To get DS vaccinated against chickenpox?

[HamCob]

DS 6 hasn't had chickenpox and although there are some germs flying around school at the moment I haven't heard of anyone having chicken pox in a fairly long while.

I'm getting a bit anxious that he hasn't had it yet as I know it can be quite nasty at any age but particularly in teens/adulthood.

DH thinks along the lines of 'well catching it never did me any harm' but one of my secondary school friends was hospitalised when it went into her spinal cord and travelled to her brain so I admit to being a bit twitchy.

I'm not sure whether to wait and see if he catches it naturally or get the vaccination. I don't want to hang on too long though as the vaccination is more effective in children than teens or adults.

So AIBU to get him vaccinated or would you hold off?

We spoke to our gp about it, they can talk it through with you.

There is a small chance the CP vaccination will wear off but then they can just have a booster shot so really not a big deal.

I vaccinated my first as soon as he was old enough. My reason was in the best case he is unwell and miserable for a week, worst case can be very sick and I wanted to avoid both cases. I know a lot of medics and most have had their children vaccinated. I got it done at boots, really easy and got points! It’s standard in most other countries.

I waited for my eldest to hit 5 without getting pox and then vaccinated them both. I did it for purely selfish/economic reasons as I couldn’t cope with the disruption to school/work (pre-pandemic 🤣).

It might mean that I am more likely to get shingles though, as exposure to the virus in adulthood is protective against shingles. It might also mean they need boosters as an adult; that is not so clear. It’s different in countries where everyone is vaccinated.

A friend’s DH had pox recently and was terribly unwell.

DD1 had the vaccination. I didn’t see the chance that she might not suffer that badly as enough of a reason to not get her vaccinated. It was also cosmetic for us if I’m honest. We got married whist DD was in reception. Didn’t want her to have CP during or shortly before our wedding.

Following the thread with interest. In a similar position with 2 DCs never had the pox and no sign if it at school. With social distancing, ventilation and handwashing they might not get it at all. If they do it's another 10 days off school to add to all the others. Plus I'm concerned about scarring. I've got the scars on my cheeks which made me self conscious in my teens. Think I'll get mine vaxed before the next school year.

Mine were vaccinated privately, and we’re pleased they’ve been done.

My husband missed a term of school(!) with CP, and his grandmother almost died from it, so definitely worth it for us as it seems there may be some genetic weakness in his family that means it hits harder!

I think I might get DS1 vaccinated. He.ms 11. Never had it. Despite DS2 having it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had my child vaccinated at 8. All their friends had caught CP naturally and I just knew he wasn’t going to catch it until he was much older and my expectation was that he’s catch it badly and I wasn’t prepared to risk it. He had the vaccination and the only problems was a red, slightly swollen arm where the needle went in.

vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/chickenpox-varicella-vaccine

This is a good summary of the vaccine and the economic (rather than clinical) reasons it is not currently on the UK vaccine schedule.

The effectiveness drops from 98% in young children to 75% in adults which is a good argument against delaying it.

I had my first child vaccinated and will have my second when old enough.

Just do it. Vaccinated as a tot because it was on the States vaccination schedule (as it is for many other countries). Had a booster at 16/17 as part of my physical for uni and my immunity was checked when I was pregnant with my second at 30 and it was still there. I could have passed immunity to my children (there were cases in my oldest son’s class before he was vaccinated) but wasn’t taking any chances.

The whole CP shingles argument about it raising your chances of shingles if you get the vaccine had been disproven years ago if I remember correctly. If it were actually true, there would be way more shingles cases in the countries who have it on their immunisation schedule. My dad wasn’t vaccinated (wasn’t in the schedule for his generation) and caught chicken pox as a kid and then shingles as an adult in his early 40s. Lucky for him it was a mild case of shingles.

My daughter is 8 and hasn’t had chickenpox (no antibodies either). I would really like to get her vaccinated and the only reason I’m hesitating is because she is massively needle phobic having needed chemo age 6/7 and had too many bad experiences with needles so it would be quite traumatic for her.

