to purposely expose my 2yo to chicken pox?

[TinyTheTortoise]

Opinions please.
My 2 yo DD is in good health for once, but my friends child has come down with chicken pox, my other friend looks after this child for an hour or so after school while her mum works, and it's likely that her grandaughter (2yo) will already have the virus, meaning my DD could as well as they socialise every morning and every afternoon on school run, and often at least one day a week atm is spent with them. They often cuddle/hold hands too.
So the chances are my little one has already been exposed to it, and there would be nothing I could do about that. However I want to get it out of the way, and we are planning on making sure my friends child is around the 2yo all day tomorrow.. but another friend of mine thinks this is a bad idea, and I shouldn't deliberately expose her to it as it's better if she *never gets it??

*Surely she is bound to get it at some point? I've never known anyone to have never had it?

So, good people of MN, what do you think? I'm happy to hear valid arguments on both sides.

Needs - CP vaccine was licensed in the US in 1995 and available in combined form (MMRV) only since 2005, so long term effects on CP epidemiology are not yet known.

NeedsAsockamnesty

But those countries HAVE had an increase in the incident of shingles. Adults who don't have the additional exposure to CP via their children and grandchildren have a lowered immunity to it.

I had CP as an adult, and it was pretty mild. I was though pregnant, and although it caused no harm to DS, it did cause the HCP worry. As a high fever can bring on labour, and I was 35 weeks roughly - the last thing they wanted was a pregnant woman with CP in labour.
My DH's mum died of CP (as an adult obviously).
A friends son was extremely ill when he caught it at 9 ish, in hospital for quite some time.

I did consider the vaccine for my DC, but they all caught it before I got around to it. They were fine.

Fatman, eczema herpeticum is a rare complication and it is not 'frequently fatal'. Mortality for it is now very low.

A CP booster was introduced in the US in 2006 so it will be a while before we know if another one is needed.

This was the thing I read and I could be totally making this bit up but something about china and simerler rings a bell

www.webmd.com/children/vaccines/news/20131202/chickenpox-vaccine-not-responsible-for-rise-in-shingles-study-says

needsasockamnesty - thanks for the information.

OP FYI it is not usual at all for people to pay for vaccines for chicken pox around here. It is the norm in our area (part of London) for children to have chicken pox. Both of my children and all of my friend's children have had it, none have had complications (although DD2 has a bit of scarring as she had it quite badly, but that is even now only noticeable in certain lights and will fade even more as she grows - she is 4).

I think the one thing I'd say on this is

IF the OP isn't planning to have the vaccine done, then exposing her child to it and watching out for complications might be the safest way to proceed.

I always think of the MN whose child became very, very sick indeed as a result of chickenpox. IIRC he developed encephalitis and it sounded absolutely terrifying. But one of the things there was, as I recall, she didn't know he had chickenpox because he didn't really have any other symptoms.

I can see how a controlled exposure would be better than waiting for him to get it randomly.

But I'd have the vaccine done.

I do have a question for any virologists or immunologists out there.

Its often said that the kind of immunity you get from the vaccine is inferior in terms of duration of immunity to the kind of immunity you get from catching the disease.

Could someone please explain how this would work? Why would natural immunity give you longer protection? I do basically know my way around the immune system, I know how viruses work and all the rest, but I don't really get this one. Is there a difference in the virus itself, the fact one is attenuated or dead, say? Or is it that the "wild" strain actually contains several slightly different mutations of the virus (my understanding is that precise replication isn't something viruses do well?). I'd be really interested if anyone can give me a straight answer on this.

Bumbleymum everything I've read and been told by doctors is that unless treated pdq with antiviral meds the prognosis is poor.
My advice to anyone with active widespread eczema would be to head straight to the docs on immediate suspicion of chickenpox as the antiviral meds can be given at home from the beginning reducing the chance of herpeticum.....
Fwiw my son had eczema all over his body at the time...he now calls the herpeticum his 'Harry Potter disease'

Yes, if it's left untreated it can be dangerous but they can treat it now so prognosis is really good. Saying it is 'frequently fatal' is misleading unless you clarify it with 'if it is not treated'.