To have my child vaccinated against chicken pox...

[MummaT86]

... 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.

New??? It’s been on the US schedule since 1996. If a GP is that misinformed then honestly I despair.

Got my two sons vaccinated. They still caught chicken pox but it was so mild it hardly affected them. Eldest had about five spots on his chest and youngest got quite a few on his chest and back but they weren't itchy and didn't scab so there was no risk of scarring.

In lots of countries the vaccine is part of standard childhood vaccination schedule and you would be considered irresponsible for not getting it done.

Complications from chickenpox can be terrible for a small number of children.

I feel strongly that parents in the UK should be made aware the vaccine is an option, even if it is not funded on NHS due to cost.

Oh -- this is hardly statistically valid but in my decade plus in the USA, 3 children of my own, I think I know two children who got chicken pox after the jab. Mild cases both times. So yes, it does happen but not frequently and it's usually a milder case if you do get it. Overall it's considered a very effective vaccine. Even the hesitation in the UK isn't about whether or not it prevents chickenpox. Everyone (who knows anything about vaccines) agrees it does.

I live in a country where vaccination is standard and has been for years and years.

We have no more shingles than the UK, and in any case, everyone over a certain age should be getting the shingles vaccine anyway.

The UK doesn't vaccinate because the plan originally was to incorporate chickenpox into the MMR, and then the Wakefield scandal hit, MMR vaccination rates sank like a stone, and the government decided that they simply couldn't risk adding another element to the MMR as that might increase the panic. Giving chickenpox vaccine seperately costs money and the NHS is cash strapped.

I strongly recommend getting the vaccine as several kids in the UK who I know have ended up with significant pockmarks due to chickenpox. It's a gross illness.

I had chicken pox as a child and I still remember it with horror. I was so sick. While I have lifelong immunity from chicken pox it certainly didn't protect me from shingles.I have had two bouts luckily brought under control by anti virals. I have now had the shingles vaccine even though that is far less effective than the chicken pox vaccine. Basically, you never get rid of the virus. It lives in your spinal column ready to pop back up as shingles if your immune system gets a bit low.

Both my children were vaccinated. It was too late for the oldest - they'd already been exposed in childcare. We had to cancel our Christmas holiday and he had a very glum Christmas. The youngest got the vaccine and has never had any issues.

I had chicken pox as an adult and it was horrible. My son had it mildly when he was 3 but my daughter who is 9 now has never caught it, despite it ripping through her school several times. I’m going to get her vaccinated soon as I don’t want her to catch it when she’s older.

I wasn't aware you could get it privately in the UK until the end of last month, when I started googling CP after the first of my 3 DS developed a tell tale blister!

Of course, it ripped through all three DSs. My 4 y/o had the fewest spots and got over it after 5 days, my 8 y/o took 8 days (he had the most spots, many clustered in and around inner elbows and knees where his eczema tends to flare up) and my 9 y/o without eczema also had more spots than the 4 y/o and it took 11 days for the last blister to scab! So I guess it's true that age makes a difference in severity.

My husband didn't develop it (he never got it as a child), so perhaps he's one of the lucky few who is immune without needing to contract it. Funnily enough, he got a horrific case of hand foot and mouth four years ago while the rest of us including the weeks old baby had a runny nose.

The Dr he saw said "You never had CP, did you?" "No Dr, why?" "I only see severe HFM in adults when they haven't had CP".

I’ve vaccinated both of mine at Boots. Best case it’s a miserable illness and needs a week off, worse case it can have complications and can be fatal. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford it.
lots of countries give it as MMRV combined but I suspect the issues won’t misinformation about the MMR had led to it being held back.

I had all my 3 done. If you can afford it, it's a no brainer.

The stuff about the NHS advising against it is baffling. What about all the other countries which include CP in their routine jabs? It makes no sense.

Not just considered irresponsible, you’d actually be banned from school or daycare in a lot of US states!

Yep, DS couldn’t start nursery in Canada until he’d had his chickenpox and MMR vaccines (different schedule to UK so had to catch them all up as soon as we got our health cards).

I wish I had. My DD has had it twice and both times she was really ill. First time she ended up with lung, chest, throat, and ear infection. I had no idea how sick chicken pox could make you.

My DD isn't vaccinated for it because I didn't think it was important, but I had shingles when she was 2 and she caught chicken pox from that so it's too late and now it's possible she can get shingles in the future. I definitely would have got her vaccinated if I had known shingles existed!

Not me personally, but do know someone who had her twins vaccinated for chickenpox because 'she didn't have time for chickenpox' - didn't fully understand until my twins got it, one the week before half term, the other the week after! 😅

In hindsight, I would have found the money to vaccinate them!

This is interesting as my GP said it wasn’t available on NHS (for myself - I’m 43 and no immunity to CP as discovered by a blood test during pregnancy). But Boots might offer it?

@Gingerbeerfear

Don’t see why not? Definitely worth asking. No experience with vaccination in adults but presume they do it for immunocompromised people so can’t see why not if you pay.

@Gingerbeerfear you're eligible for the boots vaccine (it's licenced for anyone 1-65 years old) https://www.boots.com/vaccinations/chickenpox-vaccination-service

Chickenpox vaccination doesn’t mean you won't get shingles (although it seems now that it does offer quite a bit of protection against it).
If you never get chickenpox (very unlikely) you won't get shingles, but getting vaccinated means you do introduce the virus to your system. However, it seems introducing it like this (rather than as a very bad dose of chickenpox) means the virus is less likely to reactivate as shingles later - which is not to say it can't, though it's often less severe apparently.
There are shingles vaccines available too.

I had the vaccine as an adult because I never had it and have no immunity (confirmed by a blood test) I had it done at a GP surgery who offered this as a private service (much like many do with travel vaccinations)

That was to @Gingerbeerfear

DD ended up in hospital for 5 days with chickenpox when she was 4. She was very ill and is scarred for life on her face. Get the vaccine!

I had it on the NHS at my GP surgery.

I'm not immunocompromised but it came up during pregnancy bloods that I had no immunity to CP so they gave me the 2 doses 6 months later.

Most of the children in our class are vaccinated. Found out because one parent WhatsApped for a recommendation where to go. There had been a couple of siblings badly effected - scabs in mouths / ears, etc and that prompted everyone to get vaccinated.

It blows my mind that with the availability of the shingles vaccine, the NHS still hasn’t added CP to the childhood vaccines protocol.

In countries where the CP vaccine is standard—or at least in the States—chickenpox is a non-issue and an illness that’s now relegated to the history books like mumps and measles, save for the odd outbreak in non-vaccinating (usually ultra-religious) communities.