To not trust Dr and pharmacist?

[togethelpptsd]

Hello everyone, really need some advice please. Later on today, at 5pm myself and my ASD non-verbal 4 year old will be having the chicken pox vaccine at our pharmacy (which I’m paying for). I have chosen to do this for us for a multitude of reasons and I know not everyone agrees with immunisations but I believe this is what is best for us in our situation. However, I have a 7 week old baby who was born at 37 weeks with double pneumonia very unexpectedly and had to be in the NICU for a week; terrifying. He has recovered really well but I’m super anxious about his health still and being very cautious about taking him out. As the chickenpox vaccine is a live one, I’m concerned there is a chance that me and my son could accidentally infect his baby brother and I am terrified about making him very poorly, especially with something like chickenpox! I phoned the pharmacy yesterday and after waiting for nearly 10 minutes the lady came back to me and said “the pharmacist said it should be fine”. Not liking the blasé nature in which she said it and the use of “should” to be honest. So I quickly followed up with a call to the GP surgery, and after battling with the receptionist who was trying to advise me despite not being medically trained, she finally went and asked a GP who also said “they said it’s fine”. I just feel like no one is listening to me and taking me seriously, and just trying to fob me off? The first few days my baby was in the NICU I thought he might die and it was the hardest and most terrifying time of my life, I just want to keep him safe ffs. Can anyone shed some light on this please? Thank you in advance.

A doctor and pharmacist have both said it's fine, who else do you want clarification from? I don't think 2 different medical professionals would both lie to you independently.

Isn’t mmr a live vaccine? I dont hear tales of people being infected with measles, etc after someone close to them has had the mmr.

Can you delay the vaccine if you're worried?

If you're worried delay having the vaccine.

If it makes you feel better, I vaccinated my eldest when my twins were newborn and they were fine. It was in the very, very early days of the chickenpox vax too.

I know there's a risk with people who are immune suppressed. But I doubt that would include your baby.

A quick google says if baby is over a week old it should be fine.

Also if you have had chicken pox baby will have your antibodies.

But if you are really concerned why don't you visit a different pharmacy and ask their advice face to face?

The issue is a medical professional can only say it should be fine. They can not 100% guarantee it.

Yes I was going to say about antibodies. They're at their strongest when baby is before 8 weeks I think? That's why their jabs are timed for then because that's when the antibodies start to wain.
I understand you're anxious op I would be to especially with what you've been through. But trust the science

This. They set themselves up to be sued if they guarantee something so they never will say 100% on anything

The most sensible solution would seem to be to wait until your newborn is a bit older before you take the sibling for a non-essential vaccination.
It doesn’t t matter what you are told, you’re going to worry, and that is understandable given your experience.

Surely out of the two worries your 4 year old catching chickenpox is less worrying than your tiny baby becoming ill again?

Or are you actually more worried about the 4 y.o. catching chickenpox and giving it to the baby that way?

The GP answered your question. I don't understand why that wasn't good enough for you. Don't ask them if you're not going to listen to their answer. If you don't think it's going to be safe then delay it

It’s clear that OP is looking for a more in-depth explanation as to why it is fine, not just a second hand message passed on by an intermediary. She wants the doc/pharmacist to explain to her directly why they believe that the risk is low.

OP, do you still have a contact paediatric doctor under whose care your 7 week old remains?

Maybe postpone the vaccination and ask that doctor next time you go for an appointment.

If you are worried about it (I don't believe it is a problem - unlike the rota vaccine my baby had which they warned us to be very careful after he had) - BUT if you're concerned, you need to do what we did when my 3 year old caught chicken pox when my second child was a newborn and split the house.

I looked after the newborn and slept in our room, my ex (wasn't ex at the time) looked after the toddler and slept in their room - we were very careful with towels etc. in the bathroom/kitchen and managed to stop the baby catching chickenpox (he had the vaccine later instead)

https://www.hpra.ie/img/uploaded/vaccines/SPC_PA1286057001.pdf

^^ the SmPC of a chickenpox vaccines.

on page 3 is the section about live vaccine & risks to other people. you can shos this to the pharmacist, but from reading it should be ok.

When my daughter had hers the nurse that gave it told me to avoid very close contact with anyone who was immuno suppressed or under 4 weeks old for 28 days so if he is 7 weeks old should be fine.

This advice was given to me around 1.5 years ago x

Op it sounds like it's recommended and actually available on the NhS in some places if you are in close contact with a vulnerable person who can't have it themselves.

Chickenpox vaccinations are provided free on the NHS where there is a clinical need, such as for healthy people with no immunity who have close contact with a person with a weakened immune system. This is to reduce the risk of the immunosuppressed person catching chickenpox, and then developing serious chickenpox complicationss_.
Examples of children who would probably be eligible to have a chickenpox jab on the NHS include brothers and sisters of a child with leukaemia, or a child whose parent is undergoing chemotherapy.

They’re not trying to fob you off, they’re giving you their professional opinion and you don’t like the answer.

As PPs have said, if it’s going to put your mind at rest then wait a couple more weeks for your baby to be a bit older.

You also have to consider that your eldest could get chicken pox naturally and that could be passed on to your baby too.

You can always rebook the vaccination if you are too anxious to have it done now.

Hi all, thank you so much for your replies. For clarification, I just felt a bit anxious about the fact that both times I didn’t really feel listened to, and I didn’t get to speak to the pharmacist or the doctor, they were second hand relayed messages and I felt a bit like they were just trying to get rid of me. My baby spent the first week of his life on a ventilator and a lot of antibiotics so I worry about his immune system. However the reason I want my older son to have the vaccine sooner rather than later is cause you need 2 doses 4 weeks apart for it to be effective, and he’s just started school. I had a test in pregnancy to see if I had had it as a child/had any natural immunity because my son came in to contact with a child at nursery with the pox and the test came back negative so we were just very lucky that neither of us caught it. I don’t want my son to catch it and bring it home and potentially infect me and his baby brother, hence why I don’t really want to delay it. Sadly my baby won’t get any antibodies because I couldn’t breastfeed, my supply never came in properly but I’m doing all I can to give him the best start.

My daughter had the chicken pox jab and the doctor asked that she was kept from her newborn cousin for 2 weeks. We lived abroad and had visited cousin so no issue. It was 5 years ago.

My friend’s baby had terrible chickenpox and developed lesions on her brain. It’s very rare, but it happens. This baby didn’t make it, which is why I happily paid for my eldest daughter’s vaccinations. The chickenpox vaccine has been part of the regular vaccination schedule here in Australia since my twins were babies. All of their mates had it. They’re 18 now. It is almost unheard of seeing kids with chickenpox here.

This is about getting a live vaccine if you live with someone immunocompromised

Chicken pox is listed as being safe to get whilst living with someone vulnerable.

You are not wrong for wanting a proper conversation with a Dr and not a relayed message where you don't even know if the question was asked correctly. Maybe contact the nicu again for advice- this has probably come up before with vulnerable babies that have siblings.

Thanks all. I checked again with the pharmacist first and we’ve both just had our first jabs. Once my baby is old enough I will be getting him vaccinated too. He assured me it was safe and I wasn’t putting my baby at any risk so hopefully all will be ok 🤞🏻