To think it should be free and part of the childhood vaccines?

[CottonCandy01]

Hello,

My friend's son is getting his chickenpox vaccine next week, I believe it is costing around 140-150 pounds for the two doses. It got me thinking about my own young child (currently 6 months) and if this is a path I should take - on balance, i think I will get it for her.

The problem I have with this, is after researching why we don't have it as part of the childhood vaccines here this is what it returned:

*So why doesn’t the UK use the chickenpox vaccine for children if it is safe and effective at preventing severe disease? All vaccines in the UK are assessed for their cost-effectiveness to ensure that the health budget spent on services which provide the greatest health benefit for the population as a whole.

In the last review of the chickenpox vaccine by the committee which advises the government on vaccines (the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, JCVI), the future modelling of the impact of vaccination indicated that there could be an increase in the rate of shingles in adults over time, which would make the vaccine programme not cost-effective.

This is because, if chickenpox in children disappears as a result of a vaccine programme, adults would no longer have their immunity boosted by exposure to their chickenpox-suffering children and grandchildren and would be more likely to get shingles. Put simply, the conclusion of the previous review was that it would not be cost-effective for the NHS to immunise children against chickenpox*

So if I'm reading that correctly, it is basically because we can't afford it? I'm not naive or an idiot, I know the NHS is hideously underfunded but I just think it is so wrong. I'm in a privileged position that I can afford to vaccinate my child, as can my friend, but for those who can't I think it is really crappy. Chickenpox is not always a mild disease, it doesn't look like something that should even be in circulation in 2021, I remember my younger siblings, crying in pain all night and hitting temps over 40, one of them had to go to hospital.

Not sure what my AIBU is here but I just can't believe it isn't part of the vaccination schedule over here when it is in so many other countries. Seems so wrong.

I do think they should be part of the childhood vaccination programme and is in Mose developed nations I believe.
A friend’s son almost died as a result of chicken pox.
I vaccinated my child as soon as I could but think I paid around £250. For me it was money well spent.

Oh! I probably should add I am one of the adults for whom having chicken pox in childhood was no prevention for my having shingles as an adult.

I have had both!

@Nonamesavail

No, I don't. It can wear off and then people could catch it as an adult etc and become more ill than they had been as a child.

This hasn't been proven yet, it's all assumptions stills. Some experts believe it does give life long cover others don't.

Also you can get the CP vaccine as a adult to provide further cover.

So you can take it as a child then again later in life.

Like I said, it does seem that the shingles argument isn't going to stand up when revisited.

I won't be surprised if it is part of childhood ones over here soon enough.

I do hope so anyway!

I also had to pay for the meningitis jab (pre 2015). Again, was happy to pay.

Hang on, this keeps being framed as poor mistreated children being exposed to illness to protect the mean adults, but surely the point of exposing children in childhood is to give them immunity so they have long term much reduced risk of shingles or adult-chicken-pox related suffering.

This isn't about the wellbeing of children versus adults because the children will grow up to be adults, therefore it's widely considered better to take low risk from the infection as a child rather than use the vaccine to defer the risk to when it wears off in adulthood at which point there is a far higher chance of complications.

I paid to have DC vaccinated for chicken pox. I wanted to and then forgot (!) and by age 6-7 they’d still not caught it so I went ahead.

I had a horrible time with chicken pox as a child, some people are also scared for life with pox marks. My sister got chicken pox (not shingles) again later in life having had chicken pox as a child and was ill for a long time with post viral fatigue etc. Having read all the arguments re. immunity in the future for shingles I decided a vaccine was the right course of action for my family.

It’s not only about the cost though but shingles as an adult is awful.

I can vouch for that. I've been off work 7 weeks with it.

@nosyupnorth

Hang on, this keeps being framed as poor mistreated children being exposed to illness to protect the mean adults, but surely the point of exposing children in childhood is to give them immunity so they have long term much reduced risk of shingles or adult-chicken-pox related suffering.

This isn't about the wellbeing of children versus adults because the children will grow up to be adults, therefore it's widely considered better to take low risk from the infection as a child rather than use the vaccine to defer the risk to when it wears off in adulthood at which point there is a far higher chance of complications.

You only get shingles if you have already had chickenpox? So if children are vaccinated against chickenpox would this mean there would be no risk of them getting shingles in later life?

You can get chickenpox as an adult if you haven't had it before but not shingles.

Again, if you were concerned you could get a chickenpox vaccine as an adult if you had not already been exposed.

No chickenpox, no shingles.

Like I said, one day hopefully it will be part of the vaccinations.

