Day Care Chicken Pox Etiquette

[freakyfemme]

What kind of "action" are they threatening - are they suggesting they would kick your child out of the daycare?

I think this is what was meant but as of right now things have calmed down. Rena (my daughter) is doing great, a little spotty but in a great mood. She goes back to the doctor tomorrow to see when she can go back to the daycare. Do we have to wait till all the spots are gone?

I don't think so.  When I had chicken pox in grade four, I *had* to go back to school after a week, even though I still had some spots, because I apparently wasn't contagious anymore.  I sure was embarrassed about having to go back to school with my face still all broken out, though.

[jfulle5]

Does the letter specifically name your child or was a just a 'heads up, if your child comes out with some spots, it maybe chicken pox it's going round

The letter didn't name my child specifically but it was "leaked" that it was my child. I don't know who did it, but that's how it got out. There are several other family who took there child out for the holidays so I know that whoever told everyone didn't use the "process or elimination" theory to figure out it was rena.

[cass2591]

She goes back to the doctor tomorrow to see when she can go back to the daycare. Do we have to wait till all the spots are gone?

I would call the daycare and ask them what their policy is.

[jfulle5]

She goes back to the doctor tomorrow to see when she can go back to the daycare. Do we have to wait till all the spots are gone?

I would call the daycare and ask them what their policy is.

Their policy is that they need a letter from the doctor saying she isn't contagious.

[snoopygirl]

One day, he was coming home from school and I said my usual "see ya tomorrow!" and he replied "I won't be here.  I had a test on my arm and can't come back until my doctor writes a note".

I said "see you then!", when I was actually thinking "eeeeeekkkk! Tuberculosis!"

Well, his family spends a lot of time in the tropics.

It's possible to be a positive reactor to the TB test. You don't have the disease but when they do the skin test on your arm it reacts positively. After a positive reaction they X-ray your chest to check your lungs which clarifies if it's TB or a false read.

I used to work in a nursing home and we had to be tested-I'm a positive reactor so had to go get the chest X-ray and a note from my doc to confirm that I didn't have it. One you have a false reaction you can't have another skin TB test or you can have issues with the test site on your arm.

Lol-and of course no one in my class wanted to sit by me after my skin reacted until I'd gotten the chest X-ray. Nothing like feeling like a pariah. 

My uncle has to get a chest x-ray every time he gets a tb test. He works in a group home so he has to get one every year due to the false postives. Not fun. I once had a chest x-ray when I was starting a job and didnt have time for the two step test. I hate getting x-rays.

[Minmom3]

FWIW, when DD#2 came down with chicken pox at the end of 1st grade, the first blister was just over her collarbone.  She had a moderate case, and gave it to both her sisters, who had it head to toe.  I'm a Very Mean Mommy, I took pictures!

You might want to put in writing your understanding of it all, from your first sighting of the 'bites', to their examination of the bites, to your taking her to the doctor, AND what he said to you about it (see if the doctor will put his opinion in writing). 

You may well have exposed the children to chickenpox, but you didn't do it on purpose, or knowingly.  Putting things in writing makes it that much easier to clear misunderstandings.

[kisu]

One day, he was coming home from school and I said my usual "see ya tomorrow!" and he replied "I won't be here.  I had a test on my arm and can't come back until my doctor writes a note".

I said "see you then!", when I was actually thinking "eeeeeekkkk! Tuberculosis!"

Well, his family spends a lot of time in the tropics.

It's possible to be a positive reactor to the TB test. You don't have the disease but when they do the skin test on your arm it reacts positively. After a positive reaction they X-ray your chest to check your lungs which clarifies if it's TB or a false read.

I used to work in a nursing home and we had to be tested-I'm a positive reactor so had to go get the chest X-ray and a note from my doc to confirm that I didn't have it. One you have a false reaction you can't have another skin TB test or you can have issues with the test site on your arm.

Lol-and of course no one in my class wanted to sit by me after my skin reacted until I'd gotten the chest X-ray. Nothing like feeling like a pariah. 

It might also be a test to see if his tb immunisation is still working, because the tuberculine test gives a positive reaction also for vaccinated people. In my country people my age were still immunised against tb at birth, so I always have a positive tuberculine test reaction. It seriously scared everyone at my new school when we moved to Canada for a year (can't understand why they wanted the tuberculine test, though)... and it took ages for mom to clear up the confusion!

