AIBU to consider the chicken pox vaccine?

[PassiveAggressivePamela]

Reposting from children’s health as no replies....anyone’s DC had the CP vaccine? I have a DS who is 3.5 and has avoided every bout of it at his nursery, and a baby DD.

DH isn’t sure if he’s ever had it. Just wondering if it’s worth getting the DC the vaccine privately...no health issues, I know for some it’s mild and for a few it isn’t.

[FranticallyPeaceful]

I was considering this. My son has just turned 7 and still yet to catch it, my eldest is 11 and we think he had it but it only lasted a few days from breakout to gone so honestly we aren’t even 100% sure

[Makingworkwork]

We looked into it but the biggest issue is it time limited so DD would have had to repeatedly have the vaccination throughout her adult life, especially through child bearing years so we decided not to get it.

[ineedwine99]

We had our daughter vaccinated at 15m old, 10 cases at nursery and she's been fine, no reaction the vaccine either
We went to Superdrug, £65 per vaccine, needs 2.

[Colabottle10]

The AP nurse at my GPs said she was bewildered as to why we don't have this in the routine 1 yr old vaccines. All down to cost.

The US and the rest of Europe do it as standard.

My 19 month old is booked in for his first jab next Tuesday.

[Mamadothehump]

I'm also thinking about it for my nearly 7 year old but need to look into it more.

[HPandBaconSandwiches]

My kids have both had it, but we live in Australia where it’s part of the national vaccine schedule. MMRV rather than MMR. Over here, people are pretty amazed it’s not used in the uk.

No one really knows what will happen with shingles yet, whether it’ll help or hinder. Vaccines will be needed for my kids throughout their life, perhaps. But chicken pox can be life threatening at worst and unpleasant at best. No regrets here.

[PineappleScrunchie]

Do they know it’s time limited or do they just not know how long protection lasts for yet?

[User24689]

I also live in Aus and my kids have both had the vaccine. I don't know anyone here who's kids have had the disease and I don't even know any Aussies my age who have had it! When I had chicken pox as a kid I was very ill, had a month off school and have scarring on my face still. I would much rather they had follow up vaccinations as adults, that really isn't a big deal imo.

[Nan0second]

We’ve done it.
Now they have doses twice instead of once, it seems they get as good immunity as other childhood vaccines.
We felt the financial hit was better than the unpredictable illness.

[honeylulu]

My daughter had it at around a year old. I keep forgetting to get the booster but the first dose offers something like 90% protection (booster takes it up to 97%). She's now nearly 4 and full time at nursery - there have been several bouts of CP and she hasn't caught it.

It may not be true that boosters are needed throughout life. This is said because it's a relatively new vaccine and it's longevity is still being monitored and assessed in the US where it's now routine.

The only offputting thing i h ave heard is that there is a slight correlation between vaccine and more/worse bouts of shingles later in life.

I thought it worth it rather than risking a surprise week off work or cancelled holiday etc.

[Nomad86]

I wish I had. 18mo has a really severe case of chicken pox. His spots are infected, all he's done for two days is sit on my knee and sob. He's turned a corner today thankfully but I wish I could have prevented it.

[User24689]

Should clarify, I am from the UK but now live in Aus. So I got chicken pox at school, never had the vaccine

[PassiveAggressivePamela]

I must admit I’ve not heard of it being time limited, I’ll do some more reading.

We paid for DS to have the Men B jabs privately as he missed getting them as a baby by only a few weeks - it was only when we were sitting in the clinic that I saw there was a CP vaccine, it hasn’t occurred to me before.

My mum said I got it when I was about 5, and despite my spots I was sent to a birthday party as the other parents wanted their kids to catch it and ‘get it out of the way.’

[covetingthepreciousthings]

I've been considering this for myself & 2 DCs, who so far have managed to avoid it (eldest being 6).
I'm not sure I ever had it as a child so it really makes me panic about getting it now as an adult.
I tried to find out if I would have been routinely tested for immunity whilst pregnant but GP wasn't much help, does anyone know if they routinely test immunity when doing bloods?

[PassiveAggressivePamela]

Oh nomad your poor DS, glad to hear he’s on the mend. It’s strange how some get a few spots and some get so poorly

[Lukeandlorelai4Ever]

We got it for dd when she was one.
I've had it twice. Awful illness.
Think we paid 80-90 euro for vaccines and there were two.
My own doc said he gets his kids done . The reason it's not part of the vaccine schedule is down to money.

[PassiveAggressivePamela]

honeylulu that sounds great, 97% with the booster sounds well worth doing!

[Petrichery]

There was a thread about this recently:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/parenting/3025763-chicken-pox-vaccination
As someone there said, in America where it’s been a standard baby jab for a while they don’t repeat later in life, so the expectation seems to be lifelong immunity.
I’m very glad i had my dd done - she didn’t seem to notice the jabs, and my family seems to get shingles badly so i’m hoping to save her that (just be aware that babies have to be 12 months old min to have it, and as pp have said there are timing issues with the mmr).

[Twinnypops]

My understanding of the issue of how long it lasts is that because it's a relatively new vaccine there simply isn't the data to know for sure. But similar vaccines do give lifetime protection, and the data that is available for the chickenpox vaccines shows that it is still effective many years after vaccination. As for its effects on shingles, there's a vaccine for that too 😀. We got our boys vaccinated as we felt that we didn't want to take the risk x

[ChristmasAddict]

YANBU, chicken pox can be mild but it can also be horrible and more frequently than people think. The vaccine is standard in many countries and will be here eventually I believe. DS had his last summer and I am so glad :)

[TenGinBottles]

Yes, I got mine both vaccinated. DS has SN and the paediatrician recommended it.

[WhoNoticedTheProblem]

Both mine have had it done.
GP said it doesn't wear off, so did my pediatric nurse friend, she advised me to get it because after doing her job for 20+ years she's seen just how bad it can be. Her kids are also vaccinated.
CP went round the DC's school and out of 3 year groups there were only about 10 kids in school, talking to the parents they were all the ones that had been vaccinated. I'm so glad we did.

[BeanCalledPickle]

YES you really should. At a population level as many kids die from CP as from Men B. The fact that most are ok with CP disguises this. I worked on the nhs vaccination programme. We were all set to role out MMRV as a combined vaccine many years ago. Then Andrew wakefield happened and it was felt the public would not tolerate a further vaccination on the schedule. Then when that passed there was no money for more vaccinations. The fact remains that, yes it can be mild, but it can also kill and disable children. For the sake of 65 quid I would always suggest people vaccinate.

[WhoNoticedTheProblem]

The reason it's not part of the vaccine schedule is down to money.

My friend said that too. They had meetings about it.