does anyone know why we don't vaccinate against chicken pox?

[cheapandchic]

is it purely the cost to the nhs?

The only reason then not to routinely give children the CP vaccine (and adults the shingles vaccine) would seem to be cost.

Privately vax'ed our two against CP; will do it again for DC3 when he arrives and is old enough. DH (a GP) believes it isn't available here on cost grounds, pure and simple. We looked at the potential health risks and the costs of extra childcare etc. and it became obvious that the vaccination was the correct choice for us. I've a lot of friends in the US so it didn't seem like an unusual decision.

Lots of children at DD's nursery are coming down with it- when I mentioned to other parents that we had DD vaccinated, many of them didn't realise a vaccine even existed. I wonder how many people would vaccinate if the knew about it?

We have free vaccination here, haven't seen a case for 20 years and I work with children.

It's kind of like the pneumococcal meningitis vaccination. When ds was a baby it wasn't available on the nhs because of cost, but required in the USA (for entry into school). I had ds vaccinated later than the schedule (had to wait for visit to USA) and after second shot he stopped getting ear infections (known benefit of the vaccination). That alone made the cost worthwhile as ds was in A&E every time he had an ear infection and he had them every few months. I believe it's now offered routinely on the nhs.

The pneumococcal vaccination has been part of the childhood imms programme since 2006 Sofia.

I imagine it's a cost/benefit analysis issue as to why varicella vaccine isn't routinely offered. At the moment maybe the JCVI consider the costs outweigh the benefits?

I disagree, Leonie- after seeing children really suffer with a preventable illness, I think that we do. Particularly if the risk of shingles in the elderly population is eradicated with a shingles vaccine. Aside from cost, I can't see a reason not to include it in the UK vaccination schedule.

I have a slightly different problem, I'm 30, never had CP and currently pregant - the concequences for me catching it are not good. It's not like I wasn't exposed, so I 'may' have immunity but it's still worrying because who knows

"Which is how it is supposed to work, not needles full of god knows what injected every so often because man thinks he is more clever than nature..."

I don't want to get into a pro/anti vaccine argument; I can see both sides, but if we were to apply that logic to all illnesses, we would never use antibiotics or go to a hospital, preferring instead to let nature take its course. Infant mortality would be through the roof; nature intends for children to die from what we now consider minor illnesses.

Vaccinating against a horrible illness which can have very serious complications makes sense to me.

Yes, hindsight being a wonderful thing, I certainly wish I'd got my two DDs vaccinated.

and how much is that going to cost me? Not everyone has money to throw at problems.

Trickle - ask for blood test to check out if you are immune or not. I only found out I hadn't had it in the last two weeks before my due date after a friend's little girl came out in CP spots. Very stressful. I had some injections to help protect me and my DS though which help if given within 9 days of exposure.

I've since been vaccinated against CP myself (£95 per injection and you need it twice a month apart). The latest jabs are supposed to cover you for life. I will be getting DS vaccinated too. The private GP told me that they are looking at introducing it in the UK over the next few years, combining it with the MMR. She also said it was a cost thing as to why it hadn't been introduced as yet but thought their consideration of combining it was going to cause further panic and worry in Mums given the MMR scares a few years ago. Fears still linger even if the research was completely disproven.

The NHS will test you for free Trickle. It's better to know so you can keep an eye out for potential exposure and then get the subsequent jabs. It's only risky in first trimester and if you catch CP just before birth.

LeonieDelt.....don't think it's much about vanity ....I have nursed 3 children who have died of complications of chicken pox.
In Australia it is part of the immunisation schedule. I would guess in England it would be a cost factor with the NHS.
The schedule so far is the children have the immunisation around age 18m plus and a booster has been introduced at age 13+.

The NHS reccommends that you have the jab, Trickle- Here. I would assume that that means you can get it for free.

Ah, didn't know that - who do I ask midwife or GP? Will I need to tell them I think I've been exposed or they will just do it anyway?

"Vaccinating against a horrible illness which can have very serious complications makes sense to me."

If you apply this logic, you would have to vaccinate against everything. Any illness can have serious complications.

So the new plan is to vaccinate children against CP (with a 4 in 1 vaccine with MMR - yet more choices reduced) and vaccinate adults against shingles to sort out the increase in shingles? Well it's good news for the vaccine manufacturer I guess! £££££££

bumbley, I am struggling to think of a serious illness with a vaccine available which we don't use

I do agree that all vaccines should be available separately though.

I had shingles when I was 5. It is not just an old persons illness.

'We dont need to vaccinate against the pox. Unlike in America, where the reason is because parents cant afford 2 weeks off work.'

The cynic in me first wondered if this is the case. I am also surprised this and the last governments haven't thought of this too since they are obsessed with getting both parents out to work.

My older 4 have had CP and were fine although one has facial scarring. I have also heard of sad cases where children have died. Yes it is rare but that could be anyones child, it COULD happen to you. I would prefer if they vaccinated.

Some people, because they have never been exposed to the erradicated diseases of tha past, don't trust vaccines or medical establishments. Some cultures have a totally different view of illness and Western medicine and don't accept treatments even for diarreah etc. But the fact is that vaccines do save lives. And CP CAN be dangerous. I am not looking forward to DC5 getting it.

Tethers, well the US vaccinate against Hepatitis and rotavirus. Maybe we should add them to our schedule? What about typhoid? You can get complications from colds so I guess we should find a vaccine against that too as well as us all getting the flu vaccine every year. Maybe we should bring back the BCG for everyone as well? The list just goes on and on and it just gets silly. My point is that every illness carries a risk. CP is no different but the risk of serious complications from it is very small.