Benefits of Chickenpox Vaccinations for immunocompromised family?

[PickledFern]

Hey all,

Looking from advice from anyone who gave their child the chickenpox vaccine to protect immunocompromised friends / family.

DS has grandparents in their 70s and his Aunt is immunocompromised. Combine this with the fact my husband is self employed and a week of chickenpox would cost us about £150 we thought it was a no brainer to get DS vaccinated against chickenpox.

But it turns out if he has it he shouldn't been in close proximity to our family members for 6 weeks?! Per dose... So it works out at 12 weeks without childcare or visits vs letting him just get chickenpox and taking a week off.

What was your experience? I feel like we might as well just let him get it. Granted I know it can be horrible but 99% of kids do just get it and its not a big deal.

The issue is that you won't know your child has chicken pox and is infectious for the two weeks before they come out in spots. So they would be a much bigger risk to your relatives while they are incubating the disease compared to having the vaccine where they should avoid them but if they do come into contact it's still a lower risk.

I have had two kids (each have had 2 chicken pox vaccines) and no one has ever said this to me

Our two children (3 and nearly 5 years old) have both had chicken pox over the last few weeks. Youngest had it first and she wasn't bothered at all, no fever and she wasn't even itchy. Her brother came out with spots exactly 2 weeks later and had it slightly worse as he had a temperature for two days, but also wasn't itchy.

I thought chicken pox was just infectious 1-2 days before the spots come, which is also sometimes when they start to feel unwell/have a fever? Have your relatives had chicken pox before?

Both our kids have had one chickenpox vaccine. But then we forgot to get the second dose. It's been about 12 weeks. My fault as life just got in the way.

I don't think having the vaccine makes them susceptible to vulnerable adults unless obviously they get chicken pox or show signs of it? To be honest we are in a position now wondering if a second vaccine 12 weeks after will make a difference compared to just the one?

As someone who is immune compromised I wouldn’t worry too much if I was in contact with someone with chicken pox, I’ve had 2 children who have had them and been fine other than slight viral infection symptoms but that could have just been a coincidence with my conditions. But it would fully depend on what is making the aunt immune compromised. I would get her to speak to her Drs to ask about the risks first.

id also be more concerned with shingles in the elderly relatives.

We’ve been considering the vaccine for different reasons for our youngest but I hadn’t realised the contagious window was so much bigger than getting the pox naturally.

For reference one of mine got them when she was 2yo in the middle of a heatwave on the continent one summer, she was covered with them but coped well, especially given the circumstances.

What’s the rationale behind vaccinating your DC in relation to the relative? I look after immunocompromised patients and we screen for chicken pox immunity and won’t start patients on treatment if their immunity is low, but generally the patient can get the chicken pox vaccine or it can be that the shingles vaccine covers instead. Typically you don’t get chicken pox more than once (although I’d heard of adults getting the current strain again after having it as an adult). Also you can’t catch singles from chicken pox (if that was a concern).
I assume the 12 week exposure is because it’s a live vaccine? Long time to keep away.

Hi - both my DCs & DH had chickenpox in March/April. It was a shit Easter I’ll be honest!

Firstly - you can’t catch/develop shingles from someone who has chickenpox. Shingles is a reactivation of the virus usually brought about by stress in someone who has had chickenpox previously. The risk of contagion is actually the other way round - someone with shingles can give someone chickenpox if they’ve not had it before.

Secondly, if you’ve had chickenpox before you’ve unlikely (though not completely) to get it again. In fact exposure to the virus can give your own immune system a boost.

Thirdly, chickenpox can be really minor; or it can be awful! I honestly wish we’d got DC (& DH) the vaccines a few years ago. For us it was nearly 4 weeks of hell. DS wasn’t too bad but ended up having 7 days off school. DD caught it just under 2 weeks after DS had it & she also had a broken leg too. She was covered - even under the cast. We’re now 5 weeks or so later & she still has shadow marks of the spots & scars. She did not handle the itching well at all.
DH came down with it a day after DD & he was bedridden for about 4 days. He lost so much weight & just existed really.
I was having to manage everything - looking after both DC, DH, the house & work.

so what I’m saying is get the vaccine.

Thanks all! We're just looking for minimal disruption to our lives and also whenever someone has an infectious disease its quite stressful. DS's Aunt has Cystic Fibrosis which in short means a lot of common diseases can lead to complications like pneumonia. She has had chickenpox before but she is still at increased risk of getting it a second time. We also cant be certain grandpa has had it before.

@Ladychatterly86 for what it's worth I think young babies have it alongside their MMR vaccines which is about 6 months apart so it's probably worth getting the second dose as otherwise its not a full course.

DS1 and DS2 have both had the vaccine as DS2 is immunocompromised. We had different advice from the different people giving the vaccine, one said 6 weeks one said it was only an issue if they developed symptoms, which would be within the first 2 weeks.

Have the grandparents had the shingles vaccine? The compromise might be avoiding the aunt for the 6 weeks, but not the grandparents? Or do they all live together?

Where have you seen that advice? The NHS says to look out for a rash which could mean you are contagious and should wait until it scabs over to be around immunocompromised people, exactly the same as actual chicken pox.

The NHS gives out the vaccine to siblings of immunocompromised children and they don't have to put them in foster care for 6 weeks after.

There's no need at all, in 2025, to put your child through an illness which is at it's very best uncomfortable and unpleasant.

From 55 million doses of the vaccine in the US there has only been 5 confirmed cases of immune compromised people catching chickenpox from being in contact with a person having the vaccine. So you really don't need to worry. If they get chickenpox blisters after the vaccine keep them away, otherwise don't give it a second thought.

Thanks all! It was just based on the information pamphlet from the pharmacy. I too have since read about how low the risk of catching it is. I was just looking for some official UK sites I can provide to his aunt/grandparents. Yes they all live together.