Urgent we need your thoughts on chickenpox

Fair comment Edam...I did point you to where I got them from, which agreed with my own investigations when DTDs had pox when I was 6wks preg - wasn't aware it had changed and the NHS direct page I looked at had a paragraph saying 'consult your Dr if you are worried' which wasn't worth linking too.

I did also acknowledge that it is v dangerous in teh last couple of weeks.

All mine have had it with no problems apart from general malise and some scars.

I did think about getting a single cahicken pox jab done privately for dd but the cost at the moment is high. All mine have had single jabs for MMR and I am glad I did because one reacted to the measles bit.

I say no more combination jabs, they have enough in the first 2 years

They're on now. Look there's Carrie!!

everyone ignore Fio.

Slightly mad, I think your stats on the period of pregnancy in which chickenpox is dangerous may be an under-estimate - they have been revised in the light of a new, thorough review of the evidence so worth anyone who is concerned checking with NHS Direct. And it becomes an issue again in very late pregnancy just before you have your baby.

Overall still a very low risk that chickenpox will cause any harm, though.

long time how are you? .

I'm not sure six deaths are worth mass immunisation. Of course it's desperately sad for those families (although I wonder whether doctors failing to pick up secondary infections played a part?) but in health economic cost/benefit terms, is it really a sensible thing to do?

I forget how many children are in the country but I think it's more than 10 million. So 6 deaths and 100 serious illnesses are a very, very small proportion of the total - and you'd have to vaccinate almost all of those children to make a difference.

It might help vulnerable people such as pregnant women or the elderly though, I guess.

ds had it with virtually no probs but dh got it a was very,very ill

My girls had chicken pox, one was nearly three years old the other was 5 weeks old. Neither of them seemed unwell just spotty.

When all children are vacinated are the next generation of parents going to fret over chicken pox the way we fret over Measles?

I also think that if they were to group this vaxination in with mmr there is serious risk that the take up of mmr will also decrease as people are uneasy enough about mmr as it is, and adding another vaxination into the mix would, IMO, cause those who were slightly uneasy yet still prepared to take the chance to think again and potentially not immunize at all.

My son barely knew he was even ill with chickenpox. My daughter was slightly more poorly but was out on her scooter within two days and driving me mad because she was bored and couldn't go back to nursery.

My son barely knew he was even ill with chickenpox. My daughter was slightly more poorly but was out on her scooter within two days and driving me mad because she was bored and couldn't go back to nursery.

slightlymad I wasn't implying that there should be a vaxination against asthma, what I meant was that far more children are dying of asthma than chicken pox, and we're not doing much to iradicate the underlying causes, ie increased polution etc (as asthma is far more common than was the case, say, 20 years ago), whereas illnesses like chicken pox which are, for the most part, completely harmless there is this sudden panic and assumed need to vaxinate all children.

The number of diseases we immunize our children against concerns me. When they are babies they are vaxinated against about 5 different illnesses, then mmr at 1, and when they are preschool age we give them a dose of all those diseases in one hit. While I am pro vaxination for the most part (although also realize that there are many who do not/would not vaxinate because of very valid reasons), i do not believe that constantly exposing our children to vast quantities of illnesses which they in all likelyhood may never even catch is healthy.

Ooh I am still about BCG - my bumps came up, but not enough apparently, so I had to have the jab anyway, and then it went infected and I had this big manky hole in my arm.

oh meely My DD had bad chicken pox when she was 5 months despite being exclusively breastfed and me having had it. Totally gave the lie to all this thing about babies only getting it mildly and it is better if they get it younger etc. She was unconsolable and could not be put down day or night, could only be slightly comforted by a breast feed.

You will be surprised how many viral infections can be contracted without showing any symptoms....not sure if that applies to TB though

opposite to you Belgo - I never had the BCG in school, skin test came up possitive as I have antibodies. No one has any idea where on earth from...

Oooh I'm not a freak then (Or I am, but it is a known about freakdom)

Flame - yes that can happen with the hep B vaccine. It's not always effective, and some people will need boosters sooner then other people. Some people will never have immunity.

I've had the TB vaccine BCG, but they didn't think it worked.

Flame My titre is borderline too. Means that I can pass off the riskier work to colleagues

thanks for that flame
very enlightening

Thats true....but there are instance where vaccination is purely to give an individual pesonal protection rather than herd protection/erraication...

Flu virus for eg...vulnerable are immunised and there is no intention to create herd immunity there.

I apparently don't have any hep B antibodies in me... and yet I had the full course of jabs when working at the hospital

Not at all relevant but felt the need to share