Chickenpox and Vaccine.

[Nowtsure]

Apologies, just posting here for traffic as it's urgent for tomorrow.

3 year old had chicken pox vaccine booked for tomorrow. Found out this week that the chickenpox had been going round their school (few weeks) and now in their class.

Are they still okay to take the vaccine - No obvious symptoms?

What happens if child gets the vaccine tomorrow while experiencing symptoms or if the pox is active already and just not showing?

Please ignore voting

You need to speak to the health professional tomorrow

Talk to the pharmacist tomorrow.

It won’t do any harm but it might be too late and may not protect. If you’re really lucky, they might get some antibodies ahead of developing illness (vaccine antibodies start rising at 10 days, and incubation of chickenpox is about 2-3 weeks) and so might be milder illness. But again talk to pharmacist tomorrow.

You can have the jab after exposure and up to 5 days after exposure it can reduce symptoms even if you do have it.

Superdrug have the clearest explanation I found online, it's unfortunately not mentioned in NHS literature. CDC are a good reliable source for this info too.

Yes it should be ok. If your child has been exposed and has caught it, depending on how soon after exposure they have the vaccine, it will either reduce the severity or not make any difference.

Can I ask how you booked a vaccine?

My 10 year old and 7 year old have never had chicken pox and I would like to vaccinate them.

@FeedMeTiramisu I booked my child's chicken pox vaccines through a local independent pharmacist that also does privately paid for travel vaccines. I believe Boots and Superdrug do it too but not locally to me. In my area it is currently £60 per vaccine (need 2).

All the more reason to do it, even if given post exposure it can lessen symptoms. And it’s pretty prevalent in the UK so if DC is in childcare, goes to groups etc then exposure is always a possibility.

@FeedMeTiramisu you can do it online via superdrug, boots, possibly other pharmacy chains. Or private doctor. Sometimes travel clinics. Here’s the link for Boots:
https://www.boots.com/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccination-service?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--tactical--Boots+Chickenpox+Vaccine-_-B%7CChicken+Pox+Vaccination%7CEx&gbraid=0AAAAADrIajV1JJ30wLihUT_ADgRKTQg5Y&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4NujBhC5ARIsAF4Iv6dq4lueWYVNPE93BDWU7C8hUMUTSYDKEWTB52Iip_0UX7_ZbXhpQqMaAp9ZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks all, will go ahead tomorrow and hopefully it eliminates it as I have a baby under 6 months as well. Definitely don't want it passed on.

The UK need to have it routinely done but that's a topic for another day!

Booked through Boots but you can check with local pharmacists as well @FeedMeTiramisu .