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Original poster

To worry my 8 year old hasn’t had chickenpox?

167 replies

Wannakisstheteacher · 12/10/2021 20:05

Talking to a friend today reminded me DS3 hasn’t had chickenpox. His elder siblings had it before he was born. Is this something I should worry about, or maybe pay to have him vaccinated against now as he’s unlikely to catch it at this point? Having asked a few other friends DS is the only one not to have had it 😱

OP posts:
Monsoon92 · 12/10/2021 22:02

Sorry to hijack the thread!

Ivalueloyaltyaboveallelse · 12/10/2021 22:02

Same here OP my DC hasn’t had it either. I tried really hard mixing DC with nieces and nephews who had it but never caught it.

Tailendofsummer · 12/10/2021 22:04

Monsoon I would find a pharmacy near you that does it (search online - a Lloyds probably) and ask to speak to a pharmacist there.

MissyB1 · 12/10/2021 22:06

@FangsForTheMemory

OP, can you ask on your local Facebook group if anyone's kids have got it to let you know so you can send your 8 yo over to try and infect him? Just a thought. I've no idea how it's transmitted tbh, I got it when I was 6, I remember the first spot.
Madness! OP do not try to deliberately infect your child with chickenpox. Some children get extremely ill with it, my nephew was hospitalised, my colleague’s dd died.
TedLassosMoustache · 12/10/2021 22:09

I got my son (5) vaccinated today. To be honest for me it was after a 6 week period when we’ve had COVID, two sickness bugs and hand, foot and mouth, I just cannot have any more time off work because one of my kids is ill so I paid for him to be vaccinated

inigomontoyahwillcox · 12/10/2021 22:12

I was worried about DD too and was considering the vaccine at around 11. She had to have her immune system checked for something unrelated and it turns out she is immune - she must have had an incredibly mild dose when she was younger!

CharleyMarley · 12/10/2021 22:17

@ohtwatbollocks

I had chicken pox when I was 15, it was a pain but the effectiveness of the vaccine only lasts about 10 years and no way would I go and get a vaccine every 10 years(not because I'm anti vax, just lazy and quite poor!) so I'm glad I got chicken pox when I did and I'm glad my mum didn't get me vaccinated for it.
10 years?? That's just not true.

People vaccinated with the varicella vaccine have antibodies at least 10-20 years later. There isn't data for after this - likelihood is that the immunity doesn't wane, but more long- term (30+ year data is needed)

NeverDropYourMooncup · 12/10/2021 22:24

@APurpleSquirrel

We're in exactly the same position - DD 7 hasn't had it yet & now getting increasingly worried about her getting it later & being very ill. DSIL had it in her teens & has very bad scarring from it. I think we will get DD vaccinated - it's just a case of when.
Honestly? Before she's old enough to physically get pregnant.

Nobody needs chickenpox blisters in their vagina and the associated sensation of being bathed in acid, never mind with associated difficulty breathing, spending 24 hours in A&E because Maternity won't have you, A&E don't particularly want to look after an infectious
pregnant woman and nobody wants to be anywhere near you, so they just shout from the opposite side of the walkway to check you're not dead - and the possibility of miscarriage or having a newborn with it, depending upon what gestation you are when you catch it.

Obviously, boys won't have all of that - but I'd imagine that pox blisters under the foreskin are equally agonising.

I wouldn't hesitate to vaccinate by the age of 12.

Suzi888 · 12/10/2021 22:33

I’m sure you have to jab again after twenty years? DD had the vaccine, it’s routine in the U.S.
I had it in my early twenties and was very ill with it.

PrincessNutella · 12/10/2021 22:35

Why would you want your child to get chicken pox if he doesn't have to? Get him vaccinated. Honestly, what a miserable and possibly dangerous thing to inflict on a child for the cost of a few takeaways.

ouchmyfeet · 12/10/2021 22:36

I was going to get my DS vaccinated when he reached 10 and still hadn't had it. I asked the GP for advice and she said let's just do a blood test to see if he has antibodies as he may well have had it mildly and you just didn't realise. Well worth it as he did have the antibodies.

Jijithecat · 12/10/2021 22:36

It's not quite chicken pox season yet. My eldest caught it aged 8 in January one year. Caught it from youngest DC who I'm convinced caught it from soft play.

JassyRadlett · 12/10/2021 23:21

It’s almost reassuring that vaccine misinformation isn’t restricted to the Covid vaccines.

