I stood in line behind a mom and kid with obvious chicken pox scabs at TSA a few months ago, and it was clear it was an issue. I didn't wait around to see how it played out, but i did hear TSA tell the mom that even if they let them through, the flight crew likely wouldn't let them on the plane.

Honestly, you need to pull the plug. Send one adult family member if you must--but even that is risky on the off chance you are germy. We've skipped our big family Thanksgiving festivities (which entails travel and allows us to catch up with relatives we otherwise don't see) twice in recent years because we had a sick kid. You can't take germy kids around the elderly. Heck, nobody wants your germs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Son and I ended up staying home and my husband and DD went. You all had good advice - I didn’t even consider that he’d be too rundown and he slept until 10 am this morning! - plus he had some new bumps Friday.

Also airline gave us a credit for our flights which was nice.

Good call. I'm happy for you that the airline gave you credit.

Good news on your part and congrats to the airline for doing a good deed.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Son and I ended up staying home and my husband and DD went. You all had good advice - I didn’t even consider that he’d be too rundown and he slept until 10 am this morning! - plus he had some new bumps Friday.

Also airline gave us a credit for our flights which was nice.

Good call. I'm happy for you that the airline gave you credit.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Son and I ended up staying home and my husband and DD went. You all had good advice - I didn’t even consider that he’d be too rundown and he slept until 10 am this morning! - plus he had some new bumps Friday.

Also airline gave us a credit for our flights which was nice.

As someone who got the first round of the vaccine and wasn’t able to get the second round because I became pregnant I thank you.

Thanks OP for the update and for doing the right thing for everyone. Hope your son feels better soon.

OP here. Son and I ended up staying home and my husband and DD went. You all had good advice - I didn’t even consider that he’d be too rundown and he slept until 10 am this morning! - plus he had some new bumps Friday.

Also airline gave us a credit for our flights which was nice.

Per the CDC:

A person with chickenpox is contagious beginning 1 to 2 days before rash onset until all the chickenpox lesions have crusted (scabbed). Vaccinated people who get chickenpox may develop lesions that do not crust. These people are considered contagious until no new lesions have appeared for 24 hours.

OP, is your doctor going to be able to tell if no new lesions have appeared for the last 24 hours? Probably not....

https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/transmission.html

Obviously, you leave the sick, uncomfortable kid with the parent who isn't as close to the couple getting married.

Parent who is closest to the couple travels alone.

Obviously.

Because even if the doctor says the kid is technically not contagious, the kid will still be uncomfortable, and the kid will LOOK very sick. And if you walk around waving a doctor's note at wedding guests at the reception, you'll look like an attention-seeking moron.

For all of you who would not trust the doctor to decide..how would you decide?

Have the adults in your household already had chickenpox or received the vaccine? Do you have any other children? My concern would be that the incubation period for chickenpox is more than just a few days. Anyone who was exposed to your son, but hasn’t developed a rash yet, could also be a carrier.

When I was fifteen, before there was a CP vaccine, I attended an event where a little girl curled up on a bench and cried. I sat down next to her and asked her what was wrong, and she started sobbing that she wanted her mommy. I put an arm around her and comforted her while she waited for her mother to pick her up. After about 10 minutes, the little girl mentioned that her brother had just had CP and maybe that was why she didn’t feel well. She didn’t have any visible indication of CP on her skin, but because I’d never had CP, I immediately wished her well and got out of there and washed my hands. Two weeks later, I was symptomatic. Another two weeks later, my brother was symptomatic.

Unless the risk of contracting CP is very low for all of the other members of your household, your family should probably stay home.

No, Typhoid Mommy—do not do this.

No. And the people t the wedding will not want him there either. Traveling is not as important as your child completely recovering and not infecting others.

Outside of the plane run this by the bride and groom!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you even follow up with the doctor, if you are prepared to ignore his or her advice and are willing to put a kid with CHICKENPOX on a plane full of people on DCUM's say-so?

What is wrong with you? If a DOCTOR says a kid has chickenpox and there is a risk of getting others sick, STAY OFF A PLANE, MORON.

No, it's the other way around. OP is asking if she can fly if doctor says it's ok because kid is not contagious. However, DCUM thinks it went to med school and says it's not ok, regardless of what the actual doc thinks.

No idea, but it sounds it’ll be a close call. There’s potential liability on the line here.

It is a gray area for sure. With 50-60 pox or more they may mostly look scabbed but what if the dr didn't notice one spot that wasn't? Or
perhaps a new lesion shows up that goes unnoticed. It it too soon from onset to reliably and definitively declare this child not contagious. Hopefully any dr would agree sending this child on an airplane is a terrible idea

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you even follow up with the doctor, if you are prepared to ignore his or her advice and are willing to put a kid with CHICKENPOX on a plane full of people on DCUM's say-so?

What is wrong with you? If a DOCTOR says a kid has chickenpox and there is a risk of getting others sick, STAY OFF A PLANE, MORON.

No, it's the other way around. OP is asking if she can fly if doctor says it's ok because kid is not contagious. However, DCUM thinks it went to med school and says it's not ok, regardless of what the actual doc thinks.

No idea, but it sounds it’ll be a close call. There’s potential liability on the line here.