Chicken pox vaccine

[JanewaysBun]

I keep going back and forth on the chicken pox vaccine for DS (nearly 2) and baby DD.

The main drawback seems to be that it's not known if it's lifelong protection is that right? Is there any specific reason why there's the worry about the CP one but MMR for e.g. has only been around since the 70s (?) And therefore not clear if that's lifelong too?

I'm exactly the same. So tempted to get my four year old it. I read somewhere drs give their kids it as they know how bad chicken pox potentially can be. I've never liked the idea of them getting bad ones that scar etc. My friend's child suffered badly with it a few months back. Not nice.

I think it's more that chicken pox isn't considered a serious enough illness? Whereas mumps or measles can be life threatening in severe cases.

Dts were incredibly ill with CP I wish I had had them vaccinated. They were off school for over three weeks, one ended up in hospital with queried sepsis. It wasn't thankfully.

It can be a really really horrible
Illness.

DH is a doctor. We had our child vaccinated & I’d do it again if we have any more. CP can be life-changing and life-threatening in the worst cases, and even in mild cases is quite miserable.

The MMR one has been around for almost fifty years. Over time, it has been improved on such that it is highly effective and does in two doses give lifelong immunity. The only slight exception is the mumps part of the MMR vaccine has just been updated because immunity was waning a bit. But your kids will get the newest version. They have to update vaccines every few years to keep them effective.

The chicken pox one is more recent, early 2000s and the early versions were not as effective as the one now. That is where the rumours about not providing good immunity as getting it come from. The vaccine out now is much more effective and provides lifelong immunity to the same extent as catching chicken pox in the wild. (Can still have shingles occur later in life). Chicken pox complications can cause death in children, but is most dangerous once you get over age 10 and into adulthood. So it is a vaccine that can be delayed if you want to, but if your child doesn’t catch chicken pox I absolutely would get the vaccine no later than age 9.

My daughter had the chicken pox vaccine approx 3 years ago she is 7 now.
She had it done when there was a really bad strain going round that hospitalised a few children round here .

I’ve had my 4 and 1 year old vaccinated, at a Superdrug clinic. No side effects.