No, it doesn’t only last ten years. There are studies out of Japan showing immunity holding up after 20 years, and out of the US showing 14 and longer. People have got confused by statements in the past saying it lasted at least ten years based on the studies then current. People are really good at missing out words from scientific statements if it reinforces their opinions, as we’ve seen a lot with Covid.

No, on current evidence there is no booster required in adulthood.

cabbageking · 12/10/2021 23:38

Never caught chicken pox as a child. Never caught it when my children and those in school caught it. Never had a vacine. Not even sure they existed then. Some people just don't seem to catch it.

Mypathtriedtokillme · 12/10/2021 23:54

Get the vaccine.
That way they also won’t get Shingles as an adult either.

Willyoujustbequiet · 13/10/2021 00:27

@CharleyMarley and others saying the vaccine doesn't wane....

I had the vaccine ( 2 doses on the NHS) and caught Chicken Pox 18 months later.

Did nothing for me so if I had to pay privately not sure I would have bothered tbh.

DinosaurDuvet · 13/10/2021 00:30

I didn’t get it til I was 12 or 13

ThirdElephant · 13/10/2021 00:31

[quote Wannakisstheteacher]@MRex I’m wavering because I’ve always felt it would be better to get it ‘naturally’ as it stimulates the lifelong immune response. The vaccine isn’t 100% effective so I guess I’ve just been hoping he’d eventually have it like his siblings.[/quote]
To be fair, natural immunity isn't 100% either, and the vaccine protects against shingles better.

Gingersay · 13/10/2021 00:32

I'm 42 and never had chicken pox despite sharing a bed with my elder sister when she had them at 9 she gave them to my dad who had a terrible time. Both my kids had them 2 weeks apart when they were 9 and 7 I still never got them.

ThirdElephant · 13/10/2021 00:33

@cabbageking

Never caught chicken pox as a child. Never caught it when my children and those in school caught it. Never had a vacine. Not even sure they existed then. Some people just don't seem to catch it.
They reckon that if you're like this you've probably had it so mildly you've not realised you had it.
foxgoosefinch · 13/10/2021 01:03

My daughter had the vaccination at three because of a severely immunocompromised relative who she couldn’t see if there was any risk she could have chickenpox.

It’s on the routine vaccination schedule in many countries in the EU and in the US and is very effective. It’s a shame it isn’t here - I was told by a GP that a few years ago the NHS was poised to introduce it - and then had to scrap the idea because of the pertussis outbreak and MMR uptake dipping. Because they didn’t want to increase vaccine hesitancy by introducing too many vaccines at the same time.

I’m always horrified by the cavalier attitude towards chickenpox and chickenpox parties. Yes most kids get it relatively mildly but lots don’t, and it can be a nasty illness - my niece was really very ill with it, spots inside her throat and other places. Some children can have very serious reactions - I vividly remember being on a live thread on here years ago where the OP couldn’t wake her young child; and when he was rushed to A&E they found he was having a very serious encephalitic reaction to chickenpox. I think about that poster every so often and hope her child is okay.

Anon778833 · 13/10/2021 03:50

I had chicken pox at 13 and it was horrible - I had spots in my mouth & throat which led to an infection. I'm going to arrange for dd4 to get vaccinated against it. My older children all caught it under the age of 3 and luckily it was mild for them.

LoveFall · 13/10/2021 04:15

I despair.

Shingles. Shingles. Shingles.

Is there anything more one can say?

Get the chicken pox vaccine. Don't get chicken pox. And then, don't get shingles however many years later.

Shingles can happen in young people, I assure you.

And really, do you not care about how your child is in old age? Or if weakened and immunocompromised because they are sick?

There is no need for children to have chicken pox and thus no need for anyone to have shingles.

ThirdElephant · 13/10/2021 04:17

@LoveFall

I despair.

Shingles. Shingles. Shingles.

Is there anything more one can say?

Get the chicken pox vaccine. Don't get chicken pox. And then, don't get shingles however many years later.

Shingles can happen in young people, I assure you.

And really, do you not care about how your child is in old age? Or if weakened and immunocompromised because they are sick?

There is no need for children to have chicken pox and thus no need for anyone to have shingles.

The vaccine increases the likelihood of shingles in toddlers, unfortunately, otherwise it'd be an open and shut case for me. I've got a one year old DS and hoping he makes it past toddlerhood without catching it so I can have him vaccinated against it. DD unfortunately had it at 11 months old.
Ericaequites · 13/10/2021 04:21

Get the vaccine. My siblings both had it as adults and were very ill indeed. It’s much easier for both of you to not have it in the house.

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