Both of my kids are vaccinated and I am so glad they are. Do what's right for you. Re the cost if, if you had to take time off work etc it would probably cost more. Also when you're holding them at 4 am would you pay to take the pain away from them (I know not everyone can) I think boots do it now. Go for it.

I had chicken pox (and in turn passed it around my class), as did my brothers and my children. I know it can have serious symptoms but I think that is more if you have it when older. I don't know anyone who has had it and suffered anything serious- i mean the itching and spots etc were horrible but short lived. Worth it for not having shingles or a bad case when older I think.

I think several people are misunderstanding what shingles is. When you catch chicken pox and recover, the virus sits dormant in your nervous system. If your immune system becomes weakened, that virus can reactivate and you get shingles.

You don't catch shingles from chicken pox, but you can catch chicken pox from shingles.

You literally cannot get shingles unless you have had chicken pox, having chicken pox does not protect you from catching shingles.

I had read that the chicken pox vacciene immunity tails off, meaning people can then get cp as adults, which is more serious - PP saying that's not true now have me worried that I've been taken in by anti vaxxers!

I don't know about the science but surely we have an immune system for a reason and we need to let it work against viruses that aren't overly serious for the majority of people. Where would it end, we would end up vaccinating against the common cold if we didn't draw the line somewhere.

For those saying chicken pox is a minor illness, well take that chance with your kids if you like but don’t ignore the fact that some kids end up in hospital and some unfortunately die.
I personally know of two families who lost young children to chicken pox. And there is a lovely lady from another parenting forum whose dd died from it, she is now a vociferous campaigner for the vaccination.

My middle ds ended up hospitalised and was very ill, although thankfully made a good recovery. I got my youngest vaccinated at 18months old.

@WeeDangerousSpike

I think several people are misunderstanding what shingles is. When you catch chicken pox and recover, the virus sits dormant in your nervous system. If your immune system becomes weakened, that virus can reactivate and you get shingles.

You don't catch shingles from chicken pox, but you can catch chicken pox from shingles.

You literally cannot get shingles unless you have had chicken pox, having chicken pox does not protect you from catching shingles.

I had read that the chicken pox vacciene immunity tails off, meaning people can then get cp as adults, which is more serious - PP saying that's not true now have me worried that I've been taken in by anti vaxxers!

Thanks for that! I was puzzled, hence my past post.

The shingles argument definitely doesn’t stack up now that there is a vaccine against shingles

The shingles vaccine is ineffective in over 80's, and that is essentially the argument. And circulating chicken pox is a protection against shingles, (because it primes the immune system)

Given the recent increase in mortality of over 80's, you'd've thought the balance of QALYs saved would now more firmly align to adding it to the childhood vaccination, but it's not COVID, so the public health folk won't bother looking at it.

@BungleandGeorge

I believe the chicken pox vaccine tends to wear off so leaving people susceptible to chicken pox when they are older. CP is generally more dangerous in adults, that’s why I didn’t pursue the vaccine. CP was horrible for a few days but it’s generally mild medically speaking in children.

I seemed to have natural immunity to chicken pox, I was surrounded by it several times as a child and didn’t get it. Then my son got it when I was 26 and I caught it. He was off colour for a few days, I thought I was going to die, it was dreadful.

There’s no way I’d vaccinate my child with a short term vaccine that could leave them exposed to severe illness as an adult.

I remember chicken pox being hideous as a young child and I don't think I had a bad case - still have scars though. Shingles in my 20s was fine. Plan to get my child vaccinated

Are you a first time Mum? (Ducks). Awful to think of your shiny new child being covered in spots, but it’s something most kids go through, it’s a bit scratchy but they’re absolutely fine...it’s just a tiny part of the pattern of childhood ... maybe dealing with a bit of discomfort isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however hard it is to watch for the parents!

I paid for my children to have chicken pox vax. One threw a reaction and blood tests show they only have borderline immunity now anyway, so it was a dangerous waste of money for me. I wish I'd just let them catch it naturally.

And on top of that I'm worried I've left them exposed to potentially waning immunity in future and being exposed as adults when it's much more serious - reaction last time means I won't be boosting. Rock and a hard place.

We weighed up whether to get ours vaccinated and 2 things swayed us.

1. My colleagues son had it and it fucked his pancreas and he is now insulin dependent diabetic.
2. we are both self employed so to have to take the time off work to look after 2 poorly pox ridden children would cost more than getting them vaccinated.

And as a bonus:
3) if I can do something to prevent my children from suffering from something potentially horrible, I will do it if I can afford to.

@RowanAlong You are severely mistaken if you think my interest in the vaccine is for vanity reasons.