In thinking you should vaccinate against Chicken Pox if you can afford it?

[shutyourlittleface]

I just don't see the downside.

I currently have two mum mates moaning about their nurseries having confirmed chicken pox cases. They could just have their kids vaccinated to alleviate the worry surely?

The problem is they tested me as a pregnant woman. I doubt they'd just test children on the off chance. I susoect if they've been in such close contact they've had it. Ps not a doctor :)

There always seems to be a lack of joined up thinking between public agencies.

The education system in this county is completely obsessed with school attendance.

How many school days are missed every year due to cp? Must be a huge amount!

Exposure to wild chicken pox is supposed to boost the immune responser to help prevent shingles in older people
So my child should suffer in order to provide complete strangers with an immune boost? Not my problem, sorry.

Holidays, savings, clothes, nice meals out
You prioritise those things above the health of your children?! 😮

I vaccinated my DC. DH has facial scarring and I have scars on my body, I’d prefer DC to avoid that. Plus as pp have said it can sometimes have serious consequences. My GP believes the NHS will soon begin to vaccinate against chickenpox and I don’t want my DC to be one of the last generation who aren’t vaccinated.

I caught chickenpox at 15. It was really horrible. I’ve had all DC vaccinated. They can have a booster when they’re older if immunity wanes

I didn't know about the vaccine until my DD caught chicken pox just before we were about to fly abroad to get married. I was then told about a vaccine for my other child but it was too late because she then also caught it. Had I known about the vaccine then I would have paid for it. My DD has a scar on her forehead and a scar on the side of her face from chickenpox.

Both my DCS chicken pox started in their groins, both were toddlers at the time and the first I knew was when I was changing their nappy and saw one spot, nearly in the same place three years apart! DC1 had it horrendously bad and was covered head to toe and everywhere in between and was thoroughly miserable for about a week but no scars.
DC2 had max 20 spots, you wouldn’t have even known he was ill, he was quite poorly though when he got HFM and we didn’t have a clue he had that until I spotted a couple of spots on his hand, checked his feet and they were covered.

I don’t think you could confuse HFM and CP though, I found the spots to be very different.

I'm absolutely astounded that someone would prioritise eating out and days out over preventing their children from getting a horrible disease. And then to be seemingly so proud of the fact. Unbelievable

I was seriously considering immunising DC3, when DCs 1 and 2 got it it was horrible and dragged on, triggering another condition in DD. I wasn’t quick enough about it and DC3 caught it at 6 months. She was really poorly and absolutely covered and has a fair bit of scarring. I don’t understand why many people assume it will be mild, I can be horrid.

CP vaccination was on the schedule in the country where my DS was born. Unfortunately we were moving to another country that required another live vaccine (I think) and his paediatrician didn't want to overload DS (as he was a perm).

It remained on my "to do" list for about 6 months.

We moved back to the UK and he got CP straight away. He's had it three times.

DD got it so bad it affected her nerves (more like shingles but definitely CP) and she was in agony.

I wish I'd vaccinated.

YANBU

We had DC1 vaccinated after they managed to reach the age of 4 and full time nursery without ever catching CP!

Will be doing the same for DC2 when they are old enough

I've noticed recently that discussion about CP vaccination has picked up a lot, especially on a local FB group that I'm a member of

Discussion has been very interesting, with lots of very strong opinions and emotions

At the end of the day, you can only do what you feel is right for your children and family

@Passthecherrycoke I got my dcs men B a year or two before they introduced it on the NHS. Why does that matter? I have had other vaccines privately, eg when travelling to countries where those diseases circulate (as chicken pox does in the uk). I get the flu vaccine every year.

There aren’t that many diseases that circulate in the uk that we can vaccinate against but don’t. But certainly I would happily go without a holiday to prevent myself and my dcs from fatal diseases.

There are some shockingly misinformed ideas on this thread.

Having the jab makes the recipient less likely to get shingles as an adult, not more likely.

There is a theory that it makes people who have NOT had the jab more likely to get shingles as adults ... when they are exposed to children with chickenpox it strengthens their own immunity again. If children are being vaccinated and not developing chickenpox then the adults around them who had chickenpox as children are not having their immunity renewed through exposure.

Firstly, allowing children to get ill in order to improve the likelihood of adults not getting ill again is a pretty crass idea IMO but in any case none of the 25 year data bears the theory out. In fact levels of shingles in adults who caught chickenpox as children appear to drop when the incidence of chickenpox in children decreases through vaccine.

