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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to pay for my daughter to have the chicken pox vaccine?

187 replies

cherrybun01 · 14/10/2020 14:01

hi,

UK based so this isnt part of routine immunizations here (as I'm sure many know). I have seen you can pay to have it done in children, I was really for it but have now had doubts put in my mind.

my partner was a bit on the fence but his 4 year old niece had it this year and was very uncomfortable and unwell so he decided okay let's do it. but my mum, who is not massive on vaccines anyway but whole other story there, has said it is completely unnecessary as it's a mild illness and how do I know a vaccine that is not routine over here is "safe"

she has not dropped it since and has made me paranoid and anxious. I just feel like if I can avoid my baby getting in the state that 4 year old niece did and being fortunate enough to be in a position to avoid that why not?

has anyone here had this vaccine for their children? how was it? would anyone not do it, on the flip side, and if so why?

thanks!

OP posts:
cobpickles · 14/10/2020 16:24

I’d much rather dc have it as children than adults

Jaxhog · 14/10/2020 16:28

I would. I had CP at 8 or 9 and it was horrendous. I still have scars 50 years later.

UnicornAndSparkles · 14/10/2020 16:31

We did. Chicken Pox can be very mild but also very very severe. We didnt want to risk it. Did a lot of research into the risk factors and opted to have the jab.

emmaluggs · 14/10/2020 16:33

I probably would, my DS1 bought it home from nursery when he was about 20 months, gave it to his 3 month old brother and DH, DH had it hurrendously I was concerned about him. Whereas the 2 children had it so mildly, so I would do it as a protection so if they don’t get it when they’re young it saves them getting it as an adult

PinkFondantFancy · 14/10/2020 16:34

My DD had it but on a blood test she had a few months later it was shown she had only 'equivocal' immunity so basically it didn't work. I'd save your money. No way would I do it if I had my time again

Lockdownproblems · 14/10/2020 16:35

My daughter is nearly 10 and never had chicken pox.. would the vaccine stop her ever getting it? I'm worried if she gets CP when older she could be very poorly (and shes been in contact with loads of children who have had CP in past but never caught it! I had shingles 3 times and its worst thing ever..want to stop her getting that!)

zafferana · 14/10/2020 16:35

As long as you understand that it isn't 100% effective OP and your DC can still get it.

DS1 was vaccinated against chickenpox, because we were living in a country that routinely vaccinates, but when we returned to the UK and it went round his nursery he got it. It wasn't a mild case either - he had about 200 spots and was really quite miserable for a few days.

Crazycrazylady · 14/10/2020 16:36

I paid for my 3 kids to get it once the oldest was 9.. probably for selfish reasons as much as anything else as if the three of them came down in successive weeks with it, I'd be totally goosed for childcare.
Money well spent imo.Smile

AriettyHomily · 14/10/2020 16:37

Somehow I didn't know you could it privately. Dts were so I'll, 3 weeks off school ill, infected spots and all sorts. I'd get it in an instant.

MonsterKidz · 14/10/2020 16:38

Didn’t know it was available and my eldest got it youngish and was uncomfortable but ok.

My youngest didn’t get it and so i has him vaccinated. No regrets.

Chevron123 · 14/10/2020 16:38

I did but I waited until DC were school age. Main reason was that they suffered from bad eczema and also molluscum and I really couldn't cope with chickenpox on top. I had heard that it doesn't always offer lifelong immunity so that is something I will check before secondary school and make sure they're aware of it as they get older.

NotquitewhatImeant · 14/10/2020 16:39

Both mine had it - two doses which makes it 97% effective I think. No side effects and neither have shown any signs of chicken pox despite being exposed multiple times.

Mapless · 14/10/2020 16:40

I paid for a pharmacist at Boots to do it. My dd was 15 and had never had it. It started doing the rounds when she had just started year 11. I didn't want chickenpox to affect her gcse exams (covid did that instead). Two vaccinations about a month apart. She might be immune anyway but it wasn't worth the risk of affecting gcses/A levels/degree exams or whatever she chooses to take or do. It's a much worse infection as you get older. Seemed a sensible choice.

Missannelliot · 14/10/2020 16:41

Just to clarify all the posters saying it doesn’t give life long immunity- you don’t know that! No one knows that. The vaccine has only been regularly used for 20ish years so all scientists can say for certain is that it lasts 20ish years. Therefore no literature claims it gives life long immunity. By the time children getting it now are adults we will know a lot more and will know if boasters are required in adulthood.

Obviously no vaccine is 100% effective. But it should also be noted that getting chicken pox doesn’t guarantee immunity either.

worksleep · 14/10/2020 16:42

I would. My daughter caught it when she was a baby and was very poorly.

