Chickenpox vaccine

[Bytheseainsummer]

I enquired about this about a year ago for my toddler but was discouraged by the pharmacist at Boots - she gave me the impression it was best to catch in the wild as it were.

I am now wondering about it again, does anyone have any further info or advice? I think I’d like to get it for him but also don’t want to potentially cause problems for him further down the line. He’s two and a half.

I don’t have any advice really but I have also considered getting it for my DD. My thinking was whilst the chicken pox may be mild that it would hopefully protect her from shingles later in life. Although I’m aware you can also get a vaccine for that from a certain age.

I’m in uk. Kids see private paediatrician and they recommended they got the jab (administered by our local pharmacy so no financial incentive for the paed). Yes they may have slightly reduced immunity to shingles as they age but they can have booster for that. From our perspective it was the best choice - no unexpected cancelled holidays or unpaid leave, no suffering and no tiny chance of the very serious possible complications (eg encephalitis).

Other countries give it and I don't think it causes any problems.

DD2 caught chickenpox in April and there wasn't a square cm of skin anywhere on her body without really big raised angry red spots. She was absolutely miserable for about a week, with a fever, no appetite, really uncomfortable etc. Two months on from her getting better and she's still covered in marks, some I think will definitely scar. She was 11 months so although we'd talked about getting the vaccine, she was too young. It really wasn't pleasant, for her or us, and we had to take quite a bit of time off work as well. But I suppose you could argue that ultimately she was fine. One of the other babies at her nursery had it, and only had two spots, no other symptoms, completely fine. But for me, if I could have prevented her getting it, that would definitely have been preferable. And I'm very glad she almost certainly won't get it again!

Well yes, that argument is an obvious one, the one I’m concerned with is that by getting the vaccine now I’m postponing problems for him further down the line?

I don’t know why medical professionals are (apparently) so anti it, as above lots of other countries do it as standard like MMR and meningitis, and if you refused you’d be considered a bit odd!

I paid for it, my daughter hasn’t caught chicken pox, though to be fair I’m not sure she’s been exposed since she had it. The fact I’m far less likely to have to take 2 weeks off work and she’s far less likely to end up with an uncomfortable, itchy illness which makes her feel grotty for a week or so, makes it worth £140 for me.

I wish I'd vaccinated DC, one DC had it very mildly but the other had complications, ended up in picu with sepsis and nearly died.

They vaccinate in many other countries. I think I read that nhs likes the virus to circulate as for older people, low levels of exposure help to prevent shingles? Might have imagined it.

Basically they've decided on a population level it's not worth it but I'd say on an individual level it is. Even if DC have it mildly, it's still a week or so off work to care for them (each - and it can be a couple of weeks between siblings coming down with it)

It’s not the money I’m quibbling!

Both mine have had it. I've seen friend's children really poorly with it and it just made sense to have it if it could be prevented.

To put the question another way, why did the pharmacist believe it wasn’t in DS’ best interests to get the vaccine?

I’ve given the vaccine to all my children, no problems or side effects. Other countries including the US and Australia routinely vaccinate against it. There are no good reasons not to. The UK position is that they prefer children to get CP as it helps stop
adults getting shingles. However, there is a shingles vaccine for older people now. It’s a nonsensical argument

I dont know why the pharmacist said what they did but i had no problem booking ours online at Boots and the pharmacist who did the jabs said it was all she'd done all day. So sounds like a random pharmacist rather than the Boots corporate line. Was your DC having any other jabs around that time? It's a live vaccine so you need to leave some weeks between CP vaccine and other vaccines.

It isn’t recommended as a universal vaccine as at a public health level there’s concern that it could lead to unvaccinated people not being exposed until adulthood and becoming more ill.
So the public health stance is to let all children catch it and reduce the number of adults with complications.
On an individual level it makes sense to me to get the vaccine - it’s £75 at Boots - one jab gives a certain level of cover / I believe two are advised.

They've probably bought into the quite outdated theory that it would increase shingles in the elderly population - which haven't been borne out in practice in the countries that give it.

The benefits to recipients are really clear. It's much more effective when given in childhood than adolescence/adulthood, and it dramatically reduces the chance of getting shingles in adulthood.

The NHS public information on this is mendacious; JCVR's (public) deliberations have been much more focused on the worry about putting people off MMR if they switched to MMRV.

Both mine had the vaccine as we lived in a country that vaccinate as standard. When we moved back to the UK a lot of children in my DS class had chicken pox. It was nice to know he wouldn’t catch it and he didn’t get ill. I’m very happy they both had the vaccine. A lot of European countries vaccinate against it.

Thanks @kweeble . So it’s essentially a benefit for other people rather than DS personally? I’ll get him booked in this week in that case.

Yes it’s a benefit to other people.. and even that benefit is questionable. I wouldn’t hesitate. Boots is a good place to go

How long does immunity last with the vaccine? When I looked into it I couldnt find any clear info on that.

In countries where children are vaccinated as a matter of course the vaccine eventually wearing off wouldn't cause the same problems as it would cause here, as there wouldn't be as much chickenpox virus around to catch.

DD had hers a few years ago.
It’s done routinely along with MMR in other countries. Why wouldn’t you?

It’s more serious if you get it as a teen or adult, causes bad scarring and illness in some. Again, why wouldn’t you prevent it.

How long does immunity last with the vaccine? - 20 years. Then you have jab number 2.

I wondered that too. I wish people would stop saying things like ‘why wouldn’t you’ as a rhetorical question - that’s what I’m asking!

I had DS done when he was about 2, and believe it was the right choice. He had convulsions as a baby, and ibuprofen was, and still is, the only thing that will bring a temperature down for him. I recommend the vacc to anyone who asks.

Jab 2 is given a few weeks after jab 1, isn’t it?

There are no down sides other than the cost and the now outdated theory about shingles. The pharmacist might have been reluctant as there was a shortage of vaccine last year I guess... We got our DD vaccinated last winter and she has escaped chickenpox doing the rounds at nursery 3 times so far so working well for us!

I think 20 years is just an estimate. The vaccine has only been around that long, so they can’t say it will last a lifetime as there’s no data to prove this. I’m sure I read that ongoing data shows it doesn’t seem to wear off, as the first group of children to have it get older and older.

So is this what is happening in counties that routinely vaccinate? Are adults catching it more often and getting more ill? And if so, have they decided to stop vaccinating children now?