To worry that DC still haven't caught chicken pox?

[ASnowballsChance]

DC aged 10y and 5y still haven't caught chicken pox. I know it can be more severe the older you get. This is slightly complicated by me not being immune to CP despite having it as a child and being in contact with it since via siblings.

Anyone else have older DC not yet caught it?

When I got DD and DS vaccinated last year the nurse who gave the vaccine told us there is a risk of them getting shingles as adults but no higher than if they had had chicken pox as children. So maybe bathe risk is lower but I think she was just reassuring us that it isn’t any higher (this was after reading all the possible side effects of the vaccine out etc)

@Blahdeblahbahhhhh
A few children caught it at nursery at Christmas. I felt bad for the parents but I was just so pleased in that moment for me!!

Another vote for private vaccination. My son was vaccinated at Superdrug. 2 injections, 4 weeks apart. £65 per injection.
He had no side effects.
The nurse also told me the same as another poster re: shingles. He could still get that as an adult.

Take them for the vaccination. We spent 12 years on CP watch them decided to pay for the vaccination so getting it now won't affect exams etc. I had it aged 21 and it was vile.

I've never had it. I'm 52 later this month. I understand that it's not pleasant for adults but I'm reasonably confident of avoiding it.

I got Chicken pox when I was 12, my mum also caught it, she was 39. We were both very poorly covered from head to toe inside & out in spots. My dad used to leave us both in my mum's bed with a packet of sandwiches & portable tv when he went to work. I was off school over 2 weeks, went back to school for 1 morning & started with measles, then caught mumps as my quarantine was ending. If you can get your kids immunized, that is better than waiting for them to catch it because they will never get it when it is convenient & there is the danger of them passing it on to someone who has immunity problems.

My ds18 and my dd7 haven’t had it . Don’t think my dh has either

My sister and I both had Chicken Pox at 30 and we were fine.

The nurse also told me the same as another poster re: shingles. He could still get that as an adult.

Based on the available evidence the incidence is low, and the evidence isn’t always clear whether the patient had the % of CP vaccine that didn’t take (particularly after the original single-dose vaccine) and had wild-acquired virus with no symptoms instead (some documented cases were due to wild virus, from my reading).

The lag rate between CP and shingles is the issue here - the two-dose vaccine schedule in particular hasn’t been around long enough for there to be enough population-scale data. But the trend to date is much lower incidence among the vaccinated than those who have caught the wild virus.

There may be evidence I’ve missed. The nurse is right, he could still get shingles as an adult. But then, he could still get CP.

I had it at 21 despite my twin having it at 10.

My dc have never had it either(8&6), I thought they would get it when DH had shingles a couple of years ago but nope. I think if we get to 10/11 and they still haven’t had it we will get them vaccinated.

Got my ds vaccinated at two years old. Chickenpox can be a bloody horrible illness, I had it aged 10 and was very ill for weeks

I vaccinated my 7 and 15 year old last year as despite their other siblings having it neither of them had had it and it was going around youngest’s class. Youngest got chicken pox 2 days later as it must have already been in his system!! 15 year old still didn’t get it so I’m convinced she’s immune so didn’t have the second injection. Both of them didn’t even flinch having the injection so must be a very small needle. I’d definitely recommend having it. I was convinced we’d get it just before a holiday or middle of GCSEs which is why I did it in the end.

Sorry just placemarking as I want to book an appt.
Thanks for this thread by the way

@Auramigraine yes I'm pretty sure there are services that offer titre tests. They're problematic though as they can give a negative result even in people who are immune.

DH and DS were vaccinated together as soon as possible after DS turned 12 months. Since then CP has gone through his nursery like wildfire but DS swerved it.

I was 40 when I caught it from DS.

Chickenpox can be fatal, just like all childhood illnesses, vaccinate.

I caught it when 25 weeks pregnant.

Ended up on oxygen in A&E within 6 hours of the first blister appearing as a result. Nobody from Maternity would come to check whether the baby was OK because of the fear of taking the infection back to the wards. So I spent the time pushed away in the furthest corner of A&E until my sats came up a bit. The only interaction I had was somebody looking in through the curtain to check I was still alive every few hours. No food, no water, nothing past the first person who saw me who stayed past his end of shift, saying he'd already had it, so was prepared to put the mask on me and one nurse calling through the curtain to let them know if I go into labour.

I had them everywhere - inside and out - for weeks. Vaginal chickenpox is not something I'd wish upon my worst enemy. Had it been any later in my pregnancy, DD could have suffered horrendous effects (including blindness) and, any earlier, I could have miscarried.

My entire body felt like it was on fire. I've had severe sunburn before and that was a walk in the park in comparison. I've spilled boiling water over myself and that was nothing compared to the pain of chickenpox.

Calamine lotion burned and stung. Water burned and stung. Clothes burned and stung. Breathing burned. I lost over a stone and became anaemic when I'd previously been fine - but I couldn't be checked/have a blood test until I was clear of the blisters, as the GPs wouldn't have me in the surgery when they had immunosupressed and/or elderly patients there and their HCA hadn't had it.

Had I not caught it then, but did when I'd started medication for Psoriatic Arthritis, I'm told that it can easily become fatal (which is why I suppose I was barred from the GP and Maternity/Antenatal unit for the duration).

Vaccination is worth every penny, IMO.

I had chicken pox as a kid (4) and the had it as an adult (30!) last two weeks before Xmas last year! Doctor said having it as a kid doesn’t 100% mean you won’t get it as an adult.

That’s horrendous Mitzi. I had it in adulthood too and was pretty poorly but not as bad as you and at least I wasn’t pregnant. I had them up inside as well, horrible. The ones on my face became infected with MRSA which was a joy.

my 14 y old and 8 y old have never had it or any other illness apart from the odd cold
my niece and nephew had it bad 3 weeks ago and youngest still went visiting to see him(only 4 months between them)and i was convinced he was going to be ill as he got in bed with his cousin but no nothing

im 38 and never had the pox or measles or anything like that

My second child got to 7 and still hadn’t had it so got her and the younger one vaccinated at the Superdrug clinic. It cost £60 for each dose (they needed 2 doses) but I could have easily spent that money on extra childcare to work extra days at work to make up missed time if they’d both had it plus it can be mild or can be horrendous. Many countries have it as one of their standard vaccinations.

Placemarking too
My 10yo has had it but her younger sister had, I was baffled as my 10 yo was an extreme preemie and I expected her to pick up all sorts , but nah

Any recommendations other than Superdrug? Don’t fancy them since I’ve seen them join the crappy ear piercing club

I got it when I was 32 and pregnant. Luckily all was fine. I had asked for immunity to be tested during my first pregnancy but midwife refused - apparently she shouldn’t have done. They tend to assume you’ve had it and not noticed. Tested for immunity during 2nd pregnancy and not immune - hence catching it from toddler DS. I had been in contact with it before though as child and adult and not caught it. Both children have had it but if they hadn’t, I would have got them vaccinated in their late teens