[LollyBee]

GraceH9 wrote

the idea that chickenpox and flu and colds are MOST contagious BEFORE symptoms appear is an urban legend -- it isn't true -- most illnesses including those three are contagious throughout the symptomatic period, although they ARE contagious a day or two symptoms appear as well

Chickenpox in particular is VERY contagious as long as spots are not healed up --

I think the reason people think it's more contagious before is becasue you wouldn't know someone ahd chicken pox before the spots come out.  The UK's NHSDirect website states

Chickenpox spreads in tiny droplets of saliva and nasal mucus coughed out by an infected person. The virus is already in these droplets before any rash appears, which is why it spreads so fast.

Chickenpox is most common between the ages of two and eight. You are infectious from about two days before the rash appears until roughly five days after. It takes 10-21 days for the symptoms to show after you’ve come into contact with the virus. This is called the 'incubation period'.

The chickenpox rash is made up of lots of red blisters, which burst and then scab over. You are infectious until the last blister has crusted over, so children with chickenpox should be kept off school or nursery until this point (around 5 - 6 days). Children who’ve recently been exposed to the chickenpox virus may not be able to visit friends or relatives in hospital – you should telephone the ward to check first.

I work in a preschool and we put a notice outside & give note to all parents when we've ahd a child with chicken pox - says "we've had child in who now has chicken pox, please be aware your child could get it, please speak to us before bringing them in if you theink they've got it, if your child deveolps it over the day we will phone you to tcome & get them, seek advice from your dr/midwife if pregnant as there can be complications".  I think we need to revise it to give breif advcie on recognition & home treatment (will take advice from NHSDirect or similar) as we have several non-UK born parents each time asking for this advice.

[Tagy]

They're threatening "action" are they?  Huh.

The director of your daycare, I hope you don't mind me saying, sounds like a dufus.  I'd be concerned about leaving my child at a daycare where the director doesn't realize that chicken pox are most contagious before the spots even show up.  And with such a mild case such as your dd's, even THEY didn't realize what they were.

Actionable, my caboose.

So, how about the next time your dd is exposed to the flu, one of the teachers comes down with a cold, pink eye is diagnosed in some baby, that you threaten THEM with some sort of "action?"

Better yet, find a better daycare.  How insulting of them to threaten you.  My feelings for them would never be the same, and I'd never feel comfortable with them again. 

Three cheers for Shoo, because she said everything I wanted to say (and very well, I might add!), which saved me from having to type it out! 

After my nine year old daughter was vaccinated for varicella when she was a baby, she still managed to get the chicken pox not once, but twice!  Although they were extremely mild cases, we were quite shocked!

[oogyda]

Geeeeeez.  Talk about overreacting!  I'll show my age a little now in that I had my kids well before the advent of the Chicken Pox Vaccine.  You know how we (a bunch of Navy wives and moms) dealt with it? 

We had POX PARTIES!  If a child in our group came down with it, other mothers would bring their toddlers over and deliberately expose them.  The aim here was to let the child get it before they started school and before they got older as it is more and more of a problem the older you get. 

A lot of people today don't understand that kind of thinking, so I'll take whatever critism you care to hand down. 

[fklwmn]

So here is the story:
-Two weeks (two Saturdays) ago I took my daughter to a holiday in the park celebration and even though it was very cold there were mosquitoes out and about. The next morning she had about 5 bites on her face. She is highly allergic to the little bugs and typically I put bug repellent on her but it was so cold I didn't think they were out. She also had a few marks on her arms but again I didn't see any cause for alarm because she had been playing outdoors the previous day with just a long sleeve shirt on. Anyway no new marks really showed up the following week and she went to daycare as normal. Her teacher knows of her allergy and she checked them and she agreed they looked like bug bites. Well this past Monday I brought her to the doctor because they weren't getting any better, no new ones had shown up though, but I just wanted to get them checked.
-The doctor had never seen anything like it. She was 80% sure it was chicken pox though. My daughter had gotten the immunity shot at age one, she is now 2.5, and so the doctor though she had the mildest case she's ever seen. About 8 dots total. It didn't start on her torso which is what i here is common and she never had a fever. She's been quite pleasant and has not been fussy at all.
-Anyway I pulled her out of the daycare immediately and told her teach it "might" be chicken pox. The director of the daycare found out and sent an email to every parent in the entire center saying there was a "contagious disease" going around and that there child was exposed. Now I am getting blamed for infecting the entire daycare and they are threatening "action."
1)How is this my fault when the daycare even examined her spots and determined they were bits
2)What should I do with the parents that are confronting me about infecting their child.

