Chicken pox vaccine

[clouddweller]

I am all but decided that I would like for my son (16 months) to have the chickenpox vaccine, but have just read online that, as it's a live vaccine, "It’s therefore important to avoid contact with anyone in an ‘at risk’ group for six weeks after each dose of vaccination. Those most at risk include pregnant women who haven’t had chickenpox, newborn babies of mothers who haven’t had chickenpox, or anyone with a weakened immune system." How would this work with going to nursery - I don't know everyone there and wouldn't therefore necessarily know if baby could come into contact with someone in these categories. I can't realistically keep him off nursery for six weeks, so should I not get him the vaccine? Interested to know how others who have had the vaccine have managed.

We gave our dd the vaccine and just sent her in as normal. It wasn’t in the nursery policy about keeping them off after the vaccine so they didn’t say anything. I think if you work in a nursery or send your DC to one you have to expect they’ll come into contact with things like chickenpox.

Just sent them to nursery as usual.

Nursery staff will all most likely have had chicken pox as it is rife in nursery's. You cannot think about every single family member of other children either, it could be there child bringing home chicken pox from nursery and nothing to do with the vaccine.

We had it done and just sent her in as normal.

It'd be 2 x 6 weeks so 12 weeks off for the course of both injections. I'd read it personally as if someone in the household was pregnant or at risk then to take that into account, but there's nothing to say to keep off nursery/school etc so I'd send them in.

It is fine to send them into nursery. The advice just applies to to close family members that might be vulnerable. Most adults growing up in the UK will have had chicken pox anyway and the nursery staff definitely will have (or been vaccinated).

We were told that if they came up with spots as a reaction then to treat as if they had pox (aa they would be contagious and able to pass the virus on) but otherwise act as normal.

You’re overthinking it. Unless you’ve got someone immunocompromised in your household, at which point take advice from your doctor, then it’s fine to carry on as normal. When I lived in the US it was mandatory to attend daycare or school so all the kids had the vaccine and I’ve never heard of it a recently vaccinated toddler transmitting it to a vulnerable baby or anything like that!

DS had it and we just told nursery so they could make any provisions as they wished. A child with chicken pox would also be a risk to that same group of people which is highly likely in a nursery setting. Nursery told us we'd done the right thing having him vaccinated as it will likely prevent or hugely reduce the illness for him.

Sent my older one to school and younger to nursery after each jab and didn’t even think to tell them oops!