Hi, 3 of my children had chicken pox, and although the spots had scabbed over they still was not allowed to travel abroad, had to get a letter from the doctor for the insurance.
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Good points Portia, I also remember admitting kids particularly ill with Chickenpox complications, but I thinks it's also fair to remind parents that the illness is nearly always minor and self-limiting except in a small of children who get a bad dose and a very small number who get a recognised complication.
This contrasts with Eg. measles where most children actually become quite unwell with it. My parents have told me about being taken to 'measles parties' in the 1950s to encourage them to pick up the infection! Nowadays we worry about an illness such as chickenpox which is much less troublesome.
The comment by Jjsmum sums it up for me. We live in a society today where common sense has been overtaken by an unwillingness to stick one's neck out. The insurance company you refer to was totally factually wrong to require a letter, and I know that an increasing amount of my day-to-day time is spent writing letters for insurance companies so patients can travel, in spite of them being perfectly fit to.
I would travel unless my child was looking and feeling particularly unwell. Portia's point about aircraft of course is valid, and a different case to this entirely -the enclosed environment could conceivably put others at risk-if the vesicles still have fluid in them.
Statistically speaking, the chances of a child requiring hospitalisation from chickenpox are probably lower than the risk of the child breaking his or her arm on the campsite and needing to go to hospital. I suppose there's an inherent risk in everything we do and if we're worried about the language barrier abroad in case we need to seek medical advice, perhaps we ought to learn the language or alternatively stay in English speaking countries.
The world is going litigation mad- It's a damned shame that a parent's judgment counts for so little these days.
Thanks for your comments all. They have put my mind at rest, I'm not prepared to travel with her if she is really not well, but as I've already said, she should (if she gets it) be over the worst, she was exposed last weekend, so another week or so and we should know, that will leave us nearly two weeks until we leave, by which time she should be fine. All my other kids spots have come out within the two weeks. and the little boy she has been in contact with is slowly getting better now.
We are going by ferry to France, flying would only be an option if she was not fit to travel at the start of our holiday. The others would go as planned and then we would join them later when spots all scabbed over.
She might not get it at all- I went through all my childhood presumably being exposed to it ( I was youngest of 7 children!) without catching it but only caught it when I was 21 and nursing a patient with shingles- then I got it badly.
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Despite being assured that it's not possible for people to have chicken pox more than once, it is!! Years ago we babysat a friend's child, with chicken pox, knowing that we'd both suffered from it in the past - David particularly badly, with many little typical spot scars to prove it. Just less than three weeks later, on our holiday in France, David came down with it again. This time it was quite mild - and we were in an isolated part of the site so the owners let us stay there - but it made for a bit of a miserable time in the middle of our holiday.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
It's "la varicelle" in French, and here's what French wiki's got to say about it. The article might be a good thing to print off and take with, as it has all the necessary vocab.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Chicken pox and travelling to France
