kids had it recently?
We are flying in December and my wife is rather worried that the airline won't let us travel if the kids have spots.
Looking at the airline website, it's states :
Minor infectious disease..
Chicken Pox - You can travel 7 days after appearance of the last new spot.
How on earth do they know?? Anybody tried?
On another point, looking at the travel insurance small prints, they cover cancellations due to "serious illness" so guessing they will be inline with the airline and not cover cancellation due to the pox. So if the airline argued about the date of the spots and denied travel, the insurance wouldn't pay.
To be honest, as a parent having chidren already had the chickenpox, I would not even contemplate putting them on a plane, irrespective of airline rules on the matter. They can be very sick with chickenpox and it can lead to complications. It is difficult enough travelling with healthy children, but with chickenpox, I would forget it. After about a week, when bumps are dry, they seemed to snap back quite quickly. Rembember every child is different, and may be impacted in different ways; one of mine was quite badly affected for at least 2 weeks with several visits to the pediatrician.
Well... this seems to be happening globally... I am currently living in Uruguay and this started to happen about a month ago... lot of people got "Varicella", which is the same disease as that one...
Indeed, both my kids got pretty bad fever when they got chicken pox, and where feeling miserable... Travelling like that would have been out of question!
But some kids have a dozen spots here and there and don't seem to mind... Impossible to know in advance!
Ok I obviously wouldn't be dragging them onto a flight if they were really unwell! I was more thinking about if they were feeling fine but with a spotty face type thing.. How would airline staff know when the last spot appeared and the insurance if we were denied travel.
I'm hoping they are immune to be honest, wife is immune (tested while pregnant) and I've never had it even though as a child i was often surrounded by it often, but i've neither been pregnant nor tested!
I guess it's a wait and see what happens / if / when it comes.
Travelled from Zurich to chennai via London, first spots appeared about 2 hours into the London-chennai flight. I was aware that my kids had been exposed, but didn't expect to come down with it myself!
5 days quarantine I a 5 star hotel in India, $40 for a doctor to come to the hotel to give me a medical certificate, two days sightseeing and the return flight home....
Most people assumed I has a nasty case of mosquito bites....
The incubation is about a week or so. It does tend to be seasonal between autumn and winter. My daughter came out with spots he last day before Christmas break, and the other two children plus myself the day around new year's.
I would assume that if the kids have been exposed I'm childcare, the it will probably be past the contiguous phase by Christmas.
If you are really worried, you can always speak to your Paediatrician.
I took a flight when I was pregnant and there was a mum with a toddler with the tell-tale chicken pox spots all over her. The gate staff made a big thing of seating the mum and child at the opposite end of the aircraft from me.
I was a hugely embarrassed and did say several times that I'd had chicken pox as a child and wasn't bothered even if I had to sit next to Spotty Muldoon and her mum so be prepared for a bit of arsey-ness at the airport.
When I was 30, and fit, I caught chicken pox from my young children and I was unconscious for 48 hours! It took me 6 months to recover fully.
My present girl friend caught it when she was 63. Her doctor and hospital didn't take it seriously and when she arrived in Solothurn hospital the doctors thought she might die, she was so ill. It has taken her 3 years to get back to being nearly normal, though her eyes are still giving her problems after the shingles.
Do NOT take chicken pox lightly! Get a vaccination if you haven't had it already. The basic insurance pay for it here.
Both my kids got chicken pox before they were old enough to get the vaccine, grrr....
In CH, it's common to offer the vaccine to teenager if they didn't get chicken pox as kids, but to offer the chance to 'have the virus' as a child. No idea why Some people say the vaccine doesn't offer such a long-lasting protection as having chicken pox, so getting vaccinated as a child means you could get the virus as an adult, when it's most dangerous. No idea if this is true though.
Our paediatrician said the same thing. Vaccination is not as good as natural immunity but, then again, chicken pox can be pretty rough so it's a difficult choice. My sister had it and was just spotty - no fever, no sickness, no fuss, no mess. I caught it from her and suffered symptoms for the both of us. I was wrecked for 3 weeks.
On the up-side, I got the undivided attention of my parents for that time plus all the telly I could watch.
Vaccinations Compulsory health insurance covers the costs of various vaccinations , as specified in the guidelines and recommendations of the Swiss Vaccination Plan. The following may be mentioned as the most important:
Vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, chickenpox , measles, mumps and rubella (German measles; MMR); from 1.1.2013 until 31.12.2015, no deductible is due for the vaccination MMR for persons born after 31.12.1963 Vaccinations against hepatitis B and - for certain risk groups - hepatitis A Vaccination against influenza for people aged from 65 and for people with a risk of serious complications in the event of infection Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis Vaccination against cervical cancer for school-age girls and young women up to the age of 26, if provided as part of a cantonal vaccination programme; no deductible is due for this vaccination Travel vaccinations and preventive treatments (e.g. yellow fever and malaria prophylaxis) are not covered.
Your doctor can provide further information and advice if you have any queries about vaccinations.
Haven't looked into the vaccine and how that works but having the virus as a child definitely doesn't protect you in later life. In fact you have a 50% chance of developing shingles over the following 50 odd years from the same infection. The virus (Herpes Zoster) is one of those that hides in your body after the first infection and re-appears later. I know!
However I'm told that getting a first infection of chicken pox as an adult is even nastier.
Do you know how old a child has to be to be vaccinated?
I once asked our 2 yr. old's pediatrician if he vaccinates against chicken pox, and he said "no." I thought it was a good idea at the time (to not vaccinate against it), as I know there is a lot of debate about that. Apparently, it's better to have it young than as an adult.
My son just now came down with (what I think is) the very common "hand, mouth, foot disease" -- small red bumps that started around his mouth and are now appearing on his hands. I have a dr. appointment tomorrow for him. I'm going to try to remember to ask the dr. why it is exactly that he thinks kids shouldn't be vaccinated against chicken pox.
Can anyone tell me what ages kids usually get chicken pox, and maybe what signs to look for? e.g. do the spots usually appear in one particular area first?
I am not sure but definitely by 2 yo they were both vaccinated - I think we did it with the MMR at 12 and 18 months. Maybe your Dr does not "phylosophically" agree? :s
I had shingles last April, it hurts like hell, however I had to work every day because of deadlines. All the people who I was with had had chickenpox so nobody cared. I have a 1 in 50 Chance of getting it again!
Don't think there is any hard and fast rule - it's probably governed more by outbreaks in areas. I was 8 when I got it, my sister was 5 but my son got it when he was about 15 months old.
The spots seem to start on the stomach and chest first then spread throughout the body, ending up in the ears and mouth.
Wow! You guys are really going through it at the moment, eh. You with your chest infection and your son with his hand, foot and mouth disease. Hope you all get better soon.