Would you vaccinate for chicken pox if your child hadn’t had it by 8/9?

[justanotherneighinparadise]

Younger sibling has also not had it but obviously likely to get it in the future and then it’s likely older child will catch it then.

I’m in two minds so would appreciate advice. I have no issue with vaccinating (assuming I can in the near future with covid restrictions) but I am concerned about whether it would give him adequate protection as an adult. Would he need a booster as a teen if I went that route?

Yes I vaccinated mine this year they are 7 and 5. A boy in our village died after having chicken pox so I would do anything to prevent it.

I've wondered about this. My youngest is 6 and still hasn't had it despite it doing the rounds every year when he was in nursery and now school.
My eldest caught it properly at 4 years old- when my littlest was only 2 weeks old.

I think you do have to have it redone every 10 years. This is my only concern- I doubt he'd remember or be bothered when he's an adult and chicken pox is generally worse when caught as an adult. Although obviously if he continues not to catch it as a child, he's still at risk as an adult anyway..

I don't know- it's a catch 22 isn't it?

Yes, I’m waiting until 11ish and I think if not had it by then I will vaccinate. My dc(9, 8 and 4) have never had it.

My 8 and 11 year olds just that their second dose yesterday. The nurse said they will not need anything further in the future.

I think you do have to have it redone every 10 years.

No,that's not true as far as I know.

The cp vaccine was rolled out when my dd was younger and we took it she ended up with chicken pox at 19 had to stay off college at work for a fortnight miserable. It only lasts so long .

The vaccination is on the govt. Schedule here now so it's just done as routine. If it wasn't offered I'd definitely make sure my children had it before their teen years. Chicken pox is horrible to have as a teen and much worse than getting it as a child.

My then 8 year old caught it from their younger sibling. They both (imo) had pretty bad outbreaks, but interestingly the elder one healed better than the younger who still has some scarring, which I'm hoping will fade. They both had two days where they felt rotten, but once that was done they were back to sleeping through the night again. I think they each missed around six days of school.
I'm wondering how much things like chicken pox will do the rounds this year with all of the distancing measures put in place.

From what I've read, immunity does wane but you done need boosters. If you catch it later and have been vaccinated, it's generally milder.

DS1 had it when he was 2. DS2 was a few weeks old at the time and ended up in hospital, but not with chicken pox. Hes never caught it and I never had him immunised. I dont even know if there was an immunisation for it when he was younger. The dr said he was most likely naturally immune

I would say definitely. Young children seem to be able to relatively sail through it but the older they get the worse I think it becomes,

Friends Ds had it as an older teen and he was screaming in pain as he couldn’t bare to stand as they were on his feet and he couldn’t bare even a sheet on him let alone lying down as he was in so much pain and it lasted much longer than if he had it as a child

I would definitely get the vaccine.
My own has had them twice - first when 1 year, very mild. Then at 3 years right before Christmas and a trip to NZ.

Definitely.
I got chickenpox at 16 (despite having it mildly as a baby) and it was absolutely awful. I was so ill and nearly ended up in hospital. Would avoid that at all costs I think.

I absolutely would. There's a dc in our dc school who is highly susceptible to chicken pox, it could be life threatening. I don't even know the child but that worry would be enough to get mine vaccinated if they hadn't already had it.

Do it was exactly as I thought. I could vaccinate but it would need boosting as he just wouldn’t get it strongly enough. Ah I think I’m going to hold off a bit longer in the hope my smaller one gets it and passes it on.

Ah I think I’m going to hold off a bit longer in the hope my smaller one gets it and passes it on.
Ah yeah why not...sure that's a great "hope" to hold onto! Ffs...

I didn't know there was a vaccine. At 5 my child was very unwell with chicken pox and as a teen their torso is covered with countless scars. Thankfully they only have a few scars on their face. I wish I had vaccinated.

This is the national guidance on chicken pox (varicella) vaccination. www.gov.uk/government/publications/varicella-the-green-book-chapter-34

I definitely would vaccinate if DC hadn't caught it by around that age.

Do you know it’s funny because I was going to get quite stroppy about it kitkats shitty tone but instead I booked an appointment and his having the first dose of the vaccine on the 12th December.

Thank you vipers xx

He’s

I just did mine last week (first for youngest booster for eldest) pharmacies are still doing it during lockdown.

My son had his first one this time last year and shortly after there was an outbreak at his nursery. Even with just one jab he didn't catch it. Now he's had his booster.

Youngest will have her booster in the new year. It was £65 a pop so spreading the cost a bit

Absolutely do it. Vaccinated my DD this summer aged 4 and would do it again younger next time. Two injections six weeks apart, we had absolutely zero side effects. Well worth the money.

This is my experience. My three dc had it last year, they were age 2, 5 and 6. The 6 year old had it worse by far, he was really really poorly and covered head to toe including in mouth and genitals. Absolutely horrific. I would definitely vaccinate against it if I were you, the older they are when they get out the worse it's supposed to be, was true in our case.

We will soon as Ds is ten and hasn’t had it

Had both mine vaccinated at 2. Just not worth the hassle, scaring and potential complications. Equally, time off to look after them. Most other countries vaccinate, for good reason.