It will be included in the NHS schedule in the next 2-3 years, from what I understand.

I looked into getting it for my eldest about 2 years ago, despite living fairly centrally I couldn't for the life of me find anywhere local that offered it. So I could afford it but couldn't actually get it sorted.

I think this thread shows why people might not do it - the information available doesn't seem that easy to follow plus there seems to be a lot of misinformation

There are some shockingly misinformed ideas on this thread.

Most people have agreed with you actually.

I agree. Whilst it’s mostly mild, for some children it isn’t and it wasn’t a risk I was prepared to take.

My little one is 1,5 and we have already got her vaccinated. I had chicken pox at 20, it was a disaster. I will do all possible vaccinations to our child!

I would do it if I had my time again I think, if I had been able to afford it.

I had my DS vaccinated and I'm really pleased that I did. It's a nasty virus and I don't want him to suffer through it.

@shutyourlittleface

I didn't say most people were ill informed, I said there were some shockingly misinformed ideas being presented on the thread which clearly there are.

I caught it aged 21. Was awful. I waited til DS was 12 and as he didn't catch it despite going to nursery as a baby, I paid to have him vaccinated last year. Best £150 I've spent on him.

It was horrid having it as an adult.

I worked on the NHS vaccination programme in the early 2000s. We were all set to introduce MMRV but then Andrew Wakefield happened. Even by the time that calmed down it was felt that the public would not accept another vaccination on the schedule. And by the time things had moved on the cost argument had changed. As in we had no public money.

It’s routine pretty much everywhere else in the west. There are around 25 deaths a year. As many as from meningitis B though obviously at a population level far fewer people die. And people survive with hideous side effects.

It doesn’t increase the risk of shingles. The individual has a reduced risk of shingles. At a population level though there is an increased risk; wild CP circulating reduces the risk of shingles by producing an immune boost to adults in society.

So really at an individual level the best thing is to vaccinate. At a society level you do older people a favour if you don’t.

People trust the NHS and the fact it’s not standard means that people think it’s not desirable or necessary. It is absolutely both. I consider it a personal failure that we didn’t manage to get it on the schedule twenty years ago.

I vaccinated mine, I know that chicken pox can be very dangerous on some cases (minority) and someone in my family has a compromised immune system which makes me very aware of the vulnerable people that need to be protected.
That being said, it is expensive so I understand that many people won't want to spend the money.
It is however a routine vaccine in my home country and yes, it is possible to suffer from c pox more than once, so not worried about the rumours of the vaccine protecting less than having the disease when older.

I don't think is that common to have the vaccine here, I am happy I did because last month lots of local mums were very worried as there were many cases in nursery and they have younger babies/ newborns.

Plus I remember C Pox was so awful for me..

I didn’t know there was a vaccine for it. It never occurred to me to look. But seeing how DD suffered with it, and knowing a friend’s child nearly died, I wouldn’t hesitate to pay for it if I had known all this at the time.

The GP strongly advised against it, due to it wearing off and leaving them vulnerable, this was particularly important for DD, to ensure she was immune should she decide to have children. I took his professional advice.
I would personally be contacting the surgery about this as this GP is not informed. Did you get the research to support these claims? Because my GPs print them there and then for me if they are giving this kind of advice.
Very dangerous advice. I would complain.

I had mumps a couple of years ago. I was early 30's and can assure you it was the most painful thing I've ever had that lingered for weeks and affected my life a great deal.

I'm sorry you had a horrible experience with mumps. I had it as a child and it was mild. Isn't it one of those illnesses, like CP, that is likely to be much worse in an adult than a child? That's what I'm led to beliebe, although I will stand corrected if I'm wrong. But if that's is the case, then why don't we vaccinate adults instead of children? When does the childhood vaccine wear off?

To the PP who wouldn't vaccinate against rubella - I know someone with lifelong disabilities due to congenital rubella syndrome and you are very wrong to consider its effects on her as "mild".

I never intended to imply that the effect on an unborn child is mild, but that the effect on a healthy child who contracts rubella naturally is mild. That's why it seems to me that women of child bearing age should be vaccinated rather than children who don't actually need it. My dc had rubella despite being vaccinated, it was genuinely no more than a mild rash. I regret injecting him with something that not only didn't work, but that was also completely unnecessary for his health.