To chicken pox or not to chicken pox?

[MumApr18]

DC has a friend with chicken pox. I remember when I was young there used to be "chicken pox parties" so everyone could get it out the way. Is this still a thing?

I'm pregnant with DC2 (I've had it so I've read it's safe for me to be around chicken pox)...should I perhaps let DC1 get chicken pox before a DC2 comes along? Or wait and do both of them together?

My daughter caught chickenpox and ended up in the hospital for five days, complete with blood transfusions. She developed thrombocytopenia and nearly died.
I paid for her younger brother to have the vaccine.

I paid £96 to get my dd vaccinated at a gp a few months ago. My own gp surgery wasn't allowed to do it as she's their nhs patient.

@harper30 yes, I called local GP they ordered it in, no problem and once delivered I paid the dispensary desk . I heard boots offered it as well, but easier to go local GP as closer to home.

Not all GPs will order the vaccine in for a cost — ours doesn’t, so we vaccinated at a private clinic that specialises in travel vaccination, as DS hadn’t caught it by the age of 7, despite several children in his class getting it, in a couple of cases, very badly.

Some bigger branches of Boots and Superdrug also offer the CP vaccine.

OP, to explain the shingles/chicken pox link, you can only catch singles if you have caught chicken pox.

It's not vaccinated children who run the increase of shingles as adults if the vaccination becomes widespread, it's older people who got chicken pox as children, and won't get frequent low dose immunity by being exposed to young children with CP if all those children are vaccinated, therefore the virus lies in their system forever and is more likely to come out as shingles.

So essentially, it doesn't benefit the NHS to vaccinate children from CP, because older people are more likely to catch shingles.

I vaccinated my kids, and so did every other GP/healthcare professional I know. Older people can get the shingles vaccination if they wish, I'm not leaving my child to get potentially dangerous CP just to increase the immunity for older people 🤷🏻‍♀️

@TheBrilloPad Apologies, probably didn't word my post correctly - I'm aware it doesn't increase the shingles risk for my own child if I get them vaccinated.

However, it's an interesting moral question around herd immunity. Usually, when we vaccinate, we are contributing to herd immunity however, by vaccinating against CP before it's widely rolled out in both the young, and old, generation, we are actually decreasing the herd immunity of a large section of society against shingles. Of course I'm leaning towards the "my child is sorted, so not my problem" attitude but it's a scary thought for all our grandparents and "at risk" people if everyone was to do this.

@MumApr18 or if everyone started to vaccinate maybe the NHS would realise people no longer put up with chicken pox as 'par for the course' with young children & add it to the vaccine schedule here. Which is the civilised thing to do!

The is a shingles vaccine for older people. The increased risk of shingles hasn't been demonstrated properly I don't think so it more of a 'may happen' than a 'will happen'

Chicken pox like measles is usually a mild illness but can kill or cause serious long term complications and is particularly dangerous for pregnant women (some people don’t develop immunity so I wouldn’t expose yourself to it even if you’ve had it). I definitely would just get your child vaccinated.

@StylishMummy @dementedpixie both good points! But the reality is that widespread vaccinations for either shingles or chicken pox haven't happened so it's still the case that vaccinated children pose a risk to other groups in society. For an illness which is generally "mild" in child, its leaving older people at risk of an illness which is generally a lot more severe. A lot "generally" in that sentence though!

I'm still undecided. Selfish conscience says vaccinate, social conscience says to not. Will phone the GP today.

It's all well and good saying it's a mild childhood illness but quite often it's not.

Both my DS' caught it, one was 4 and one was 6 months. Both ended up on antibiotics, baby was running a 40 temp for well over 4 days and was almost admitted into hospital for an antibiotic drip and fluids as he wouldn't feed. It was truly truly awful.

My GP said it's a horrendous illness and she won't be surprised when the vaccine is rolled out on the schedule and fully expects it to be before she retires (she's been my GP since I was born)

@JeremyCorbynsCoat that's terrible that you and your children needed to go through that, really is. But the reality is that for the vast majority of children (certainly all children I know, myself included) it is mild.

Again, not saying I won't vaccinate, just that I want to research it further.

Mine weren't vaccinated. Dd got it age 3 and gave it to DS who was 6 months old. Ds then had childhood shingles age 3. I don't think I'd vaccinate if I had another child but I wouldn't go out of my way to expose them to it

If older people were so concerned about shingles hey would get the shingles vaccine.

Both of my children are immunised, like most children across Europe and North America. I considered the risks of them catching chicken pox and decided not to roll that dice.

Also, look at it on the selfish side. It can take three weeks for them to scan over and be allowed back to childcare. If you have two they may get it one after the other. Can you afford six weeks off work?

I will always put my DD’s health first. I say this as someone who has had chicken pox and would therefore be ‘at risk’ of shingles. That probably makes me selfish...

I'm currently deciding whether to get the vaccine for my 3 1/2 year old twins, and I'm very likely to. I'm slightly confused by a bit of information on the Boots website though. One of the (several) reasons I'm considering the vaccine is that their aunt is currently undergoing chemo. I know the vaccine is advised and given for free by the NHS for children of parents who are immunocompromised. However I'm the 'side effects' section of the Boots advice says: "On rare occasions, people who have received the chickenpox vaccine can transmit the infection to others. If you’re very likely to come into contact with pregnant women or those with a weakened immune system, you should avoid any such contact during the period between vaccinations and for four to six weeks after the second dose."
So are they saying children of people undergoing chemo who have the vaccine have to avoid their parents for 3 months? Seems contradictory with the reasons for getting it! Why not just get chickenpox and not see the parent for 2 or 3 weeks? I'm presuming the risks are very low?

Both DD's are getting the vaccination this afternoon. I don't see the point in putting them through what could potentially be a serious illness. Even a mild version is days of itching and discomfort. Stuck at home sick and bored. For weeks. Once one recovers the other will be sick.

Too many horror stories of spots in eyes, nose, mouth and private parts. It's £140 for both doses at boots. Must be minimum of 6 weeks apart.

@2CatShapurr

My DS has had his first dose with Boots, due his second tomorrow. I may be wrong, but I understood it that, albeit rarely, a child can break out in a chicken pox type rash, mainly around the injection site and that when they should stay away from pregnant women/immunosuppressed. Don't take my word for it though.

Let me know how you get on at the GP. Our case was referred to Public Health Scotland as DS dad has had a recent organ transplant is on high levels of immunosuppressants but the request was denied.

It's very hard to get on the NHS if you don't have direct and frequent contact with someone who has cancer or similar.

I paid for it privately.

I will @Divgirl2 - phoned them this morning and the person I spoke to seemed confident my son could receive it but is waiting on confirmation back from their in house pharmacist.

We were advised to avoid anyone who was immunosuppressed or pregnant and not previously had chicken pox. If any spots appeared which was given as unlikely you had to 100% stay away.