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

[cherrybun01]

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!

I agree with the majority. It can be a mild disease but can also be very serious and also cause death. I would never ever risk my children when a vaccination is available.

Had DS vaccinated at Superdrug (£130 total for 2 injections) and will be getting DD done as soon as she is old enough.

If in another 20yrs they require a booster then it's really not a big deal.

Don’t get it, it’s usually a mild illness

I would (and intend to). I had it bad as a kid and even if it's mild, it's unpleasant - why put them through it. Itchiness and possible scarring.

Apart from the fact we would need time off work etc.

Vaccines that are on offer in the UK are rigorously safe.

DS had the vaccine, DS's paediatrician advised it as one of the complications is pneumonia and DS is prone to pneumonia due to an airway issue. No ill effects from the vaccine and he's not contracted chicken pox in the 6 years since.

I didn't have it as a child, and then it my twenties me and sibling got either shingles or the pox, no idea which it was. OMG it was bad. The spots were the size of craters and the fevers at night were terrible.

Definitely go for it. My son (age 3 ) had it really badly, with some of the spots becoming infected and him requiring antibiotics. He is quite scarred on his back still. I would have got my daughter done, but she was 2 weeks under 12 months and at the time it was done at 12 months at the youngest. She unfortunately got it from my son. Wasn't so bad, but still horrible to watch her suffer.
I would have done anything to have avoided it for them and wish I had my son vaccinated.

We have family in various other countries, and CP vaccinations are standard. They think it's barbaric not to protect the children when the vaccine is safe and available.

Something else to consider - DD is older and we didn't vaccinate her. She caught it, was very very distressed with the itching and scratched a lot. It meant about 2 weeks off work for me. I was pregnant at the time and went down with a virus that hospitalised me a couple of weeks later, and I still remember the doctor's faces when we said our DD had recently had CP. The room fell deathly silent. It can cause dangerous complications in pregnant women and for the unborn baby. I was ill enough to be in HDU for a few days, and they thought it was consistent with CP. I was later moved to an isolation ward to keep me away from all the other pregnant women. Turns out it was an entirely different viral infection, but the doctors and midwives clearly feared it was CP.

14 years ago, I paid for my son to have it. I would do the same today.

I did lots of research on this before deciding to go ahead for my DD. My only concern was the immunity and future pregnancies for her, but as PPs have pointed out it's simply unproven due to the length of time vaccine has existed, but lifelong or near lifelong immunity is expected after two doses.

I would suggest she checks her immunity status by blood test as a young woman and has a booster if needed and have told all my family this to remind her.

No reaction at all to either dose, although she hated it and I wondered if I'd done the right thing simply because of how upset she was! She's quickly forgotten it though and was happy to come along and watch my flu jab without getting upset

My dds both had the CP vaccerella (sp?) vaccine when we lived in Oz. It was part of their vaccine program before kids start school. We came back to the UK and when they were Year 3 and 4 both got it. Mildly, but both had it

DH, DS (7) and I all got it last year. DH and I had somehow never had it as children, though we’d had everything else — I was even hospitalised with measles at five despite having had the MMR — and DS, despite numerous classmates getting it down the years, has always escaped. One of his classmates was very ill with it, and DH and I really wanted to avoid that for DS AND the possibility of getting a nasty adult dose ourselves. None of us had any side effects.

When ours was done the doctor said you can still get chicken pox afterwards but it should be very mild. So far though, nothing, despite a few nursery/school outbreaks.

While our eldest was in hospital, our other child also got it. They had extremely light spots and felt sorry for themselves for a day, and then it was over. I can see why someone who had only seen that would raise an eyebrow at vaccinating.