Springtime spots

It's chickenpox season again.

Spent a really nice day looking after Daisy the dudette, who is suffering with the dreaded chickenpox.

Although she did not seem to be suffering at all today, just a little itchy rubbing herself against the furniture or me, like Baloo the bear in jungle book.
When I ran the nursery we used to send children home regularly as children would come in with no spots and by mid morning be covered and there was always the question when can they come back, when they are no longer contagious. However there are always varying thoughts on this, when the spots scab over or have all gone. Are they contagious when incubating them.

It seems to be a very bad strain this year. When I met up with the old gang from the children's centre those with grandchildren all said how badly theirs had been. I think poor little Dexter had it really badly even having some of the spots getting infected.

Recently on social media I read people's views for and against vaccination, one actually saying she had not been vaccinated and had been the healthiest in her class at school, all I can say on that is she was just very lucky.
Chickenpox is horrid, how many of us show the scars from when we had them. I wish the NHS would just add it to the immunisation schedule, I know it's because of funding. I know you can pay for the vaccine but not everyone can afford it.
 Some children get it more than once and adults develop shingles. People with low immune systems are at risk of all sorts of things if they get it.
I used Epsom salts in the bath water when mine was small. Bathing in tepid water and a couple of spoonfuls of bircarbonate of soda reduces the itching temporarily, as does good old calamine lotion. Lots of fluids.
Not forgetting a large g&t for mummies after a couple of sleepless nights and days of  cabin fever.