Urgent we need your thoughts on chickenpox

[OliviaMumsnet]

We've been asked to appear on News 24 about the Chickenpox vaccine today and we just want to hear your thoughts on this.

What was your experience with chickenpox? Have you had extreme experiences with it?
We'd love to know your thoughts as always (and preferably before 2pm!)
Thanks as ever
MNHQ

when i was working at Edinburgh University, well, i was there for 4 years, and two of those saw big outbreaks of mumps.

when i asked teh young adults in our department who got it if they'd had the MMR, they said yes, as children.

no booster.

they do them now, but there's obviously an entire generation of adults who are no longer immune and have not been boostered.

it wouldn't surprise me if they did this with chickenpox, too.

DS had it when he was 23 months - wasn't too bad.

DD had it two weeks later when she was 6 weeks old - despite my being told that her age and the fact I was exclusively breastfeeding (I have had chicken pox) meant she wouldn't. I am uncertain how severely she needed to have had it to ensure she won't have it again, but she was very spotty, so I am hoping this is it for her.

I was concerned when she got it, as I had read information about very young children getting it, and having complications, but for her, it was really not a problem. She just fed and slept pretty much as she did without chicken pox.

When would a vaccination happen? I presume later than 6 weeks, when DD had it.

We did chicken pox this summer. It was unpleasant but thankfully no scarring now. Interesting to read in the Times today about the hypothesis that by vaccinating children against it you may increase the likelyhood of adults getting shingles.

IMO shingles is far worse than CP especially in the elderly. I believe they are waiting on long term studies in the US on that.

I have no problem vaccinating my kids against a disease that in a small number of cases causes significant problems and death, however would not be happy doing this if there was a subsequent increase in shingles.

my middle dd came down with chicken pox 4 years ago, the day ds was born - it was absolutely horrendous. She has Down's syndrome so her immune system was quite poor when she was little, and she really suffered.
All I can remember from that time is how bad her chicken pox was - she was totally covered in deep pox and seemed to cry constantly for two weeks (not like her at all), I don't really remember much of ds's first two weeks at all.

She still has deep scars all over her body

I would absolutely have ds vaccinated, no question about it.

Chickenpox vaccination doesn't need boosters. It's a one shot.

a friend's little boy (with DS) ended up on a ventilator in hospital because her got pox inside his lungs and pneumonia as a result.

Message withdrawn

yeah and they said the MMR doesn't need boosters (it does) and hib (it does) and men c (it does).......

Hmm wonder where those safety trials are? (they don;t bother doing things like assess how long immuinity lasts- which for a usually mild disease is an important consideration, because of the risk of it becoming a serious adult disease if immunity doesn;t last a long time)

There appears to be some evidence that cases of shingles have actually increased in the US since the cp vaccine was introduced. Also the fact that it does not provide lifelong immunity worries me as chicken pox is a very unpleasant disease for an adult.

They have the chickenpox vaccine here in Italy but apparently it doesn't protect as much as it's supposed to and there have been instances of vaccinated children getting the virus nonetheless.

I didn't get my DD vaccinated as not very pro vaccinations, but her paediatrician advised me against it anyway, saying it was not much use IHO, plus the risk of complications in chickenpox is so low that it doesn't warrant yet another vaccine.

Mine got it en masse over Christmas one year. DD who was 14 was very ill and covered in spots. DS1 (12) just had 2 spots and didn't even notice it. DS2 (10) got spots inside his eyes and ended up at A&E. DS3 (8) was quite spotty but not too ill.

Both DDs have had chicken pox with no major problems. A bit uncomfortable for a few days but nothing major, I also have chicken pox immunity as I had cp as a child. I know it can be very dangerous for pregnant women but don't think the vaccine is necessary. My children have had all the recommended injections but I would think twice about exposing them to this one.

my dd had it at 3, wasn't ill. my partner caught it from her ( he's 43) and really suffered with it.

I don't have any issue with vaccinations, at any age.

