DS has chicken pox and I don't even know there was a vaccine :-(

[sleepdodger]

Why don't hv tell you?
I just found out about it in here, I'm first of friends to have kids so it's all quite a new world
Honestly if I'd have known its possible to pay £100 for a jab which saves him all te discomfort and frankly speaking saves dh and I missing work I'd hve paid as for the latter alone the unpaid leave costs more than the jab never mid the amount I pay to keep DS healthy :-(
Is this widely known and I'm massively naive?
Should I be telling all my friends with younger dc so they can consider if it's right for them?

[duchesse]

I think that the vaccine is usually only offered to children with particular health problems unless I'm very much mistaken. Chicken pox isn't that much fun but in most children it's over quickly and in most cases they only get it once. The vaccine on the other hand would need boosting at a later date, exposing your child to the risk of catching CP later in life if they happen to forget their booster. m CP in adulthood is usually far worse than in childhood.

[Trazzletoes]

DD has just had the vaccine (DS has serious health problems) and it is due to run out in her 20s, just in time for her to get pregnant .

It isn't particularly widely available - although we got it on the NHS the first chemist we went to order it from(!) couldn't get it for several weeks.

As a healthy baby, I would much much MUCH rather she just get chickenpox rather than have a course of 3 injections to protect her from a disease that, at worst, ought to be inconvenient for her and us. Unfortunately it could kill DS so needs must...

I really wouldn't worry OP. I think most people aren't aware of the vaccine.

[vodkaanddietirnbru]

The vaccine doesn't guarantee that they don't get chickenpox at all and they may still get a milder version. I wouldn't (and didn't) pay for the chickenpox jab and both mine had chickenpox when they were young - dd age 3, Ds age nearly 6 months. Ds also went on to get childhood shingles age 3 which wasn't nice either. Neither of mine have any underlying health conditions.

[Trazzletoes]

Ah yes, I forgot that - she speaks the truth. We still have to keep DD off nursery when the pox is going round despite being vaccinated, just in case.