To think that children with ezcema should be offered the chicken pox jab on the nhs

[ReallyTired]

When ds was little he had a hellish time with chicken pox as he simulaneously had an ezcema outbreak and chickenpox spots. The poor thing had to have anti biotics as well as steriod cream to sort out the mess. It wasn't life threatening, but ds had a truely miserable three weeks.

I feel that this kind of complication could be antisipated in a child who suffers from ezcema. Surely it would be kindest to give children who suffer from ezcema the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine on the nhs. We have paid for dd to have the jab privately as I don't want to have ds's experience with chickenpox.

I don't think a certain group of people should be offered a vaccine because of possible discomfort.

Chicken pox can seriously hurt all children, In my opinion all children should be offered it.

If my child was offered the jab, i'd take it, like i do with all the others.

I've had chicken pox 3 times. I also suffer really badly from eczema (a few weeks ago my face looked like a red, weeping rorschach test). I've never had a really terrible outbreak of it when i had the pox though. Your daughter was just really unlucky i'm afraid, it was probably brought on by the stress or irritation to her skin. So i don't think the NHS should offer it to children just on the grounds that they have eczema.

One of the problems is that 'having eczema' is such a wide spectrum. Lots of children have childhood eczema, lots grow out of it and some don't. Where would you draw the line in terms of who isn't/isn't entitled to it? Would a parent with a child with eczema be seen as neglectful if they declined the vaccine?

My ds had chicken pox when he also had eczema when he was a baby. One of his spots got infected and he ended up on antibiotics and continued on steroid cream. In those circumstances, I'm so grateful to live in a part of the world and a time in history where children have access to antibiotics.

I think chicken pox vaccine is offered to some children isn't it? Like if there's a member of the family who is severely immune compromised ie going through chemotherapy.

I would hope in the future it might be offered on the NHS to all children. Whilst most children feel poorly and recover well there are still children who get complications and suffer real pain rather than discomfort and it can be life threatening for some children (even those without previously diagnosed underlying health risks).

Most countries seem to have the vaccine as standard. TBH I wouldn't have a problem with it being offered to kids who are likely to suffer a bit more than normal.

you are (sort of) nbu
I would hope it will be availabe to anyone.
my dc had the jab privately a) because dc1 had/has eczema b) it is a vike disease (even if it is not dangerous to most )

All mine have excema in various degrees.
Dd1's the worst, although still not really bad by general standards. She itches at anything, even the thought that something might be itchy sends her into squirms. She had very mild chickenpox, and didn't itch at all.

Dd2 has patches of excema. Chickenpox taught her to scratch-she was 6 months when she had it badly. She had over 500 spots, so no space for excema left really

Ds occasionally has little dry patches that clear with a small amount of cream. He was really ill with chickenpox, and very very itchy, he ended up with cream, antibiotics and was close to beign admitted to hospital because the worst spots were inside
.
So for my dc excema made no difference to their discomfort.

I would like the chickenpox vaccine to be offered to all children. As I understand it the only reason it is not done is cost.

I suppose an issue with the varicella vaccine is that it is cultured in egg and lot of children with allergies. I imagine that might be a problem for lots of ezcema sufferers. I certainly don't want a family to pressurised into a chicken pox vacine.

There is a difference between offering the option of vacination and complusion.