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.

@FrangipaniBlue so, again, it is to protect those who have not got a vaccine. This wouldn't be an issue if it was part of the routine ones would it.

Mine both had chicken pox at 8 months and 1 year so never even thought about an injection.
I always feel they have quite a lot anyway and chicken pox for mine would be mild , maybe if mine were more high risk I would of considered.
Mine were so little they were not even aware they had it

I would post photos of what happened to my twins but they are horrible. Really upsetting. If I had another I would pay to vaccinate them the day they were old enough.

@LifeExperience

Yes right??? Have you lived in the USA? It's not how it works, the vaccine is free but unless you are very poor (as in under $20k a year, very low for the USA) whether your insurance covers the drs visit is down to your insurer generally chosen by your employer - I had to pay $15 per child per drs visit but other people I know had to pay $200 per visit for well child checks! Women's reproductive health is similarly hit or miss.

Like with so many systems it's the JAM's just about managing people who are worst off. Some states have CHIP for those who earn too much for Medicaid but the threshold is still low. At a family income of $40k we earned too much but private insurance was an extra $230 a month via employer, we returned to the U.K.!

Because it’s a mild childhood illness . Why add a vaccine for a mild disease?

@Cloudyrainsham A lot of countries do. The WHO apparently recommend it. It was considered over here but ultimately decided against for cost reasons and the worry it would cause vaccine uptake to be even less because of the anti vax rumours.

So for something that is considered a mild illness that is one hell of a list.

Everyone is demanding so much for their children "for free".
This country is in a pandemic.
The NHS staff are risking their lives ,to help others and the NHS has nothing more to give!!
And it won't be "free" will it? It will be paid for by higher tax for people already struggling.
Ok if you are that concerned don't complain here,so something constructive about it.

In most cases chickenpox is not deadly. I bought my dd the men b jab when it came out as she was too old for the schedule (my younger dd got it free).

YANBU

They recently added chickenpox vaccine to my country's schedule, a couple of years after I paid for my DD to have it privately (bit gutted about that...) because they've now decided that it is worth the cost. Shingles vaccines deals with the issue of older people needing protecting from shingles, and as these children grow up they will be significantly less at risk of getting shingles in the first place thanks to the vaccine so it's a problem that solves itself

I think you’re ignoring one of the main problems- immunity from the vaccine wanes over the years. So for the individual you may be increasing the risk of them getting cp as an adult which is much more serious.
Immunocompomised children are the ones badly affected by cp and they are given the vaccine and antivirals.
If you want to pay for the vaccine then no problem, cp can be miserable and can lead to minor infections and scars (although they do tend to fade) reasonably commonly.

@KarmaStar what has this got to do with covid? A chickenpox vaccine has been around for years and has been routine in other countries for a while too, long before COVID reared it's head. I'm not complaining, my child is getting it either way. I just think it's a real shame not everyone has access to it.

My older DC got 2 doses of CP and shingles before he was 10. We'd planned to get younger DC vaccinated when she was born but it's so expensive. Saying that, we can't have another 2 rounds of CP and possible scarring again. Dreadful disease.

I had my DD vaccinated for chickenpox largely because I haven't had it myself. I got vaccinated at the same time. Interestingly, she still caught chickenpox a few years later but it was super super mild. Apart from the characteristic rash (which was only on her torso and half of one leg!) she had no symptoms of illness at all. I did not catch it from her.

We still had to deal with the inconvenience of the chickenpox in terms of disruption to childcare etc, which was a pain. I'm still glad we were vaccinated though as it lessened the impact on her to almost zero, and meant I avoided it.

I think I will pay for it for my son, but if I had a daughter I think on balance it would be better for her to contract it naturally (while it isn’t on the standard vaccination schedule and still circulates widely in society I mean).

Covid has, as I suggested upthread, probably put much of the revisiting of existing vaccine regimes on hold.

I vaccinated my dc against c pox after my eldest was seriously ill with it. It was awful. There’s a good safe vaccine so we paid for it as no child should suffer how she did she ended up with a severe infection

That comes across to me, that you would personally rather take the odds with children then with adults.

I quite clearly said in my last post that I'm not saying either is more or less morally acceptable.

The argument isn't as black and white as it's a child or an adult who dies - we're talking about comparing the likelihood of a child being a bit poorly for a few days vs the likelihood of an adult becoming quite severely ill and potentially hospitalised.

Quite a few posters have said that they want their child vaccinated against CP so that they don't catch it and become ill. That is not even on the same level as saying you want a vaccine because it will save children's lives!

I would prefer that our NHS took a balanced approach, that is in the best interests of the majority and which doesn't break the bank - imagine the knock on effect of what some posters are suggesting?

@FrangipaniBlue Like I said, there is research to suggest that the shingles argument is not going to stand up, so that side of the argument is potentially going to fall flat.

WHO information on rare side effects from vaccine: pneumonia, hepatitis, HZ meningitis, recurrent HZ, severe rash and secondary transmission occurring mainly in patients with immunocompromis- ing or other serious medical conditions that were undiagnosed at the time of vaccination.

They also say that they can’t be sure the vaccine would be as effective without wild virus circulation to top up immunity

It’s really not just about adults catching shingles

My DS received the vaccine when he was 3 as my DH is immunocompromised.

Despite me saying that he hadn't already had chicken pox, the GP organised a blood test at our local hospital to check he didn't already have immunity. When the results came back they then booked him in. Judging by this thread this is uncommon, does anyone have any insight as to whether this was necessary?

I didn't vaccinate mine against chicken pox, yes of course it can have complications but most things can, I won't wrap them in cotton wool. They're vaccinated against all the usual and that will carry on but I had chicken pox at 14, it wasn't nice but it was completely fine, my children have had chicken pox now and have been fine as well. We can't eradicate all diseases ever.

@FTMF30

I personally don't think it's necessary to vaccinate against chickenpox. It is not life threatening and is good for the immune system to be able to battle some things naturally.

No, it really can be life threatening as can the diseases linked to it. Nearly lost my then 2 y/o to it 11 years ago, and is the only disease I was fearful of my youngest getting (she is now 3). It is an irrational fear as she probably would not get it as badly, but I never ever want to go through being told 'we've lost the pulse in his ankle, he is going to lose the leg,' to 30 mins later being told 'we're starting to lose him'. Happily paid £140 to Boots for youngest to be vaccinated.

[quote CottonCandy01]**@CayrolBaaaskin* That is exactly my view. If shingles is so awful for adults and is a genuine risk if kids don't get chickenpox then a vaccine should be given. Why should children be exposed to, even if it mild, is a horrible illness because it might* give adults a boost against shingles.[/quote]
How many times?

The shingles vaccines only gives partial protection and only last for five years, which can't be extended with a booster Adults can't protect themselves fully or for long. And it's an absolutely evil condition that has driven people to suicide.

I hadn’t realised there was a chickenpox vaccine and my children caught it when they were 17 and 15. It was the worst illness they had and they were both off school for a couple of weeks. Thank goodness it wasn’t exam time for either of them. If I had known about the vaccine I would have paid for them to have it as soon as they started senior school.

The shingles vaccines only gives partial protection and only last for five years, which can't be extended with a booster Adults can't protect themselves fully or for long. And it's an absolutely evil condition that has driven people to suicide.

The NHS needs to upgrade to a better shingles vaccine. The one you're using has been discontinued in the US.

Why the latest shingles vaccine is more than 90 percent effective