Chickenpox vaccine

[Spainintherain]

Has anyone given their children the chicken pox vaccine? I hav heard of two mums lately who have done so and was wondering if many people do.

It's part of routine vaccinations in some countries. Yes I did - it's an awful illness - glad to avoid it with my son.

I wanted to have my LO vaccinated but she caught it at 9 months. It was awful to watch her suffering with it. I tried everything to help her and to soothe her skin. She had the spots everywhere from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. I read that there's a chance they can still catch the virus after the vaccination and have a reaction to it but the effects are never as bad.

I did. Didn't want her being unwell with CP as i've known some children be really ill with it and some have had infected pox, didn't want potentially 2 weeks off nursery/work, didn't want to risk her catching it before/during a holiday.

Are there any drawbacks to getting the vaccination?

Absolutely,I had all 3 of my children vaccinated with zero complications.It was 100% worth it knowing that my children were protected from CP,especially since it's preventable.❤

I have a big group of friends and every single one has vaccinated all of their children with no complications.

We have. DD had first jab at 9mo and is due the second in a few weeks time.

Yes DD had it at 2.5yrs. Our GP surgery was very reasonable and charged us the cost price of £80 (included initial vaccination and follow up vaccination) which i believe is a lot less than it usually costs. DD is 7 now and no probs. The driving factor was a child at nursery at the time was hospitalised with it and was very poorly as it went in his eyes and mouth and all sorts. Plus even two days of missed nursery fees at the time would have cost us more than the £80 not including us taking a week off work if she got it and had to stay home. Plus she’s turned out to be a terrible picker so I’m really glad she had it done as would not have left her spots alone and ended up with horrible scars.

I paid to have my daughter vaccinated when she was about 15 months. The chemist was a bit reluctant as he didn't feel it was necessary but I insisted, she didn't even cry and there were no side effects. She had two jabs in total a few weeks apart.

I went to a local chemist who runs a travel clinic and paid about half the cost of the price at Boots or Superdrug so it pays to shop around. My friend is about to get her 4 year old daughter done at the same place.

I'm glad I got it done as I want to protect my child from the illness and I won't have to take a week off of work to care for her.

I’ve had all three of mine done at the GP we paid for it about £200 I think per child for two vaccines each

Its routine here in the US, but I would have paid for it if it wasnt. Its a horrible disease and if a pregnant woman catches it, just dreadful

I had my DS1 vaccinated at Superdrug and didn't regret it. You've reminded me to make an appointment to vaccinate my 14 month old DS2 as I haven't don't so yet, thank you!

Some people I've heard say that they have been advised not to, as it doesn't work or only X% effective etc. However I think it's better to have the vaccine than not. When all the kids at DS's nursery caught it he didn't so I assume it worked for him and he was immune. He has been exposed several times since being vaccinated and not shown any symptoms.

And the only drawback I actually believe (but am too selfish to be persuaded by), is the population level downside, where if too many kids are vaccinated, then the virus wouldn't circulate as much, so there will later be a greater risk to unvaccinated adults.

And the only drawback I actually believe (but am too selfish to be persuaded by), is the population level downside, where if too many kids are vaccinated, then the virus wouldn't circulate as much, so there will later be a greater risk to unvaccinated adults.

It’s my understanding the risk is that the older generation are more likely to develop shingles because they will not be around the chickenpox virus (via grandchildren etc) which will keep their own immunity levels up rather than a risk to unvaccinated adults.

Both of mine had it, no side effects and brilliant peace of mind when the notice of an outbreak comes home from nursery (monthly).
The way I saw it is they have to have either the vaccine or the illness (as if the do avoid catching chicken pox the NHS advise to vaccinate at 12 years old to prevent them getting it as adults)
There is pretty much no option of being lucky and not having either.
So as possible side effects of Chicken pox are worse than possible side effects of vaccine logic led me to vaccinate. Decision out of my hands 😂

Yes we did

Both my dc had cp vax as babies/toddlers, as we were living in a country that had it in their vax programmes at the time. No complications with the jab itself. However, both children ended up getting cp before the 2nd booster was needed. Dc1 had it quite bad, spots everywhere and very itchy with temp. Dc2 was a milder case, less spots but still with temp and in discomfort. Both still had to take a week off nursery/school until the spots scabbed over.

My DS had it. It cost £140 in boots. 2 vaccines 8 weeks apart. No side effects at all. I would do it again for another child without hesitation

Yes, my DS had it last summer. He had a febrile convulsion due to a Hugh temp, and since we have realised the it's only ibuprofen that brings a temp down and keeps it down. As you cannot give ibuprofen with chicken pox, we decided to vaccinate. 100% worth the cost to know he is now vaccinated against it. Took a lot of worry away for us as parents. The nurse that administered the vaccine said that chicken pox is actually getting worse and the complications from it even more so.

I wish iAd had mine vaccinated. I don't know how but it somehow passed me by that you could get it.

Dts were incredibly ill with it.

then the virus wouldn't circulate as much, so there will later be a greater risk to unvaccinated adults

I suspect most adults had the illness as children. I don't know anyone who hasn't had it.

You only get shingles if you've had chicken pox, you don't catch it as a standalone disease. Something triggers it, usually being run down.

Yep! Got it at 4.5 years as he hadn't had it yet. I was happy to pay £65 to avoid a week or so of housebound misery in the best case scenario. 2 of DS's friends were hospitalised in the last sweep of it and my goddaughter has facial scarring from it. I know he may still get it but I know it will be less severe as a result of the vaccine.

No I didn't. Immunity wears off at the critical moment when the child is thinking about having children of their own etc or they become a risk to others.

The only drawback is more cases of shingles in adults - www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563790/

@mumofthregirls The vaccine has the same protection length as measles etc (approx min of 20 years) and you can always get a booster as an adult if your immunity wears off. Did you not get the MMR for your children on that same basis?