To consider vaccinating against chicken pox?

[Chipshopninja]

It used to be the done thing to have chicken pox parties, so your child caught it as young as possible

Now though it seems there's more and more information on how dangerous it can be.
Apparently 10 children in the UK die from CP every year (read that somewhere earlier but don't have a link sorry)

My 2 nieces have had it recently and I'm considering getting ds (3) vaccinated

There's a local clinic that does it for 65 pounds

Aibu?

I had my DS vaccinated because in my country, it is normal. Unfortunately a few years later he came down with shingles. The GP told me this was more common in children who had had the vaccination as the child doesn't build up proper immunity. Shingles was horrendous and I regretted many times having vaccinated him against chicken pox.

I was so totally against vaccinating until my dd had chicken pox- she was so very very ill- sores everywhere (and I mean everywhere) I would consider should I ever have another child

If no underlying health complications, I would rather my child caught chicken pox and recovered naturally.

Chicken pox is horrible to have to go through just like any other illness, but recovering naturally provides you with much better protection, and there is no real question that it's lifelong. If no chicken pox by the age of about 9, then I would vaccinate to prevent complications later in life.

10 children dying each year is obviously terrible for their families, but it's also pretty expected. There's always a very tiny proportion of people who will die from even minor illnesses.

Chicken pox is horrible to have to go through just like any other illness, but recovering naturally provides you with much better protection

Any evidence for this?

...and there is no real question that it's lifelong.

This isn't true. People who have had chicken pox can and do lose their immunity. It certainly isn't necessarily lifelong.

You can catch chicken pox more than once, a friends child is 12 and has had CP three times between the age of 2-10yrs. Vaccine doesn't guarantee you won't catch CP but lessens the chance and the severity.

Im not in the uk and here its a routine vaccine. Be aware that child must be over 12months (either for vaccine or for illness) for it to count!kids here who get jabbed before 12months wilk have to get another one,and my friends child ended up getting the pox 3times all in all....

goodness - dying from a preventable disease, however rare an occurrence, is never insignificant. My friend's ds was a perfectly healthy little boy who had just celebrated his 1st birthday, he contracted chicken pox, and died 2 weeks later. Other children who have had similar complications have not had their deaths recorded as being as a result of chicken pox, but of the secondary infection - so the figures may be wrong anyway.

Yes, complications are rare, but encephalitis, brain damage, Strep A, pneumonia, chicken pox in the lungs, toxic shock, sepsis and infections of the skin, eye, bone etc, whilst not fatal can be devestating.

The vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective (and in the 5% for whom it is not effective, the chicken pox contracted is mild and with no complications), for at least 20 years (and as pointed out earlier - this is only under question because the major national vaccination programmes were only rolled out in 1995)

In the USA pre 1995 there were...

10,500-13,000 hospitalizations, and 100-150 deaths each year. Since immunization the number of infections in the United States has decreased nearly 90%

I don't understand why you wouldn't. But then, I had a really awful time with chickenpox - even had sores inside my mouth - and I wouldn't wish that on anybody's child, let alone my own.

I've always said no, but DD is 5 and still hasn't had it (AFAIK - in theory she could have had it) and if she doesn't get it by the time she's a bit older (not sure what age yet, maybe a teenager?) I may consider vaxxing but will also have to consider my younger child as well. I thought she'd catch it at school but not so far, maybe next year!

I remember having CP, DH isn't sure if he's had it or not though.

To be fair tuskerfull, the vaccination isn't available on the NHS to most people and it's expensive privately. Costs vary but there doesn't seem to be any way to get both doses for under three figures. A lot of people don't have that money to spare, especially not for every child. There are people who would like to get it for their child but can't afford it.

Also I don't think it is routinely discussed by hcp. My ds's friend, who has complex health issues caught chicken pox at the same time as ds, he had not been vaccinated and ended up in hospital with chicken pox in his lungs. None if the hcp incolved in his care (of which there are many) had mentioned the vaccine to his parents, and they hadn't realised there was a vaccine available.

