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Original poster

chicken pox immunisation

56 replies

margobambino · 04/02/2009 13:49

Has anybody here vaccinated their children against chickenpox? I am thinking about it because I feel that my DS has a tendency for scarring. So I don't want him to get chickenpox if possible. Is there any adverse effect of this vaccine, do they have mild chickenpox or something avter the immunisation?

OP posts:
Original poster
margobambino · 04/02/2009 14:06

Hellooo, anybody hear me?

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believer07 · 04/02/2009 15:17

The efficay rate is very low for this vaccine, and it is a high risk for reaction vaccine. It is also made by growing the virus on a aborted fetus.

believer07 · 04/02/2009 15:21

here

Most governments want to use this, not because of the danger, but because of the economic effects of having parents off work for a few weeks. Some have admitted that.

My son had a very bad episode of c/pox and did scar but its not that bad.

KerryMumbles · 04/02/2009 15:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

believer07 · 04/02/2009 15:24

lol - a friend of mine has just had her 3 year old and 7 month old have it, and they are still alive....shock.

psychomum5 · 04/02/2009 15:31

I was vaccinated at 38wks pregnant with DD3 (she is now 10, so please bare in mind that the vaccine may well have changed anyway since then), as I was a very high risk due to DD2 having it so badly she was in hospital and I had never had it, nor developed any resistence to it.

It didn;t work!

DD3 was born with it, I developed it, both of us were ill, and needed treatment in hospital.

we have both been tested since, neither of us has any immunity to it, DD3 gets il every time she comes into contact with it, I don't each time but I have had chicken pox spots now lots of times, and DD3 also has now got an immune deficiancy.

oh, and every vaccine she has had since caused her to react, have seizures, altho she is still not classed as 'vaccine damaged' (but then, even parents with ASD chiildren who know that the vaccines damaged thier children would not be able to claim vaccine damage either...............docs do not like to admit it is possible {{sorry if I sound ever-so-slightly bitter}}).

If I could go back, I would not have had the vaccine. I do not think it safe, and even in the USA where it is a common vaccine they are now seeing incidents of shingles rise, which they think is an effect..................or, that teens and adults are now getting chicken pox (the vaccine is not a life-long one), and to get chicken pox later is proven to be more dangerous.

chicken pox is pretty much for most people a normal childhood illness..................all my other four children have had it, and yes they were poorly (DD2 obviously the worst), and DD1 has lots of scars from her spots, but they have not scarred her terribly, and of the ones visible, they are obvious for what they are and (IMVHO and biased opinion as her mum), I think they are lovely and part of who she is.........scars are not something to get vaccinated for. damage inside is far scarier and is not visible IYGWIM.

EldonAve · 04/02/2009 15:32

I considered it for mine but decided against it. It is a relatively new vaccine so they can't tell how long it is effective for yet

psychomum5 · 04/02/2009 15:33

kerry, did you not a while back get a teensy bit hysterical about your DS (1 or 2) having a CP scar on his forehead???

nellyup · 04/02/2009 15:43

Well said re the scars psychomum. My dd was quite badly scarred by chicken pox, has white spots all over her torso. But like you say, its who she is and there is no way on earth, even with hindsight, that I would have given her a CP vaccine. She had CP 3 years ago and the scars are fading as she grows anyway.

IMO part of childhood, not pleasant but not something to vaccinate against.

KerryMumbles · 04/02/2009 16:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PortAndLemon · 04/02/2009 16:34

And as virtually no one in the UK is vaccinated against chicken pox I doubt anyone will pop up to say that OP's DCs will die if not vaccinated against it. I do have a friend whose DS died from chicken pox, and DH has a colleague whose DS was hospitalised and on life support with it but pulled through, but that only leads me to get pissed off when people proclaim sweepingly and with no qualification of the statement that chicken pox is a very minor childhood illness; it hasn't even led me to vaccinate my own children, let alone get worked up about someone else's.

That said, if they get to secondary age and haven't caught it I will at least investigate getting a vaccination done because it's fairly consistently nasty in adulthood.

Themasterandmargaritas · 04/02/2009 16:45

Dd had chicken pox aged 2, very mildly and with minor scarring. DS1 was in contact with CP but never contracted it, he had CP vaccination a couple of months ago and he is almost 5, he had no side effects and is still alive (if he behaves himself tomorrow that is ). DS2 who is a toddler remains unvaccinated as I have a feeling my children have a high natural immunity to it, so I am happy to let him go until he is quite a bit older before considering getting him vaccinated. We are not in the UK, if that makes any difference.

psychomum5 · 04/02/2009 16:52

oh kerry, you did...........you always go hysterical

tis what I love best abouts ya!!!!

