Chicken pox vaccine?

[Elisabeth3468]

I'm just wondering if it's worth getting?
2 year old not yet had chicken pox. I know they can be really nasty and currently thinking about booking my son in to get the vaccine.
Opinions?
Anyone else's child had it?
Please no complete anti vax comments. My little boy has had all the recommended vaccines so far.

Yes, it’s routine in the U.S. We had it done at Superdrug.
No side effects at all.

I’ve had it and DS too - no brainer and he was fine with both doses. It’s available in other countries as part of the routine childhood immunisations and has been recommended for the UK to add this to their programme soon though won’t be rolled out for a little while yet.

My DD had her second jab last month and had zero side effects from both injections, so I would say definitely go for it!

My 6yo had it, mild but annoying as needed week off work.

3yo came down with it a week or so later, very ill then got strep a at the same time, ended up in intensive care with sepsis and close to death.

I wish very strongly I had got it. Even if you only think of the time off work aspect, it's worth it.

DH also had CP as an adult and I don't recommend it at all.

Chickenpox is usually mild when very young, you can wait until they are 8 or 9 and if they have not had it yet, vaccinating is a good idea. It can be horrendous as a teen or adult, and for a female , she does not want it in pregnancy.

Had it done at a private GP for DS. Would definitely do again. No side effects. I had chicken pox as an adult- never had it as a child and was horrible.

I asked about this a while back and got similar comments.

I don’t think it’s quite the no brainer presented as it is here. The main drawback is that the vaccine may cease to be effective in the future, when the child is an adult, and potentially expose them to the disease then and make them more unwell. In brief, it is better to catch in the wild if you like.

However, it isn’t very clear if this is the case or not. We did get it for DS in the end, as we had a baby in July and the thought of them both unwell was horrible.

Just to let you know, you can't have it within 3mo of another live vaccine eg MMR. I booked my dd to have it done too soon after her 12mo jabs and we got turned away for that reason (I did get my money back).

Just to let you know so you can plan it right. I can't remember what the schedule is but maybe your next live jabs are the 3y one so get the chicken pox done well in advance of that

Edit for typos

I'm seriously tempted. Ds2 is nearly 11 and hasn't had it yet. I had cp aged 12 and was so ill.

Presumably if he'd had a v mild case that we hadn't spotted (he's been in close contact with children who developed cp so many times over the years) it wouldn't be a problem to get vaxxed anyway?

From a frivolous point of view, it would stop me fretting for the fortnight running up to every holiday.

Both my kids had the vaccine. The older one was born in a European country where it's routine and the younger DC had it done privately in the UK. No real side effects and both were exposed to several outbreaks in nursery. I would do it for the peace of mind. And if you're worried about them getting shingles later you can always get a booster as an adult.

That's useful to know thank you. Hes literally just turned 2 so will book asap.

@Giltedged I think the evidence from the US where it has been routine longest is that immunity remains good. And a booster can always be given if in doubt, plus if it becomes routine then there is going to be very little of the virus around to catch.

The JCVI has recommended that the chicken pox vaccine is offered to children in the UK through the NHS, although I think it's still being considered by the Department of Health. Worth a read:

www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-recommends-chickenpox-vaccine-in-childhood-immunisation-programme

I've had all 3 of my DC vaccinated, for us the benefits outweighed the risk (and cost, which is nothing compared to if we had to take time off work to look after sick children!)

Both of mine have had it, absolutely no side effects and there have been some really nasty outbreaks in both of their classes and they’ve avoided it every time. Was worth every penny!

Chickenpox is usually (but not always) mild for young children. It's worse the older you are, especially adults.
I was thinking I'd get the vaccine for my ds if he hadn't had it by 8, but then I thought, why bother waiting? He's 5 now and had the first dose, we need to go back for the 2nd.
He had a sore arm and was a bit tired and grumpy the next day. It won't be fun going back because he knows what's going to happen.

Fortunate to be able to pay to have both of mine vaccinated. My reasoning:

• it can be a very nasty illness in some people
• even if not, some end up with bad scarring from scratched scabs. DB is very self conscious of a few on his face
• it's a standard childhood vaccination in many other countries (and hopefully soon here)

So given all of the above, it was a no brainer.

Plus, DH and I work FT. The logistics and costs of time off when children are ill and very difficult, so practically, it makes sense for us too.

I’m in two minds about this. I think if a child has not had chickenpox by the end of primary school it is probably a good idea to have the vaccination then. It is generally a fairly mild, if somewhat unpleasant, illness in most children and actually having the illness confers much stronger lifelong immunity than a vaccine would. It can be very nasty or even fatal in adults, though. Having said all this, I had it when I was eight and was off school for nearly a month because I had it so badly. I can remember the doctor coming to see me and checking that it was not smallpox because it was so bad (it was a very long time ago). It was the only childhood illness that I was dreading for my own children but in the event they all had very average cases of it. Even my husband, who caught it from oldest child, had quite a lot of spots and was under the weather but not ill in the way so many adults are, thankfully.

@Violinist64
The illnesses we already vaccinate for are often mild in individual cases but that's not an argument for not doing it. I had measles very mildly (before vaccination was available) yet children can die from it. I had chickenpox very severely as an adult and would have avoided that with vaccination. The lack of lifelong immunity has yet to be proved.

Both my kids have had the vaccine and not had chicken pox. Worth it I think.

I have quite a strong opinion on chicken pox vaccine after my eldest was hospitalised with chickenpox.

I made sure that on the day my youngest turned two that he had a chickenpox vaccine.

If you can afford it then I would really recommend the chickenpox vaccine.

Both of mine had it because it seemed the best option

• even if mild, it’s unpleasant and I didn’t want my child getting unwell if preventable

• we we’re lucky enough to afford to pay for it

• we both work full time and time off is difficult

• when all their classmates got it the week before Christmas last year he didn’t

• when they started getting strep A he didn’t and some research suggested this might be due to some protection from the chickenpox vaccine although I’m not an expert on that

• sleep is precious and I didn’t want to add any itchy spots in to disturb this

I think it's one month as DS was able to have have his 5 weeks after his MMR

If you can afford it I think it’s worth it. i had my kids vaccinated. I have a chicken pox scar on my face and didn’t want kids having similar if possible. And I remember the itching being horrendous.

I think some places give chickenpox vaccine from 9 months so could do it before 12 month vaccines for others thinking about it