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Original poster

To have my child vaccinated against chicken pox...

176 replies

MummaT86 · 13/07/2023 07:48

... even though there's no medical reason to do so (i.e. chicken pox doesn't pose a risk to anyone he's in contact with)?

To be honest my reasons are kind of selfish for getting him vaccinated - he picks up everything from nursery so it's only a matter time I think. We've got a holiday booked in September and I understand you can't fly for 7 days after the first spot.

Has anyone had their child vaccinated privately and why did you do it? I haven't read any cons to the vaccination itself in respect of the child being vaccinated; only to the wider population hence why the vaccine isn't part of the routine NHS program.

OP posts:
TammyJones · 13/07/2023 20:41

Hard no from me
Then again I've never had it - must be immuned
Yet both my kids did 1 and 2
My sister at 17 - in bed for 2 weeks

holls8 · 13/07/2023 21:17

Absolutely if you can afford it. We got DS vaccinated just after he was one. A nurse at work said why bother and that they are 'best of just getting it' 🥴

I have children in the family who have left with terrible scars off them and know of children who has been very poorly and hospitalised with them. Also recently went on holiday and childminder told me the day before that one of the children had them (assuming parents weren't aware?) and DS had spent the full day with him so I'm certain he would of caught them and would of ruined the holiday had he not been vaccinated. I have a friend who forked out a fortune for Florida and her child ended up with them just a day before they went. IRL I don't have any friends or know many people who've had their children vaccinated as they seem to think it's not worth it but I read up on it a lot and spoke to people online and think if you can afford it why on earth wouldn't you?

GinaGina22 · 13/07/2023 21:26

Got my kids vaccinated because...

  1. Why would I not want to prevent them getting chicken pox if I could?!
  2. I was self employed at the time and the time off work I would have taken if both had pox could have potentially cost me more than the vaccines did.

I had a low income and it was a huge sacrifice for us at the time but I'm so glad I did it.

The only negative I can think of, other than the cost, is that if there's a decent number of vaccinated kids in a group of children then the ones who are not vaccinated are less likely to get chicken pox in childhood and then are at more risk of complications when they (may) eventually get it as an adult. I was thinking of my own family though when I made my selfish decision!

Ifonlyicouldseethelight · 13/07/2023 21:29

My DS has been vaccinated. Tbh it's not something I'd really thought about but my partner is a GP and wanted it done. It made sense really because it can be very uncomfortable, my partner was concerned of the risk of scarring from chicken pox.

turquoisediamond · 13/07/2023 21:31

I went into boots to enquire about this. I wanted to get it for my son for all the reasons listed above... but the pharmacist told me the vaccine wears off in early adult hood and it's better to just get chicken pox. Is this definitely not true?!

Curiosity101 · 13/07/2023 21:33

We've vaccinated both of our two DSs.

I often see the 'doesn't give lifelong immunity' reason touted as a reason to allow them to get it naturally. But the instances of chickenpox in later life seems similar % in vaccinated vs disease immunity in all the research I read. Ie. Disease immunity doesn't give 100% protection for everyone either.

viques · 13/07/2023 21:35

Fleur405 · 13/07/2023 08:07

I had my daughter vaccinated because I’ve never had CP and I don’t want it (it’s worse in adults apparently and the vaccine less effective)

Very wise, I caught it off my DD and have never felt so ill in my life, didn’t sleep for three nights. I am old now and made sure I had my shingles vaccine because if it is anything like the CP, and I have heard it is worse as it goes along nerve pathways ,I don’t want to go through that again!

Picklewicklepickle · 13/07/2023 21:36

Yes got them both vaccinated age 1. I know several children/babies who’ve been hospitalised with CP. It’s not mild for everyone.

GP thought I was mad but who wants to be stuck at home for a week x 2 with a miserable/unwell child (in the best case scenario), jeopardising my job/having to take unpaid leave.

Saschka · 13/07/2023 21:39

OrangesandLemons2023 · 13/07/2023 09:36

We chose not to vaccinate having read a little more in to it. Partly because exposure to chickenpox offers a dose of immunity against shingles for those grownups who had chickenpox as children. And partly because the immunity from the vaccine is only 90% which is good, but with girls and potential future pregnancies, we felt that catching it would be preferable.

Partly because exposure to chickenpox offers a dose of immunity against shingles for those grownups who had chickenpox as children

Actually the opposite is true - shingles is reactivated chickenpox. If you’ve never had chickenpox, you can never develop shingles.

Curiosity101 · 13/07/2023 21:43

@Saschka that wasn't the posters point.

Part of the reason the NHS doesn't offer the chicken pox vaccine is because adults that have had chicken pox as a child are believed to be given protection from shingles as a result to being exposed to children with chicken pox.

On exposure to chicken pox their existing chicken pox antibodies are boosted and therefore make it less likely to get a resurgence of the virus which would present as shingles.

I don't agree with the NHS stance as there is also a shingles vaccine...