no cases so far have been reported at the daycare.

okay well first of all, the parents should not know WHO infected ANYONE. The mail going out about hte contagious disease was necessary, but no names should have been named. It's not your fault. Sweet monkey fritters! kind of action are they threatening anyway? Sheesh!

FWIW, I'd bet it's not chicken pox. DS1 is also highly allergic to mosquitoes. Which of course means that they LOVE him. When he was about 18 months old he was covered in bites. COVERED. despite all the bug spray in the world. everywhere we went people thought he had chicken pox. I even got yelled at by a woman at chuck e cheese who just KNEW they were chicken pox. THEY WERE BUG BITES!!!! and yes, they did take forever to get better.

When he was 2 he got chicken pox. I knew right away. They didn't look the same as his bug bites. For one, they were *much* smaller (his bites always swelled up). Luckily it was a mild case (this was before insurance would cover the varicella vaccine). I got him dressed in the morning, he was fine. We ran a few errands, and came home. When I took his pants off, his legs were covered in pox. I took one look at him and said, this doesn't look like bug bites. Called the doc who looked at him, called it chicken pox, and that was it.

And I hate to tell those parents, but if your daughter had chicken pox, they are most contagious before they are actually showing. I'd also be willing to bet that their kids are mostly vaccinated so they have very little to worry about, regardless! They need to get over themselves.

[fklwmn]

How does the director know your daughter didn't pick up chicken pox there?  Another child could have also had the illness without realizing it.  (My son had only three pox during his illness and if I weren't a nurse, they could have been easily missed -- I almost did.)

DS2 only had 3 pox too!! he was 3 months old when he caught them from DS1 - that's the only reason *I* caught it - I was looking for them! the doctor said if exposed, he will probably get them again b/c he was so little and had such a mild case. but they wouldn't vaccinate him before he started school.

[IndianInlaw]

Who do you think gave chicken pox to her?

[fklwmn]

It really wouldn't have made much difference anyway.  Chicken-pox is most contagious before any spots appear - I think the peak-time is the day beforehand, when the child feels perfectly fine but is still exposing anyone else who comes near her.  I truly don't see what sort of action the daycare could take, in any event.

If the other kids have been vaccinated, they too would likely get very mild cases, if any.  Chicken pox can indeed be very serious in some kids, and that's the whole point of vaccination, after all.  I'd wager that this is all going to end up being much ado about nothing.

the idea that chickenpox and flu and colds are MOST contagious BEFORE symptoms appear is an urban legend -- it isn't true -- most illnesses including those three are contagious throughout the symptomatic period, although they ARE contagious a day or two symptoms appear as well

Chickenpox in particular is VERY contagious as long as spots are not healed up --

I can't speak for colds or flu but the pox ARE most contagious before the spots appear... why? because no one knows that person has chicken pox! the person who has them doesn't even know it. So they expose many more people, hence it being most contagious right before the spots appear. once the spots appear, their contact with other people is severely limited.

At least this is how my son's Doctor explained it. Also, when he was diagnosed, I asked how to keep my 3 month old from getting them. He said "Oh, you can't. if he's going to get them, he already has them."

[eport]

When I was in grade school (and I'm 25 by the way), there was a note sent home right before first time a kid in my grade got chicken pox (probably around 1st grade). It detailed that one kid in the grade had a kidney transplant and cannot be exposed to chicken pox (if he was, there was additional medicine he had to take). It said that if your kid has been exposed or has the chicken pox to contact both the school and "child's parents". It explained the dangers for the kid and encouraged that if your kid had the pox to keep them at home. So there was alot of activity when someone had the chicken pox. Letters were sent, etc. His mom never blamed anyone or made a big deal, she just wanted to know.

It could be that the daycare just wants to take the extra percautions. You never know about what medical issues other kids might have that could be affected. "Actionable" item by the parents? Definately overdone. Letting parents know, maybe not so bad.