Bodders1 · 04/02/2009 17:14

The vaccination is standard practice in the US, Australia, France and Germany so prob as long as the vaccine being used is the same one that has been licensed in the US etc I wouldn't worry too much (as long as it is transported safely at the correct temperature etc). I think it is only a matter of time before the UK government brings it in and my health visitor actually told me she thought it was a very good idea as CP can be fairly nasty so I am considering it for my DS. My HV tells me the only reason the government hasn't brought it in yet is because of the cost and also apparently cases of shingles in adults might increase. All of that said, my sister (who is a paediatrician) has decided against it for her DS on grounds that benefit does not outweigh low risk of it being a complicated illness in a child under the age of 12.

notcitrus · 04/02/2009 18:03

Having had chicken pox aged 16, when it was incredibly unpleasant for a few weeks, I'd consider it if A hasn't had it by the time he's 10 or so, but I'm not too worried before then. Chicken pox is almost unknown in Southeast Asia, so my boarding school (1/3 students from SE Asia) had an epidemic of it and a few students were hospitalised.

In the meantime A is having all the standard NHS jabs, had BCG, and I had the MMR last week so my milk can help protect him from measles until he's old enough for it himself.

FWIW, the vaccine is grown in a cell line called MRC-5. The first cell cluster was derived from a fetus, yes, but since then those cells have simply been reproduced in petri dishes, no fetus required!

believer07 · 04/02/2009 18:20

Yes I know the cell lines and the cell lines for the MMRII and as a pro-life christian I can hardly profit for the health of my childen from a practice that I think is a sin.

I also had the chicken pox at 15 and my brother and sister had it at the same time, it was not a problem.

I have even known adults have it (healthy Adults) and they had a nasty illness but are fine.

Now shingles is really nasty, and as said by previous posters it is on the rise in the US because of the vaccine. Also when the first generation of mothers who have not had the c/pox because of the vaccine become mothers then thier babies will start to get it very young indeed as they will have not passive immunity to give them.

Original poster
margobambino · 04/02/2009 23:07

If the protection of vaccine is not lifelong, it can be repeated, can't it? Maybe he can have a rapel during his early teenage years?? Maybe every 10 years like tetanus vaccine? Why not?
Believer, has your friend had it done in the NHS or private sector? Are GPs doing it in our request?
By the way, I am going hysterical quite frequently too

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bubbleymummy · 04/02/2009 23:51

I def wouldn't have give it to my son. Does anyone else notice the trend of scare stories before the gov releases a new vaccine? A few years ago my hv was laughing at the prospect of a cp vaccine - I wonder how many of them will now be warning us of the dangers and risks of not vaccinating our children against it! At the time I actually copied a page out off the NHS or DOH website just to see what the difference will be when the vaccine is launched. Diseases always become a lot more serious when there is a chance to make money out of a vaccine...

sandcastles · 05/02/2009 00:18

It's a common vaccine here in Australia. Although dd1 being a UK born child never had it & when she did her catch up programme here I decided against it.

Dd2 will not ba having it either.

I have spoken to 4 mums who vaccinated at the playgroup I run & all of their fb had CP to some degree after the vaccine. One was v poorly with it. Based on this, it is a no no for me.

Original poster
margobambino · 05/02/2009 01:05

Thanks Sanscastles, useful information. Did they have CP because of the vaccine or catch it naturally?

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sandcastles · 05/02/2009 01:38

Sorry, that part wasn't clear was it...

They all had it within days of the vaccine.

Only 3 could almost 'guarentee' that they had not had contact with an infected child, 1 is doubtful [goes to a large child care facility] and so could potentially come into contact with anything.

The child who was v poorly wasn't the childcare child, if that makes sense!

Obviously, it doesn't happen in every case & I do see plenty of other mums who have no side effects noted...but as you asked, thought it only fair to share my experience.

eidsvold · 05/02/2009 06:27

dd2 has been vaccinated against chicken pox here in Aus and had no reaction. As dd1 was born in the UK - she was not vaccinated but had a very bad dose of it when she was around 18 months old.

It can be serious - sorry to say - for some children it is not a mild childhood illness. I know a young man who ended up having his lower leg amputated due to complications from contracting chicken pox. I used to think it was a mild childhood illness until I met this young man.

Original poster
margobambino · 05/02/2009 11:37

Thanks ladies, I am much more confused now

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Original poster
margobambino · 05/02/2009 12:08

... and hysterical

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Original poster
margobambino · 08/02/2009 21:33

I have been reading and talking to my friends in my home country, so I think I will go for it. Does anybody know how and where it can be done? Who is doing it? Are GPs doing it when you ask?

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