To choose to vaccinate 1yr old against chicken pox?

[welliwasntexpectingthat]

I have 2 older children who have had it and i feel like it will hang over us, ready to pounce just before a holiday or another inconvenient time. I can't see there is any real detrimental effect of doing it on him....or am i missing something important?

YANBU

We are going to vaccinate DC2 once they are old enough

DC1 got it done at the age of 3- by that point I was certain they would've picked it up at nursery/other places but they hadn't so we decided it was the right thing to do for us

The best way to protect against getting shingles is to never get chicken pox. If the immunity wears off you could get chicken pox as an adult but this doesn’t seem to be an issue so far in other countries and you could get a booster.

www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjAy7GV6ePiAhVlQt8KHftCDIEQzPwBegQIARAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhealth.clevelandclinic.org%2Fcan-you-get-shingles-if-you-havent-had-chickenpox%2F&psig=AOvVaw1IHTK5ffuC5ds2cELAE0pT&ust=1560424709615190

From what I can tell, shingles and chicken pox would mostly vanish in a generation of the uptake of the chicken pox vaccine were high enough.

I understand that the NHS's reason is about protecting the adult generation from shingles. And also the risk is higher for unvaccinated kids if they then catch chickenpox as adults when it's worse. They'd prefer the virus to circulate.
But if you don't care about contributing to protecting the general population and only want to protect your own child then no reason not to go ahead

Absolute bollocks.

The evidence suggests that though there may be a brief increase in shingles among young adults who have not had chicken pox or chicken pox vaccine as children, the benefits of universal chicken pox vaccination outweigh any disadvantages.

It is absolutely about cost to the NHS.

Really interesting thread, like a few others I'm swinging between getting DC vaccinated and not. One thing that occurred to me is that if the protection is not life long, for girls would this out them at higher risk of catching CP whilst pregnant which potentially can cause serious complications?

DD is 6. She hasn't had it yet but it's done the rounds twice at school (I think) and several times at nursery before that.

I keep thinking about getting it done, but cannot make up my mind about what to do for the best!

@SinkGirl

This from an American doctor is quite poignant
cpmgsandiego.com/2011/12/22/chickenpox-and-shingles-what-you-might-not-know/

Thank you for posting that link, that doctor's experiences with chicken pox shows that, in rare cases, how it can be much more serious than most people expect

I know those kind of complications most likely don't occur often, but that's enough for me to want to get my children vaccinated

It isnt true that the vaccine only lasts 10 years. It's only about 35 years old and didn't become part of any country's routine vaccination schedule until well into the 90s. So obviously we only have data from the fairly recent past, but there's nothing to say people vaccinated when it first became available are all losing their immunity.

It is a risk in that we can't be sure how long the vaccine lasts given how new it is, but then getting chicken pox doesn't automatically confer lifelong immunity either. It's always possible to get your immunity checked too.

This piece of writing by Roald Dahl gets to me every time I read it, about his 7 year old daughter who died of measles complications in 1962

www.roalddahl.com/roald-dahl/timeline/1960s/november-1962

I also vaccinated both DC as soon as I was able 1 month after my youngest turned 1. For me we don't have family support around and taking time off work would have cost a lot more than the vaccine. Also both of mine have nasty eczema which is supposed to potentially make it worse

And then a year later my youngest got it anyway so we still had to take time off work! It was really mild though so I don't regret it at all, some friends have had some really miserable kids with it.

World health organisation recommends it and Australia and America do it as part of the vaccination schedule. If by chance you are planning a trip to Oz you can get it for free by taking their UK red book into a clinic.

The vaccination doesn’t provide permanent immunity and that’s why the NHS doesn’t routinely offer it. It’s very possible for your child to get CP or Shingles as an adult when the scarring involved could become permanent. That’s why parents provide chicken pox parties for healthy kids.

That's incorrect. We don't know whether the vaccine provides permanent immunity or not, given that it's quite new, though we do know that having the disease doesn't necessarily. But that isn't the reason the NHS doesn't provide it.

Yes it is. The vaccine is very ineffective which is why in countries such as India and the USA there is an increase in CP and shingles in adults. In India people do die from CP even though they are routinely vaccinated.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccine-questions-answers/

Yes we did it when DD was 2.5yrs. No regrets, she’s 7 this year. Will look at getting the booster when she’s a teenager.

Our GP surgery ordered it in for us and only charged us the cost price which was £80 all in for the first and follow up vaccine. Two days of missed nursery fees alone back then would have been £100 plus one of us taking time off work to stay home for a week if she got CP, so well worth it. And she hasn’t had to suffer with CP!

GP told me likely not available on NHS due to 1) cost and b) MMR vaccine uptake

That NHS link doesn't say they arent offering it because it doesn't provide permanent immunity to chicken pox.

The chicken pox vaccine is given to children in Australia at 18 months. Because of this it is extremely rare to hear of children getting chicken pox.

I’m grateful my children had this vaccine and just want to scream every time I see a Mumsnet post asking if they should expose their child to little Johnny who has chicken pox to “get it over with”.

Just vaccinate and be done.

In fairness not everyone can afford to get it done privately. Cheapest I've seen is £65 a dose which is £130.

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

The vaccine isn’t responsible for the rise in shingles.

And if it were, it wouldn’t be because being vaccinated against Chicken pox makes shingles more likely. It’s that exposure to kids with chicken pox boosts immunity against shingles - fewer kids getting chicken pox mean fewer cases to boost immunity.

You can only get shingles if you’ve had chicken pox. Get the vaccine, don’t get chicken pox, don’t get shingles. If the immunity wears off that’s bad, means you’re more likely to get chicken pox as an adult when it’s more serious. So commit to getting a booster.

If adults are concerned about getting shingles, get a bloody shingles vaccine.

Cost and anti-vaxxers are the real reason the NHS won’t do it.

Complications in children are rare. That still means they affect some children.

In fairness not everyone can afford to get it done privately. Cheapest I've seen is £65 a dose which is £130.

Yep, and we have twins, who both have (costly) additional needs.

We vaccinated DS at 2yo and don't regret it. He's had one definite exposure to a contagious child since (his cousin came out in CP the day after DS had been playing with him all day) and DS has had no signs of it.
As more data comes out about the long term efficacy of the vaccine we can obviously get him a booster if ever the research suggests it might be needed.

Sorry, I realise this is too late now, sinkgirl - bit for anyone whose child has reasons for there to be complications from contracting chicken pox, the vaccine is available on the NHS. Ds had it done as recommended by his paediatrician.

Sorry, meant to add....hope your twins are ok.

Definitely get the vaccine! All three of our dc have just had the pox and it wasn't pretty. Two of them will be left with scars. It's not a mild illness in my opinion, it was awful for my 6 year old he was covered head to toe even in his throat. There was no clear skin on his back and he was so poorly. If you can afford it get it done ASAP!