Chicken pox vaccine am I doing the right thing ?

[Rebecca12356777]

I’m planning on getting my child vaccinated for chicken pox this week. He isn’t high risk but after researching it seems other countries offer this vaccine as standard and I really don’t want him to catch it and be in pain and have sleepless nights and I’m worried about the serious complications that can happen although am i right in thinking this is rare ?

I feel slightly nervous about the side effects of the vaccine, have any of your children had an adverse affect to it? Also what can I expect will he very unwell after the injection?
Am I doing the right thing by getting the vaccine ?

Thank you

You cannot avoid your child ever being in pain or having a rash or fever.
But if you want the c p vaccine by all means go ahead

I would have done it if I’d known it existed! My DD1 has had it twice mildly but DD2 was so bad with it when she was 6 months. It was really awful. Very scary. I remember trying to comfort her all night with a raging temperature and I could actually feel the blisters coming out on her skin. She didn’t have a cm on her body that wasn’t blistered. Shudder to think of it now. I would go for it definitely

I wish I'd known about it, DTs were very ill with CP, off school for three weeks, one ended up in hospital with suspected sepsis. This was ten years ago. I would urge everyone to get it, and it should be part of the childhood programme.

Both of mine have had it when they were little as I am very vulnerable. They are now nearly 6&14
They had no side effects, and as they have never caught it despite several outbreaks at school and nursery so I guess it's worked.
As there is yet another outbreak at school atm I'm particularly glad they are protected.

@BringBackCoffeeCreams the waning protection was a worry when they first introduced it but more recent reviews say it's less of an issue than they thought. Mainly in the U.K. it's not on the vaccination schedule due to a cost benefit analysis and a concerns over the need for additional shingles vaccination in adults.

www.ox.ac.uk/research/everything-you-need-know-about-chickenpox-and-why-more-countries-don’t-use-vaccine

Get it . Chicken pox is awful and can be quite scarring so worth it just for that . My d/d had a few on her face that left quite noticeable scars for a long time. I’m a very strong supporter of vaccines for these childhood diseases.

DD had vaccine as soon as we could get it. Zero side effects.

I’ve had the vaccine as an adult and it was fine. No side effects at all and peace of mind that I’m not at risk of higher complications if I’m exposed to chickenpox. If I had children, I’d also get them vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.

Shingles occurs in people that had chickenpox many years ago, it is a reactivation of the virus that has lain dormant. So immunising children against chickenpox is the best way to prevent adults getting chickenpox. In Australia adults over 70 can get a free single Varicella vaccine to reduce their risk of getting shingles if they had chickenpox when younger

Tried to quote @BringBackCoffeeCreams and failed

Also if there is widespread vaccination the risk of adults catching it is very low as there is virtually none circulating in the community

And the first one was supposed to say adults getting shingles not chickenpox. I need coffee obviously

Shingles occurs in people that had chickenpox many years ago, it is a reactivation of the virus that has lain dormant. So immunising children against chickenpox is the best way to prevent adults getting (shingles).

This is a small bit misleading @KangarooSally.
The vaccines contain live, attenuated (weakened) chickenpox virus. You give someone the virus when you vaccinate. (If you did manage to get through life without ever encountering the virus, either in the wild or in a vaccine then you won't get shingles - avoiding the virus is very unlikely though.)

There is evidence now that vaccination against chickenpox means you're less likely to get shingles later on...probably because the initial exposure to the virus was a less severe one. So it's true that the chickenpox vaccine can help prevent (rather than definitively prevent) shingles in later life. But there's still a risk.
In the meantime, vaccination at a population level may put olders adults at increased risk of shingles - as their immune sytem isn't regularly boosted by exposure to chickenpox in the community.There's also a shingles vaccine available for older adults, however.

I would due to a friend’s son having CP horrifically with long term side effects.

Both my children were absolutely fine with their vaccination, no side effects at all and I'm so glad I got them vaccinated as soon as they were old enough as they've been exposed to CP several times since.
I'm not worried about the effectiveness waning as I'll just get them a booster before they go off to university, if it's medically indicated.

My son goes to nursery and ive been hoping he'll get chickenpox, however there have been 3 outbreaks and he hasnt caught it.

If he still hasnt had it by 4 ill be getting him a vaccine.

A boy in our village died age 6. Rare etc, but secondary infections can be very serious.

DD had no side effects but was very wary of going back into our local Boots

@HettytheHoover

A boy in our village died age 6. Rare etc, but secondary infections can be very serious.

DD had no side effects but was very wary of going back into our local Boots

Why?!

I want my 2 year old dd to have this. My other children all have one or two CP scars. It's not a fun illness.

I can’t believe anyone who knows there’s a vaccine doesn’t get it. I’ve got three kids and my youngest with chicken pox was the worst childhood illness we’ve had and we’ve had a lot. I kick myself I didn’t know you could vaccinate

Both my Dc had the vaccine as it is standard where we live. Zero side effects. As adults they can have a blood test to check immunity levels and a booster if required.

My friend's DC in the UK was hospitalised and possibly brain-damaged by chicken pox infection. 100% the safest decision for your child is to be vaccinated.

Children should not be put at risk to save adults when those adults can simply have a booster instead!

Thanks all so my little one has had the vaccine now and had absolutely no side effects so far ,I was told a rash can appear at 5 days as a rare side effect and we would need to isolate so fingers crossed he doesn’t get that. Relived he’s had it now.

Just be aware they don't know how long the vaccine lasts, they think maybe upto 20 years so you'll need to remind your children to have boosters In adulthood as chicken pox is more risky in adults, especially men and they won't have protection from childhood infection.

@KangarooSally

Why would you not do it? How much does it cost that the money would put you off? Surprised it is not standard in UK! If you refuse childhood vaccinations here in Aus (which are free) you will have difficulty enrolling in school or nursery, and you miss out on tax breaks for parents.

The country I live in don't offer it either. They say it's because the protection from it wanes putting people at greater risk of catching it as an adult. Catching it as an adult is way more serious than catching it as child. So all you're doing is shifting the risk to when people are more vulnerable.

This is why I decided not to get it for my kids. Although if I had gone ahead with the vaccine I would have made a point of getting them to look into getting another one in adulthood.

I actually enquired about this for DS but I was advised not to, as it’s better for them to catch it in the wild?

Hmm, I'd get a second opinion on that one, BrambleRoses.