Chicken pox vaccine

[Misspacorabanne]

I'm undecided about getting DC the chicken pox vaccine, has anybody had it for your own DC? Was the vaccine itself ok? Any side effects? I think my main concern is how long will immunity last from the vaccine? Will they need boosters through out their lives? Just wondered if anybody with experience of it knows!
Thanks

No side effects from the vaccine for either DC.
There isn't a definite as to how long the immunity will last - since my DC are girls, I was recommended that they have their immunity checked (you can get a blood test done) prior to them having children as obviously it's dangerous for pregnant women to get chicken pox so my DC would be best to know for sure that they have immunity rather than just assume.

Once fully vaccinated with the two vaccines it's a 98% chance that you won't get chicken pox at all, and a 2% chance that you would get it but it would be much much mildler if you do and you would most likely get a few spots and no illness with it.

Thanks for replying! That's really helpful! Mine are boys, but I think I worry they would catch it as adults and it would be worse then if they had it as children if immunity wanes over time. It's great that there were no side effects for your dc though.

Mine had the jab. No side effects. Massive relief when CP was going around at school and I knew my family couldn’t catch it. The UK is very odd for not vaccing kids against CP, most other western countries do.

I don't live in the UK so my DS got it as standard. He was a bit grumpy after and we gave him calpol but nothing different than after any of the other baby vaccines he had. Because the vaccine is standard here I don't know any children who have had chicken pox so it seems worth it. I missed my first Christmas nativity and all the Christmas parties that year as a child because of chicken pox. Not the worst thing in the world but if I can spare DS that then I will

My Gdcs have had it, no side effects that I heard of.

Quite apart from avoiding what can be a very unpleasant illness, Sod’s law says kids are bound to catch it just before you’re due to go on holiday or have something else long planned.

And if you have more than one dc, who are going to catch it one after the other, that can mean weeks stuck at home in e.g. the summer holidays.

My kids both had it, and we know they've both been exposed since and not caught CP so it seems to have worked.
There will be plenty more research about the need for boosters by the time they're 18 but if necessary I'll get them the booster before they go to uni.

Thanks all of you!! That's really helpful! Yes I'm happy to pay for a booster too if it's ever needed.

@RaRaReba

Mine had the jab. No side effects. Massive relief when CP was going around at school and I knew my family couldn’t catch it. The UK is very odd for not vaccing kids against CP, most other western countries do.

So there are reasons why we don't vaccinate routinely for chicken pox in the UK. These are as follows:

1. To routinely vaccinate children the chicken pox vax in the UK would be added into the same vaccination for MMR. Unfortunately due to the Andrew Wakefield scandal / Autism link which although completely disproved and Wakefield being struck off, still has an effect on the MMR vaccine today. Therefore as the uptake of the MMR is too low still in the UK, adding chicken pox into it wouldn't be helpful as we are unfortunately falling below the uptake level needed for herd immunity.

1. As a result of the above, if some children were given the chicken pox vax and some weren't, and there wasn't herd immunity, this then would have an affect on the shingles situation for the elderly. The elderly can be vaxxed against shingles age 70+ however until that point, it is actually the fact that children still get chicken pox that boosts immunity to shingles in the older generation, as in the UK there is a decent amount of exposure of people to chicken pox which acts as a constant immunity boost.

So, if this amount of exposure was to drop with some children being vaxxed and some not, it would mean that adults and older people had less immunity to shingles, and whilst there would be less young people with chicken pox there would be more oldee people with shingles and that can actually be a really serious illness.

1. Taking into account the two above points, the

already overstretched NHS cannot justify spending the money needed to add in another routine vax, when it actually can end up having a negative knock on effect across other age groups.

children still get chicken pox that boosts immunity to shingles in the older generation
My children aren’t going to suffer with CP just so complete strangers don’t get shingles. My children are not there to act as a free booster to others. And the NHS could give those people a shingles booster jab.

I agree with the point that some people would freak out about changes to MMR, but imo those people are antivaxxers in general and would refuse MMR to begin with. And the NHS could get round that by offering CP as a separate vaccination.

At the end of the day it’s basically just greed, the NHs doesn’t want to pay for the CP jab or the shingles booster. There’s no good reason for not vaccing kids against CP like other countries do.

My son’s best friend has suffered dreadfully with complications from chicken pox. My kids have had CP but, having seen what this poor lad as been through, I’d definitely say to get it.

I had it when I was 15 -- no side effects that I recall at all.

@RaRaReba

children still get chicken pox that boosts immunity to shingles in the older generation My children aren’t going to suffer with CP just so complete strangers don’t get shingles. My children are not there to act as a free booster to others. And the NHS could give those people a shingles booster jab.

I agree with the point that some people would freak out about changes to MMR, but imo those people are antivaxxers in general and would refuse MMR to begin with. And the NHS could get round that by offering CP as a separate vaccination.

At the end of the day it’s basically just greed, the NHs doesn’t want to pay for the CP jab or the shingles booster. There’s no good reason for not vaccing kids against CP like other countries do.

I agree, obviously, as I've had my kids vaxxed.

However you said the UK is odd for not doing it, so as I know the reasons why, I told you them! No need to have a go at me because you don't think the reasons are correct!

My two elder children have had it (girl and boy) at around 14 moths - had to wait a little after the 12 month routine jabs - no real side effects. It's been going round DD's nursery at the moment and although she's caught what feels like every other bug, no chicken pox thank goodness as I would be worried for baby DD. Planning to get CP vaccine for baby as soon as she can have it. I worry about the baby as my sister had it at 8weeks old and was really ill, plus her immunity didn't seem to last as she's had shingles as an adult, horrible. I think the vaccine is well worth it, even if they turn out to need a booster later.

Thanks all I've booked it for DC!