Yikes - Son Has Mono - Leaving Next Weekend

[jaysmom4285]

I normally don't get involved in these threads, and I'll probably wish I hadn't. Despite opposition by other posters to your son going on this trip because of his alleged contagion, two of the links in articles that were cited by them, presumably to support their position, actually contain this information:

(from the Centers for Disease Control) Most individuals exposed to people with infectious mononucleosis have previously been infected with EBV [the virus that causes mono] and are not at risk for infectious mononucleosis. In addition, transmission of EBV requires intimate contact with the saliva (found in the mouth) of an infected person. Transmission of this virus through the air or blood does not normally occur. The incubation period, or the time from infection to appearance of symptoms, ranges from 4 to 6 weeks. Persons with infectious mononucleosis may be able to spread the infection to others for a period of weeks. However, no special precautions or isolation procedures are recommended, since the virus is also found frequently in the saliva of healthy people. In fact, many healthy people can carry and spread the virus intermittently for life. These people are usually the primary reservoir for person-to-person transmission. For this reason, transmission of the virus is almost impossible to prevent.[/U]

(from Brown University) Is it contagious?
Most people have been exposed to the EBV at some point in their life and so are not at risk of developing mono. Because of this, it is not recommended that people with mono isolate themselves from others. Roommates rarely get mono from each other.

All you can do is trust your doctor and trust your gut feelings. If your son feels too ill to travel or clearly couldn't participate in anything, then I assume you would either choose not to go or would not bring him. But if the doctor is aware of his condition and has cleared him for this vacation and he feels up to it, then go for it. Many of the people who are so opposed to this may very well be unwitting carriers of the virus themselves, so we're probably in more danger from them than we would be from your son! I hope he feels well enough to go and enjoy himself. I wish you all the best.

 

[4theloveofdisney]

(from the Centers for Disease Control) Most individuals exposed to people with infectious mononucleosis have previously been infected with EBV [the virus that causes mono] and are not at risk for infectious mononucleosis. In addition, transmission of EBV requires intimate contact with the saliva (found in the mouth) of an infected person. Transmission of this virus through the air or blood does not normally occur. The incubation period, or the time from infection to appearance of symptoms, ranges from 4 to 6 weeks. Persons with infectious mononucleosis may be able to spread the infection to others for a period of weeks. [U]However, no special precautions or isolation procedures are recommended, since the virus is also found frequently in the saliva of healthy people. [/U] In fact, many healthy people can carry and spread the virus intermittently for life. These people are usually the primary reservoir for person-to-person transmission. For this reason, transmission of the virus is almost impossible to prevent.[/U]

(from Brown University) Is it contagious?
Most people have been exposed to the EBV at some point in their life and so are not at risk of developing mono. Because of this, it is not recommended that people with mono isolate themselves from others. Roommates rarely get mono from each other.

I don't usually like to debate topics such as this as well but perhaps because my child was ill at such a young age, I have a bit more of an opinion. I would just like to say that I do believe that these comments are made for everyday life and it's useful information to know. However, the number of things you do in your normal day are so different than what you do in the course of a day at Disney. While I can certainly see why it's not necessary to lock yourself away in your everyday life, I also don't see any advice saying that you should by all means visit a crowded park during your infectious time period. KWIM? Just my .02 which doesn't amount to a hill of beans!

 

[RescueRanger]

I'm curious, if your child had a cold, green running nose, cough, etc, would you go on vaction? Or do you wait until your whole family is completly well before traveling?

First of all, that is a ridiculous comparison. Big difference between Mono and a cold. And for your information, two trips ago, my youngest DD got sick on our arrival day. She began running a fever and vomiting. Although the vomiting only lasted overnight and her temperature returned to normal, we kept her in the room for a day and a half. We didn't want to rush her and possibly cause a relapse, and we wanted to make sure we didn't spread whatever she had to others. Was it inconvenient? Yes. Was she disappointed? yes again, but someone's health is more important than WDW. My wife and I just took turns taking our oldest DD to the parks. Oh and JAYSMOM, maybe you should read your own post. It says blood and airborne transfer do not NORMALLY occur. It does not say that it CAN'T occur.

 

[shellybaxter]

First of all, that is a ridiculous comparison. Big difference between Mono and a cold. And for your information, two trips ago, my youngest DD got sick on our arrival day. She began running a fever and vomiting. Although the vomiting only lasted overnight and her temperature returned to normal, we kept her in the room for a day and a half. We didn't want to rush her and possibly cause a relapse, and we wanted to make sure we didn't spread whatever she had to others. Was it inconvenient? Yes. Was she disappointed? yes again, but someone's health is more important than WDW. My wife and I just took turns taking our oldest DD to the parks. Oh and JAYSMOM, maybe you should read your own post. It says blood and airborne transfer do not NORMALLY occur. It does not say that it CAN'T occur.

Perhaps you should have read my post in context to the others around it before calling it ridiculous. I was not really comparing a cold to mono. Some others were suggesting that any person who is contagious should not be out and about. Another poster gave information information that stated that mono is not as contageous as a cold or the flu. I was simply asking if people felt that they would take their child to WDW with a small cold that was in a contageous stage?

As a director of a child development center the contention that all but well children should stay home and be isolated from others is absurd. Sure if a child is really sick and doesn't feel up to going out they should stay home. But seriously if every parent kept their children home because of running noses and coughs all the parents would loose their jobs. Kids get sick. And while I've never had a child at pre-school with mono I looked it up in the school illness reference and it did not recommend exclusion unless the child wasn't feeling well enough to attend.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Well I guess the doctors had my mother keep me home from school for 2 months for nothing. Geez........

 

[safetymom]

This no longer has anything to do with resort planning.