NailsNeedDoing · 14/10/2020 16:49

I wouldn’t have it for my children, it wasn’t available when they were little so they both caught it naturally, one after the other. They did have a horrible week each, but they’ve been lucky and it’s the only experience of proper illness that either of them have had.

I’d much rather they had it naturally and developed normal immunity, as I too was told the vaccine would wear off and leave them exposed as teenagers or adults. If they were little now though, I’d worry that there wouldn’t be enough of it about for them to catch it normally as so many children are vaccinated, and I’d have to go on the look out for chicken pox parties.

JS87 · 14/10/2020 16:52

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/hcp-effective-duration.htm#:~:text=form%20of%20varicella-,Duration%20of%20Protection,to%2020%20years%20after%20vaccination.

DS had the vaccine age 4. Note the above states that live vaccines generally give long lasting protection. I guess it hasn't been in use for long enough to definitively stay protection is life long. However, if they do discover that over time people who were vaccinated 20+ years ago start to catch chickenpox then they can give a booster. Furthermore, there will still be some immunity and so it is likely to be mild.
Another benefit is that you can't develop shingles when old if you've never had chicken pox.
I remember chicken pox as being awful. As DS hadn't caught it by age 4 we vaccinated as I personally didn't want to subject him to the terrible itching and he is a terrible patient! There are also occasionally complications, as there are for many viruses.

JS87 · 14/10/2020 16:53

@Missannelliot

Just to clarify all the posters saying it doesn’t give life long immunity- you don’t know that! No one knows that. The vaccine has only been regularly used for 20ish years so all scientists can say for certain is that it lasts 20ish years. Therefore no literature claims it gives life long immunity. By the time children getting it now are adults we will know a lot more and will know if boasters are required in adulthood.

Obviously no vaccine is 100% effective. But it should also be noted that getting chicken pox doesn’t guarantee immunity either.

Yes this! Don't let people saying it doesn't give you lifelong immunity influence your decision. If it is found not to then a booster can be given.
JS87 · 14/10/2020 16:56

@Lockdownproblems

My daughter is nearly 10 and never had chicken pox.. would the vaccine stop her ever getting it? I'm worried if she gets CP when older she could be very poorly (and shes been in contact with loads of children who have had CP in past but never caught it! I had shingles 3 times and its worst thing ever..want to stop her getting that!)
If she hasn't had it by age 10 I would definitely vaccinate as she is beginning to reach the age where it could be worse if she gets chicken pox. Also, its likely she is less likely to be exposed as most of her peers will already have had it so the likelihood is she could be in her twenties/thirties before catching it when mixing with small children (unless she has younger siblings etc). Also, it will stop her getting shingles.
HeyBlaby · 14/10/2020 16:58

I did for my son, he will need a booster when older and there is an argument regarding shingles hut now a vaccination for that too.

Hardbackwriter · 14/10/2020 16:59

We paid for it - after doing some research it seemed like the right option. But I did find that the few other people I discussed it with were quite critical, insistent that it is 'normal' for children to get chickenpox and that it's no big deal. The snottiest comment was that we were only getting because I work and 'you don't have time to be inconvenienced by an ill child, do you?'.

HeyBlaby · 14/10/2020 17:00

'...and I’d have to go on the look out for chicken pox parties.'

Christ alive Hmm

IwishIwasyoda · 14/10/2020 17:05

I did. I spoke to my GP first who said there was no reason not to. They provide the vaccine to certain children on the NHS but it is not widely available because of cost.

The other reason is the old herd immunity argument - by exposing adults to CP through contact with infected children you are protecting against shingles in later life. I have some ethical difficulties with this and I'm not sure I follow the argument tbh as more recent studies suggest this isn't particularly effective way of protecting against shingles

Re long term immunity, I believe this is no different to catching CP naturally. Even after having the vaccine you can still get chicken pox but it's very mild. Studies are looking good from other countries in terms of length of immunity.

CP can be a really nasty disease for some children. I vaccinated as DS has eczema and there is more likely to be CP complications in terms of scarring / skin infections in an eczema prone child

tyrannosaurustrip · 14/10/2020 17:05

OP if you haven't had your MMR and are thinking of future pregnancies I'd look into it ASAP - I know a woman who is deaf because her mother got measles while pregnant.

My friend also has life-long asthma she got as a result of having whooping cough when she was two and it was only when she had her own child and was talking to her mum she realised her mum declined a whooping cough vaccine for her because she had doubts about the vaccine, which she's a bit grumpy about now.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 14/10/2020 17:11

I had it done for DD the same day as her MMR.

My niece had chicken pox very badly and has had to have plastic surgery for some of the facial scarring she was left with.

Plus chicken pox isn't always mild, even if it is, it's horribly uncomfortable and they are guaranteed to get it at the most inconvenient time.

I booked DD into the London Travel Clinic in Oxford St for hers - took her Red Book along as well and they filled that in too so there was an official record.