Chickenpox vaccine - yes or no?

[sayitwithme]

Interested in experiences, thoughts or opinions, strong or indifferent, on the concept of vaccinating our kids against chickenpox. I believe it's part of the routine vaccination program in the States. Should it be offered here in the UK? It currently costs around £100 to have the vaccine in the UK - would you pay/have you paid? If not, why not?

Call it a straw poll if you will.

Leonie, I'd ahve to disagree with you there.

both mine had it nerly 2 ears ago (dd1 came down with it in USA - oh joy! )

she was grotty for a couple fo days before the spots came out - not really ill, but a bit grumpy etc.

she had it quite mildly, and as soon as the spots were out, she was bouncing around. she did get quite lot of spots (nappy area etc), but was happy as anyhting, barely scratched etc.

dd2, on the other hand, had it really badly - she is my completely unvaccinated one. she was very ill, absolutely covered in spots (she was about 15 motnhs old, I guess) - even on her eyeballs.

it took her a couple of weeks to recover, and she was off food for quite a while (a worry, as she was so underweight anyway, as she was FTT)

so I don't think you can generalise with the vaccinated/unvaccinated (for other diseases) stance.

Mme Lindt That's really interesting that Germany has changed its recommendations - I hadn't realised. DD1 is now 12 and DD2 will be 9 in May, but neither of them were innoculated, and their Impfpass is complete so nothing got missed out. Do you know the date it got introduced? DD2 caught CP when she was 11 months old in April 2003 (from DD1's nursery) and had a fairly major (but non-dangerous) attack, so the paed might have thought there was no point her getting it after that.

Now that they've both gone through the illness at an age where they don't remember it - I had it at 6 and still remember how foul it was - I'm quite happy, but had the vaccine been offered I'd probably have done it.

"I pray they catch rubella as easily."
Why don't you start praying instead that they don't come into contact with anyone pregnant while they have it and cause permanent damage to someone else's baby?

it is up to every woman to know and check their own rubella status, and make sure they are immune.

it is not up to me to vaccinate my children with a vaccine I think will probably harm them.

that said, of course I keep my girls quarantined when ill.

To answer the OP's question, Yes I would have DCs vaccinated if it was part of the schedule, no I won't pay for it privately. HTH.

I think it should be part of the schedule as it is in the US, Aus and Germany. Friend's little boy was hospitalised with it for four days last year.

i came into contact with rubella when pregnant with ds2. went to doctor, who was v worried as i was 35, and the vaccine (usually given at 13 to women of my age) would have long since worn off. he was extremely relieved when we checked my records and discovered that i had had german measles as a child, and therefore had lifelong immunity. much more useful.

and indeed if dd doesn't catch rubella naturally, which seems unlikely, i will urge her to get the vaccine when she is an adult to protect her in pregnancy. but i would FAR rather she got lifelong protection. just like i would be far happier if my sons got wild mumps and got immunity.

mrsravelstein - Rubella is still around so they may already have had it without you realising! It was very mild for our DSs. We didn't even know DS2 was sick until he came out in the rash aged 10 months. Having seen his (and had it confirmed by a doctor) we're pretty sure DS1 had it when he was a baby too - same rash and swollen glands at base of neck.

I agree with silverfrog - it is an adult's responsibility to check their immunity to rubella. In our case, DS was too young to have been vaccinated. We weren't out and about that week (we live in the middle of nowhere!) so we wouldn't have come into contact with anyone anyway but it's a bit risky to rely on someone else to protect you and your baby.

Neither of mine have had to have antibiotics yet either Leonie - DS1 is 5 DS2 is 2.

This is what I hate about vax threads.

Just because you were lucky that your children have been healthy despite - not because - of your refusal to vaccinate, does not mean that other children will be.

There is a measles outbreak in Geneva at present. 29 cases since January. Which is nothing in comparison to the region of France next to Geneva, Rhone-Alpes, which has seen 2000 cases since beginning of December. I am so glad that our children have been vaccinated against this and other diseases.

And thankful that I am neither pregnant nor mother of a baby, who would not be able to be vaccinated.

Herd immunity is important for the safety of the most vulnerable. Obviously if there are underlying health problems that make a vaccination dangerous for a child, this does not apply. But for others to rely on luck and the willingness of others to vaccinate their children - I find it truly selfish.

Well we think so :)

I have just said MmeLindt that I think it is irresponsible to rely on someone else's immunity to protect yourself so why do you think I would rely on herd immunity (which by the way does not always work ie. there have been outbreaks in communities with well above the 95% levels that are recommended)

Also, it is well known that people with weakened immune systems fair worse against disease so if we speculate that things like antibiotics or even vaccines may weaken the immune system then it would make sense that those who have avoided either would fare better....just a thought! :)

I am not going to flame you at all - you are entitled your opinion.

Also, how do you feel about the fact that it is the vaccine itself that has robbed us of the ability to protect our own children when they are at their most vulnerable? Measles is more dangerous for children under age 1. If a mother has naturally acquired immunity to measles the passive immunity she gives to her child lasts up to around 13 months - this is why they do not offer the vaccine until this age because the maternal antibodies interfere with the child's immune response. If the mother's immunity came from the vaccine, the passive immunity only lasts up to around 6 months, leaving her baby vulnerable when it is more likely to get seriously ill.

YES YES YES from me.

My middle boy Isaac, who is now 14 CP when he was 4 and we almost lost him. He was in the high dependancy unit for 4 days and in isolation for 10 days after that.

He had the spots on the inside of his lungs and just couldn't breath - poor baby. It was just awful to watch as you can imagine.

Also - just because CP doesn't acutely KILL many children doesn't mean that it can't affect their lives. Isaac now has severe asthma and has to take 5 or 6 different drugs every single day of his life just to keep him breathing and even with all that he STILL gasps for breath a lot.

Spending the past 10 years in and out of hospital, seeing your child desperately short of breath day in day out....or a proven effective vaccine...

Hummm its a no brainer really.

iKaty - it is awful that your son suffered so badly from it but what about children who end up hospitalised because of bronchiolitis or a bad chest infection and end up with asthma. You can't vaccinate your child against everything...sometimes children just get sick.

"jog on". Great. Well thought out argument there, Leonie.

Speculate on how vaccines can weaken immune systems all you like, Bubbleymummy. I am not willing to take the chance. If you are happy taking the risk, then it is your choice.

I don't often get involved in vax discussion as I know that they inevitably end in a bun fight. At the end of the day, each family has to make their own decisions.

Also, as far as it being proven and effective - it still doesn't guarantee protection (no vaccine does) and no one knows how long it lasts yet or how many times you can be vaccinated in your life so you could end up in adulthood with no immunity when you are at greater risk of complications...a bit of a gamble - is it still a no brainer even with all the unknowns?

Mmelindt - you didn't respond to my question about the measles vaccine impairing a mother's ability to pass on immunity to her child... :)

No buns being flung from this corner btw - they're too scrummy! :)

bubbley
I have to admit that I did not know that about measles. So do you think that we should just accept that 1 in 1000 children who get measles - and without the vaccine some children are going to get it - that they might suffer serious complications?

The child of my mother's friend had measles when he was a boy. He survived but is now deaf.

Is that a risk worth taking?

What? So some children are gonna get sick anyway!

Pha what the heck hey - some children are gonna get hit by cars why not just teach them to close their eyes and bomb it across roads rather than at least try to protect them in the bast ways possible and teach them the safest way to cross.

Of course we can't protect our children from everything but that is not an argument for not protecting them at all.

How daft!

But it is not one or two. With measles it is 1 in 1000.

Chicken pox complications are rarer, but it is not one or two.