Both of my DC ended up with a bad case of cp.
DS ended up on anti viral medicine. Dd ended up with pneumonia while she had the cp and ended up in hospital.
I would have vaccinated had the choice been there,but didn't even know there was a vaccine.

I would have them vaccinated to stop the scarring, if nothing else. They are scarred for life!

DS1 had CP when he was 12 months old and was so incredibly poorly with it he ended up in hospital on iv antibiotics and fluids for almost a week, they were on his eyelids, down his throat, everywhere imaginable, and it took him a good couple of months to fully recover.

DS2 has asthma and we were at the clinic for a checkup when the nurse mentioned that CP is reputedly worse for asthma sufferers so I looked into the vaccine, decided to go for it and found a lovely clinic in Birmingham to go to. DS2 had no side effects from either injection and I'd do it again if we had any more DCs.

regina and others - I MUST point out that mercola is a quack! A quack of the highest order. Please, please take anything you read on that site with a healthy dose of skepticism :) pseudoscience....

Most European countries and the USA vaccinate against chickenpox. Two doses normally (and if you tell people where I live that the UK don't vaccinate you get the usual look of shock horror...) ;)

In a normal healthy child, CP is just a week or two of itchy misery but it can be nasty in kids with immune issues, underlying health issues etc. it's also not something you want to catch if you're on steroid treatment, or have health issues or are a pregnant woman.

Also, a significant number of people aren't immune as adults, and getting it as an adult is much nastier. I've just had one of my direct reports at work (great big strapping healthy bloke) off for two weeks with it.

One thing I've noticed in the UK is that people are very lax about taking their kids out when they are obviously still shedding virus. That's a really shitty thing to do - you're exposing others around you to a virus that could harm them.

My kids will be getting the jab.

My 3 haven't had the vaccination but have had the pox. Big got it mildly but middle and little had it terribly. Down their throats and in their groins and bums and oh it was awful. Thought with such a severe dose they wouldn't get it again but noooooooo littlest got it 3 weeks ago. I would have had then vaccinated had I known.

Worth checking out the following websites

www.who.int › immunization › diseases
Read the position paper

And read the minutes from a meeting last year here

www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation

Hi soft hedgehog - if you see this message, can you advise if you dc had 1 or 2 doses? Many thanks

There is a research study at southampton university hospital running at the moment comparing 2 different types of cp vaccine - it's free

I got DS vaccinated last year when he was 2. We had an expensive holiday booked and a friends DD was undergoing chemo. Both good reasons for getting the vaccine but really it was that DS was and is a livewire and the idea of being housebound for a few days was horrendous. Very happy to have spent £120 all in, in order to keep my sanity. It should be available to all.

Interesting!

Had mine vaccinated because eldest at risk of complications. We're in France where it is not routine but GP was happy to prescribe it.

That was back in the days when only one dose was given. Turns out it doesn't given full protection (they now recommend two doses). Both my kids did later get a very mild dose of CP - so mild that if my DS's best friend hadn't been covered in pox I wouldn't have recognised it. The spots came up then disappeared again within 24 hours, it was actually quite fascinating to watch.

My interesting comment was aimed at the research at sotton uni. My daughter had her first dose last week. Did huge amounts of research beforehand and spoke to the gp at the private clinic about his views first. Then had a MASSIVE wobble and thought I'd done a terrible thing. Stumbled across so anti vac websites was the problem I think. But then re read the WHO and other government and cdc sites and feel better about it now.

Mistri - I was considering not going for the second dose (at least until she turns 12) when I was having my wobble as she could get natural immunity from a mild episode. But then she might not. On the shelf at the mo. Harder in the uk as not routine do you feel like you are doing something a little taboo when really you just have your lo best interests at heart. I was concerned about potential scarring and also what if she was one of the very unlucky children who have a really bad time of it. It's preventative. The private gp advised me it comes down to budget which is why we don't have it. It can be really bad but of course is often mild.

Sorry - Mistigri, even! When I say she might not, I mean might not get a breakthrough case.