I think most of it comes down to ££ as plenty of other countries have it as part of their routine vaccine schedule

Momtotwokids · 13/07/2023 21:46

Here in the US I think before your child starts school they have to have the vaccine. Our insurance covers it . Both kids got chicken pox but only break thru spots and were not sick

SunnyEgg · 13/07/2023 21:50

We did for one dc but not the others, a boy though not sure about pg situation for females in pp

I looked into it at the time and I think JCVI are due to say whether they’ll include it as routine based on data around adult shingles versus other countries

Probably not worth waiting though so just go for it

confusedlots · 13/07/2023 21:52

Another one here who has got both kids vaccinated. DS was offered it on the NHS because he was seriously unwell with sepsis (not due to chicken pox) and his immunity took a big hit at the time. The infectious disease consultant recommended it, I remember her telling me how they see numerous normally healthy kids admitted to hospital with chicken pox, some very seriously ill.

I then paid for my other child to have it. A combination of reasons - it felt a bit unfair that DS would hopefully avoid it but most likely she would pick it up somewhere, and also to avoid the inconvenience of a ruined family holiday or having a take time off work at an inconvenient time.

OrwellianTimes · 13/07/2023 21:57

Personally I wouldn’t.

The immunity from the vaccine seems to wear off over time, in a country where everyone receives the vaccine this isn’t an issue. In a country where it’s not a common vaccine and the virus is very common you run a very high risk of catching it as an adult, and it’s much more serious disease as an adult.

SueVineer · 13/07/2023 21:58

I got dds vaccinated. There is no actual reliable evidence that it wears off any more than getting the illness does

Talkwhilstyouwalk · 13/07/2023 22:00

I did. Felt happy and lucky to be able to pay privately for the privilege. They can be horrible and I also didn't want them popping up just as we were about to fly off on holiday for example.....

Marynotsocontrary · 13/07/2023 22:01

... even though there's no medical reason to do so (i.e. chicken pox doesn't pose a risk to anyone he's in contact with)?

Chicken pox poses a medical risk to him.

A small chance of being very seriously affected, but there is that risk nonetheless.
A high chance of being quite badly sick for a while / getting a few lasting pox marks.

I had mine vaccinated.

SueVineer · 13/07/2023 22:03

Curiosity101 · 13/07/2023 21:43

@Saschka that wasn't the posters point.

Part of the reason the NHS doesn't offer the chicken pox vaccine is because adults that have had chicken pox as a child are believed to be given protection from shingles as a result to being exposed to children with chicken pox.

On exposure to chicken pox their existing chicken pox antibodies are boosted and therefore make it less likely to get a resurgence of the virus which would present as shingles.

I don't agree with the NHS stance as there is also a shingles vaccine...

I think most of it comes down to ££ as plenty of other countries have it as part of their routine vaccine schedule

Yes, we’re the only developed country that doesn’t give the vaccine as standard. I think the shingles rationale is nonsense- there is a shingles vaccine and up until a year or two ago we were giving an inferior shingles vaccine to save money. Chicken pox kills people every year- it’s a disgrace we are not vaccinating

GeorgiaGirl52 · 13/07/2023 22:06

My DD2 got the pox before there was a vaccine available. She recovered after a week, but passed it on to DD1. She developed thrombocytopenia and spent a week in intensive care at the hospital. She had to have transfusions. When the vaccine became available, I made sure DS1 had it.

BelindaBears · 13/07/2023 22:09

We did. My nephew had it really badly so I wanted to avoid that if at all possible. And she didn’t catch it at nursery, and I didn’t want her missing school for it so we paid for the vaccinations the summer before Reception.

southernbelles · 13/07/2023 22:09

We had our 5 year old vaccinated ahead of a holiday we had waited for since before covid, all good. We then had our second son vaccinated fairly recently but he managed to catch it a week before his second jab! Fortunately he got it very mildly (pretty much confined to his torso, no itching, no temp or other symptoms) BUT he continued getting fresh spots for at least 3 weeks! First son didn't catch it from him though, so all in all it was definitely worth it

Harpings · 13/07/2023 22:11

I think there may possibly be a risk of immunity from vaccine wearing off in adult hood. But this is not certain, as the vaccine hasn’t been around for all that long. So in a country where chicken pox is circulating regularly your child could be at risk as an adult when vaccine wears off. But I think they are debating adding vaccine to nhs schedule soon. So this will remove this risk as so much less chicken pox will circulate

greenspaces4peace · 13/07/2023 22:13

Standard in Canada and USA.
it can 100% be a nasty illness.
the cost to have it done is less than the money lost due to not working.
total bs about shingles, there’s a vaccine for that as well.

Greenfree · 13/07/2023 22:15

I had my DD vaccinated against chicken pox, she still got it when she was 6 but it wasn't anywhere as bad as what I've seen other children have. She had about 8 spots in total and no other symptoms

PinkPlantCase · 13/07/2023 22:15

It’s standard in most other countries. It just isn’t here because of cost.

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