To ask for opinions on varicella vaccine vs natural immunity?

The risk slightly increases, but doesn’t double. And it’s considerably smaller than the risk of it from catching it naturally.

I had chicken pox. I remember it (I must have been about 7-8). No serious side effects or complications but it was horrible. Do not intentionally do this to your children!

And maybe even more importantly: It offers longterm protection from shingles! (Or more importantly: not being exposed to the virus means that the virus won’t las dormant => no shingles!)

I have never had shingles (fingers crossed) but I’ve witnessed it often enough. I would not wish this on my terrible former (boss). So I definitely wouldn’t risk it with my children!

Catching wild chickenpox in a setting where most people are vaccinated, and where circulation of the virus is decreasing over time, can be the worst outcome.

After you have had chickenpox, the virus stays in your body in a dormant state. To reduce the risk of shingles, your immune system needs to keep that virus under control. In the past, this control was continuously boosted by natural exposure to circulating wild chickenpox in the community.

If wild chickenpox becomes less common because most people are vaccinated, there are fewer natural exposures. Without these occasional boosts, the immune system may have more difficulty keeping the virus suppressed.

This was our reason for choosing to vaccinate privately.

I have two children and decided to pay to have them vaccinated. My first had two doses. My second was booked in for his first dose. He had just turned 1 and we had to wait a month from his MMR jab before having the chicken pox one, so during that time… he contracted it naturally from nursery. He was so poorly, vomiting, scratching, I had two nights where he didn’t sleep at all, was just thrashing round trying to get comfortable and whimpering. He has scars. He doesn’t remember it, but he suffered with it. Two weeks later, my vaccinated eldest had it. He had caught it from his brother. He had a single tiny spot on his tummy and zero other symptoms.
So I do know they can catch it still even with two doses of vaccine, but the difference in how it manifests in terms of symptoms was incredible. Please don’t put your kids through the full blown disease if you are being offered a vaccine. Some protection is better than none and they may well get exposed and have natural protection on top anyway.

Can I ask why that’s not true?

A study recommended that healthcare professionals highlight the increased risk of febrile seizures with MMRV…
one found 8.5 febrile secures per 10,000 as opposed to 4.2 with separate MMR & Varciella vaccines?
And Merck commissioned their own study finding 7.0 with MMRV and 3.2 MMR and separate varicella?

As my child has recently had an adverse reaction to vaccination, the combined MMRV isn’t my preference.

For what it’s worth, the disease itself doesn’t always give immunity. I’m an outlier but have had it three times, as a child a teen and the very painfully as an adult. Was then given the vaccine before ttc as protective measure which worked but had worn off when they tested me a couple years later.

You can have chicken pox more than once. I have seen someone in their 70s with cp.

I got it at the age of 19, three weeks before my first wedding. For some reason, I wasn't ill at all! I woke up on the Sunday morning covered in a rash over my trunk. I went to see my GP on the Monday morning and he look puzzled until I showed him one spot on my shoulder which was the only spot that resembled chicken pox. As I didn't feel ill, I asked if I could go to work. He looked horrified and said I had to have at least a week off. DM decided that as I had been breast fed and she hadn't had chicken pox until the age of 21, she must have passed on a strong immunity. That was her theory anyway.

I would definitely get them vaccinated to remove the risk of shingles in the future. Shingles is extremely painful and can affect the eyes etc. And post herpetic pain is awful.

Seems like a lower chance that those with a positive outcome from the non-vaccinated route would be posting in this thread. Interesting post (and responses) though.

Mine had the vaccine. A close friend is a medic so sees the worst cases, and she vaccinated her kids. I felt if it were good enough for her, then mine should get it.

4-6 children per year die from complications of chickenpox in the UK. It’s rare but not impossible.

I’m a doctor, my son hadn’t had it by the time he turned three so I paid for the vaccine. I had it when I was fifteen and was really ill so I’d rather pay for the vaccination than put him at risk of a more severe illness and possible complications.

Are you sure your children are even eligible for the vaccine? The oldest age group eligible for the vaccine are children born after sept 2022 - your 5 year old won't fall into this certainly...

It’s a standard vaccine in Australia. When we arrived all my kids had already had chickenpox (and were too old to get the vaccine at the usual time anyway) so their medical records show them as having “incomplete vaccinations” which really annoys me! Like a PP I have never met a kid here with chickenpox.

My son has some lifelong scars from chicken pox. Ok, I understand that they don't threaten his life but I do wish I had paid for the vaccination. I naively assumed that he might get it and come out fine

They won’t tell you that because it’s simply not the case.

The fact the vaccine lowers (in some cases will nullify) the risk of shingles is a reason in and of itself to have it.

whilst in many cases CO is mild that’s not always the case, and shingles is hideous.

It wouldn’t have been added to the standard vaccinations if it wasn’t worth it.

This, you can’t get shingles if you haven’t had the chicken pox. But if you’re vaccinated for chicken pox, you won’t get shingles. Shingles is horrible and has long term effects for a lot of people.

I had both my DDs vaccinated privately (eldest now a late teen). Both held through multiple waves of CP in classmates over the years.

I’ll advise them to get checked for immunity in their 20s / pre having children and they can get a booster then if needed.

Don’t expose your children to chicken pox knowingly. It opens them up to getting shingles later in life, which is horrific for some people and the issues associated with it can last months and even years. Get them vaccinated. I had chicken pox as an adult, it was awful. Three weeks off work!

My 5 year old was so poorly with chicken pox if I’d known about the vaccine I would have got him the protection. It was awful.

My child was very ill with CP. Well over a decade later over 100 scars are still visible. Now that a chickenpox vaccine is available I would urge everyone to vaccinate their child.

I had an amazingly easy time with chicken pox age 5. My mother took me to a nurse to confirm the diagnosis, because it was that mild.

I had a rather less easy time of it when I caught it again, age 30.

Just sayin'.

My son was so ill with chicken pox, had them all in his mouth and around his genitals. Couldn't eat for two weeks and lost loads of weight as he was only three.

I've had my middle child privately vaccinated and my baby will have the NHS pathway vaccine

My husband and his brother were seriously ill with CP as children. It triggered a rare autoimmune issue that caused both of them to develop type 1 diabetes. We had our child vaccinated for chicken pox privately.