Chicken pox vaccine in the UK? Ok for egg allergic children?

[OHforDUCKScake]

I really need help here.

My 2yo has serious on going health problems and CP will not go down well with him and his problems, and hes often on steroids.

So he sees doctors at a specialist hospital in London who agreed the CP might be the lesser of two evils but they have no idea about the vaccine if its safe for him (severe egg allergy) or how I get it. All we know is, its apparently available and I have to pay, which is fine.

My GP is equally unsure, knows nothing about it or how to get it done.

Can anyone help please?

Hi - the Varivax vaccine has not been anywhere near a chicken/egg www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_pi.pdf allergic reaction warnings are for neomycin and gelatin.

The other vaccine is Varilrix www.medicines.org.uk/emc/medicine/9787 and that has a very generic anaphylaxis warning and also has not been anywhere near chicken/egg.

Therefore, both are suitable for your son and the best thing would probably be to keep him under observation at your doctor's practise for a couple of hours or what they think is needed to act on a potential allergic reaction.

I hope this helps - let us know it goes!

Thats extrememly helpful thank you.

Now, how do I go about actually getting it done? Ive asked a specialist childrens hospital, Ive asked my GP, Ive googled until my fingers ache and still found no where to get it done.

I think your GP should refer you to your local children's hospital, you would come in in the morning, your little one would get the shot and they'd keep you there until they felt comfortable that he is not reacting badly. That should not really be out of the ordinary (it's also the way that kids with egg allergy should be vaccinated with MMR).

No one seems to think my local hospital does the vaccine at all.

He seems to think no one knows anything about this vaccine.

He said its very scary to be doing this "Its like asking you as a driver, to drive a racing car."

oh for the love of DUCK! Really? This vaccine is not something totally new or exotic. It has been given for almost 20 years in the US and it is routine in Germany. You are not asking them to inject experimental drug XY7639zeta into your son, but a vaccine which is indicated for certain groups of children (for example those with bad eczema). Do you want to PM me where you are and I see whether I know someone or could find someone in the area who can help?

Im serious. My GP said it only became available in the UK in june.

I knew that was wrong.

I will PM you if thats ok, you have been the single only helpful person so far, I really appreciate it.

OHforDUCKScake I can see that the position you are in with regards to your son is very difficult.

In my experience doctors are more likely to recommend vaccines than not and if the doctors who see your son are reluctant to vaccinate him against CP, I think you need to take that very seriously. Much more seriously than you take the advice of anonymous non medics on the internet.

CatherinaJTV - more than once I have seen you give advice on vaccines that I know you are not medically qualified to give. I don't know whether what you do is against MNHQ rules or not and I appreciate that MN posts disclaimers such as the one at the top of this thread. However I am concerned enough about what I have read here to report this thread to MNHQ.

Therefore, both are suitable for your son

It is this phrase that I want to report.

CatherinaJTV you have no idea what is suitable or not as a medical intervention for a child you have never met and know nothing about. That you contradict the advice of the child's actual real life doctors on the basis of a couple of posts on an internet forum is potentially dangerous and utterly appalling.

Hello there

As ever, we're bowled over by the willingness of MNers to offer each other peer-to-peer support on everything under the sun.

But we just wanted to reiterate what we say at the top of the threads in this topic: 'Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications, experience, or professional qualifications of anyone posting on Mumsnet Talk and cannot be held responsible for any advice given on the site. If you have any serious medical concerns, we would urge you to consult your GP.'

And also - please remember our Talk Guidelines about personal attacks.

Thanks
MNHQ

Good. Well done MNHQ.

The varicella vaccine is not over the counter, so the OP will have to get her GP or another doctor to give it to her son - my links and info (hopefully) equipped her with the information to have a proper discussion about this.

Hi,
Chicken pox vaccine is not part of the childhood vaccination schedule in the UK so your GP won't be able to give it (even if you pay for it) unless it's recommended by a hospital specialist (who should ideally also administer it).
The other way to get it would be through a private vaccination/GP clinic.

You can read more about chicken pox and the vaccines available here (UK guidelines):
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/148515/Green-Book-Chapter-34-v2_0.pdf
It does say that because it's a live vaccine it is contraindicated for those who are immunosuppressed (which you can be if you take high doses of steroids) and that specialist advice should be sought if someone who is immunosuppressed needs protection against chicken pox.

Your son's consultant should be advising you on what to do or if doesn't know make a referral to someone who does.

Where are you based? My daughter had the chickenpox vaccination privately and in my neck of the woods, N London, there are loads of private GP who will do it. We went to samedaydoctor who havw clinics all round London.

Still I am amazed how far behind the uk is on vaccination reccomened by WHO. In aus.. Cp vaccine is now part of mmr.. Now called Mmrv. babies get hep b at birth, both schedules are in line with WHO guidelines.

I am shocked that the GP won't give it privately. DD had varivax at our usual GP practice, we just had to pay upfront for them to buy it in (think it was £100 for the 2 doses). The staff did say things like "ooh, never seen this before!" but the GP and then the nurse who administered both read the documentation and happily agreed to do it.

That said, DD has no particular health issues or allergies, thankfully.

In fact, I think the chicken pox vaccine IS available on the NHS for certain vulnerable people. Yes, it says so here:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/chickenpox-vaccine.aspx

So even more shocking that your GP is not being helpful. Make a fuss.

Hi my son has severe egg allergy and had varivax when we were in Spain and had no problems