Both of mine have had it 2 weeks between each other, dd has it first when she was about 17 months old, she only had a few spots over her, she coped very well & it did not effect her much, then ds got it 2 weeks later, he was covered from top to toe, he had them everywhere even in his mouth, on lips, you could not see one inch of his neck where he was so covered in them, he was very very poorly & did not move, he slept alot & cried alot, they started to get infected so we went to the docotrs & he was given antibiotics which helped ease it all alot.

Even though ds had it so bad i am not sure i would invite another injection, i think that children have enough injections to prevent them & chicken pox is quite short lived, the only down side is the scars if they have it bad, ds has a couple luckily only 1 on his face visible but he has a couple of deep ones on his stomach.

By the way ds was 4 when he had it.

I would probably not vaccinate against CP given the option. It is scary when your DCs are ill and you do worry about all the complications which can occur but I think they have such a cocktail of vaccines already that perhaps we should only vaccinate against the 'worst' diseases (eg Mumps, Measles etc...).
Luckily my 2 DSs both came through it okay although they both had 2-3 days when they really suffered with it. My niece had it horrendously when she was 9 months old and had to have antibiotics to prevent infection as there were so many spots and they kept weeping.

I was very unwell with it as a teenager, after somehow missing it at my small suburban primary school.
Off for three weeks, messed with Mock A Level revision big-time.
My general unease about the medical establishment's openness to parent concerns about adverse reactions to vaccines is what stops me being very enthusiastic about this new vaccine.
I am not keen to see any more added to the long list...unless there is a breakthrough on a safe and effective Meningitis B jab of course

Psychomum's DD2 had it when she was pregnant with her DD3 - she hadn't had it, so they had the bright idea of vaccinating during pregnancy so that it would pass through to the baby

Her DD3 ended up born with chicken pox and has really weird reactions when she is around it now.

Not that it is relevant, but everyone else was sharing anecdotes and I didn't have any because mine seem to have some weird immunity (DH hasn't had it, DD has been around it lots and never seems to get it DS catches everything though so I fully expect him to get it and pass it to DH who will then be very ill with it AND man-flu it at the same time)

I heard about the vaccine thing this morning. I have a ds who when he was 2 caught chicken pox. He nearly died, it was horrendous. His body, for some reason, had no idea how to fight it. The spots kept coming out after a week and he got a secondary infection too. In the end he was given anti viral drugs to stop it progressing.

He is covered in scars all over his little body. I had already had my first 3 children have it and they were all fine. I even took him to play with a friends little girl who had it. I felt awful. I have been totally scared off letting my other 2 boys near it and am sure i will go in to a flat panic when they inevitably do get it

Of course they will probably be ok like the first 3 but still i shudder at the thought.

Not sure what i think about the vaccine tbh, part of me thinks hooray! The other thinks that perhaps we bombard our little babies with enough vaccines as it is. Will be evry interested to hear all about it.

1. Isn't chicken pox risky if you are pregnant so surely that it an argument as well.

1. Also what about the educational point of view. I remember having it when I was 7 and needed a whole week of school. As I remember 75% of the class caught it at the same time and it was very disruptive.

1. So far as giving a vaccine is conerned - as long as it is safe I would be happy to give it to my children rather than go through the nausea of having chicken pox (twice!).

1. Also sureley it would be worth it as most children catch it at some point.

If I lived in a country where all children are vaccinated against chicken pox, I would have wanted my children to be vaccinated as well.

If the government brings in the vaccination, they have to ensure that enough children have it done to make it effective. That will be difficult as vaccinations are unpopular amongst many parents. There seems to be so much distrust of vaccinations, and i don't really understand why. I see them as a good thing.

Hijack - Belgo, have your children had Hepatitis B vaccination in Belgium?

I think so. I'll just check.

I would have had mine vaccinated. They both had it at the same time at 18ish months and 3years. My dd has scars on her face and ds was really ill. From a logistical pov, I was lucky that they both caught it from the same child and got it at the same time. Silbings who catch it from each other will have it 2-3 weeks apart. Coupled with the fact that children cannot go to school or nursery, parents can end up taking a month of work to look after them.