My best friend paid to get her kids vaccinated as soon as she knew mine would need chemo because CP is really dangerous to anyone who’s immunosuppressed and she wanted to help protect my DD as she went through chemo and make sure it was as safe as possible for the kids to play together. Obviously she didn’t have to do that but I thought it was a lovely thing to do.

I caught it at 30 from DD1. I didn't know while i was pregnant that I hadn't already had it but dodged it at that point. When I did catch it, I was off work for 5 weeks, I felt so ill and it actually took me quite a few more weeks to completely get over it. It would have made me hugely anxious during my pregnancy had I known that I'd not already had it.

The CP vaccine doesn't stop you catching it, it's just not so severe when you do.

@FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop

I believe the reason the NHS don't provide the vaccination is because if you don't get chicken pox at a young age, your chances of getting shingles as an adult (potentially hugely damaging and can even be life threatening) increase. The vaccine being administered as a child won't protect against shingles as an adult.

The reason they don't is cost. There is a shingles vaccine that would need to be administered as an adult. It is not cost effective as the majority have a mild illness, they no longer routinely vaccinate for TB because of cost risk/reward.

I wouldn't knowingly put my children through such a horrible illness and would always vaccs if finance allowed it.

No unreasonable no, but if you're in the UK, where CP circulates regularly, you need to understand that he may still get it. DS1 was born in the US and vaccinated against CP there as it is part of the normal round of childhood vaccinations. We then moved back to the UK, where CP was doing the rounds of his nursery and ... he caught it - as did another little girl who had also been vaccinated in Canada. DS didn't even get a mild dose - he had quite a nasty one with about 200 spots and a week of misery.

@iminthegarden

The CP vaccine doesn't stop you catching it, it's just not so severe when you do.

This simply isn’t true. It’s a preventive vaccine, with 90-98% effectiveness when given in childhood.

For the minority in whom it isn’t fully protective it usually results in less severe disease.!

See my post above @JassyRadlett. What you've written simply isn't true.

We waited til DS was 12 and he hadn't caught it still so we paid for private vaccination.

I was late to the CP party (21) and I didn't want him to go through adult CP

@Homehaircuts

My children age 8 and 5 also haven't had chicken pox. I've decided on a sort of dead line when each turn 13 if they haven't had it I'm going to get them vaccinated. I've heard the older they get the worse the symptoms are. Adults can be very poorly with it. I would especially get it done for a teenage girl as if they get pregnant when older (I would hope) if they haven't had chicken pox and catch it when pregnant it can be dangerous. Even if they left home and an adult I think I feel responsible for not offering them to get vaccinated as teenagers in my care.

They said to me that the vaccine works better on under 13 so you may want to do when they are 12 or just before senior school?

I vaccinated both my children. I know it can be just a mild childhood illness but that's not always the case and I wasn't going to subject them to it if I didn't have to. One of my siblings had it bad as a child and now is still covered in scars all over her body and my dad caught it when we did and because was an adult was extremely ill and in hospital.

And I've diarised the booster for every 10 years to remind him!

See my post above @JassyRadlett. What you've written simply isn't true.

I think you missed the words ‘90-98% effective’ (so 2-10% not) and usually results in milder disease.

I’m sorry your boy was so poorly with it - me eldest had it badly too. But that doesn’t mean the reported statistics untrue, it means your boy was one of the unlucky 10% (I think it’s closer to 10% for MMRV).

For the vast majority, it stops you catching it.

I am thinking of having my 4 and 2 year olds vaccinated. I think my 4 year old may have had a minor case when he was younger, but he only had 7/8 spots and they didn’t scab over at all so I’m unsure. I don’t want them to catch something that makes them uncomfortable if it’s preventable.

@JassyRadlett

See my post above *@JassyRadlett*. What you've written simply isn't true.

I think you missed the words ‘90-98% effective’ (so 2-10% not) and usually results in milder disease.

I’m sorry your boy was so poorly with it - me eldest had it badly too. But that doesn’t mean the reported statistics untrue, it means your boy was one of the unlucky 10% (I think it’s closer to 10% for MMRV).

For the vast majority, it stops you catching it.

Surely you still catch it but your immune system deals with it and prevents you developing the virus and you never get symptoms. It doesn't put a forcefield round you that the virus can't break through