Chickenpox vaccine

[Onthegrapevine]

Has anyone gone private for their children?

I have a 1 year old and I’ve just been thinking about this. The reason the NHS doesn’t give it as routine is pretty shoddy.

Yes - was really easy. Had it done in london. No regrets

Yes I did, cost £150 for the two jabs at Superdrug. No side effects at all. I really don’t understand why it’s not given routinely here, as it is elsewhere.

Yes, my two dc had them at boots. No issues would definitely recommend it.

We had DD done at a local pharmacy, it was £130 for both jabs.

The day I had an appointment to take her we found out there had been a case at nursery so she got the post-exposure jab. She then got chicken pox (we think) about a fortnight after her second jab but it was such a non-event it's hard to say that's definitely what it was. Compared to my brother who lost a whole summer to it when his DCs had it back to back.

So worth it.

@CorpusCallosum That’s what concerns me, you see. I’ve been thinking about it because mine is at the tail end of a virus and has come out in a few spots, which made me think of chickenpox.

Would we definitely know If he’d been exposed? I will have to have a look and see what the deal is if you have the vaccine but have already been infected by chickenpox unknowingly.

That might sound crazy, but my only experience of chickenpox is my own (at 15!) so I’m not sure it’s always obvious?

It doesn’t matter if you have already been exposed AFAIK you can still get the jab.

You can get a blood test to see if there has been exposure (privately), but better just to have the vaccine IMO

Should say I’m not an hcp so no informed experience!

Yes I did ages ago when everyone was rushing to get meningitis jabs. There was a nasty strain going around my area and several kids ended up in hospital. My DFs son has horrible scars. In the end I weighed up whether I could afford to take time off work if DD caught it as well.

Got both mine done recently at boots.

Yep DD had it just after her first birthday and DS will do too. She was absolutely fine after it and we didn’t want her to catch chicken pox at nursery as apart from the potential for her to be quite poorly, we also couldn’t have afforded to have that much time off work while she was ill.

When I spoke to our GP about it he was very positive about her having it as his son had been hospitalised with chicken pox. He also said his daughter would be getting it as soon as she was old enough. I’ve since spoken to quite a few friends who are GPs and they have all had their children vaccinated.

We got it done at a local private hospital for £180. My little girl was absolutely fine after it. I can't understand anybody who can afford it not getting it done. At best, chickenpox is very unpleasant for a child, and at worst can be fatal. Avoiding all this for less than £200 seems common sense to me.

Yep. DS had it when he was 3 - privately at Superdrug. It cost £120 back then.
Worth every penny.

Thanks all. Mentioned it to my partner and he’s not so keen. He doesn’t want to “pump him full of shit” is what he said. Although our baby has had all his immunisations so far, my partner is of the belief that if it was necessary then the NHS would provide it.

I had also mentioned getting a private BCG so this is probably why he thinks I’m being OTT.

We did. It’s routine in other countries and we weighed the cost against having to take time off work. Mostly though we did it because something unpleasant was avoidable!

Your partner sounds quite ignorant OP, is he generally so scathing about science?

Our son had it - at the time he tended to get quite unwell with various viruses so the doctor advised it as chickenpox can be nasty.

Yes, all my dc have had it privately. No side effects at all. Would 100% recommend.

@Onthegrapevine a real shame your DH is against it. I really can't think of a good reason to be.

Our pharmacist she said there were 2 different jabs. One straightforward vaccination and another for post-exposure. She said that if she had been exposed the post-exposure one was more effective at reducing the symptoms quickly, but you do need it v quickly after exposure, for DD it was on the day we found out about the confirmed case at nursery. And if she hadn't been exposed the post-exposure one was just as effective against future-exposure. So there was no downside to having that one just in case she had been exposed.

I hope that makes sense.

I think I will when ds is a year old. I’m just worried I have heard that it’s better to have natural immunity?

I had both kids immunised. One of them got chicken pox anyway, but perhaps more mildly than she might have done. Still pretty nasty.

The other child's vaccine appears to have held fast.

No because my daughter has egg allergy so can't have it. Everyone at her nursery has had the jab so consequently she's never had chicken pox.

I'm considering this for my third. My oldest was extremely ill with pox when she got it aged 4 and missed 4 weeks of school. She's still got a lot of scars as well, though they do fade every year.

My husband is a bit against this vaccine as he said the immunity from it isn't life long and if you get it as an adult it's much worse.

Anyone know how long immunity is and when you need a pox booster?