Chicken Pox vaccination

[Liz]

Janie - I thought along the same lines - same with mumps. If a man gets mumps as an adult, it can be really bad.

But by the sounds, it doesn't really prevent them getting chicken pox, it seems that a lot still get it, so chances are they'll still be exposed to chicken pox as kids rather than in adult hood.. if that made any sense lol. I'd still prefer a milder case of chicken pox whether child or adult.

[Schmickers]

I will be getting the vaccination for DS next month for chicken pox. Big and main reason is DH has never had chicken pox. Now if he gets it, it can turn him sterile.

Actually, Kellxx, I'm note sure who has given you this information, but it is untrue. Varicella does not cause sterility in males. It is possible that it may have been confused with the parvovirus that causes mumps, which can cause damage to the male reproductive tract if it is contracted after puberty.

Varicella is not on the immunisation schedule because it is not considered sufficiently "cost-effective". In other words, the costs associated with subsidising the cost of the vaccine are not really outweighed by the health-care costs of treating people who contract the disease. Some of the stories here are horror stories, but they are thankfully quite rare. Compared to many of the other vaccine-preventable diseases, chicken pox is quite mild.

I do agree, though, that teens and adults who have not had the vaccine should consider getting it. As has been pointed out by the experiences of others in this thread, chicken pox is worse as a teen/adult, so I think it is reasonable to offer it to teens and adults who have not previously had chicken pox.

[Rach75]

Michael I wasi was going to reply to kelly's post as well but thought maybe i have my wires crossed

[ShootingStar]

Michael & Rach, when i had a girlfriend coming to stay who had been in contact with chicken pox/shingles and didn't know whether her or her daughter had contracted it yet, i did some research. Somethings said yes it does and others said possibly not. But those yes it does answers were enough for me not to take the risk. Here, the first thing that came up when i did a search:

Infectious diseases, such as chickenpox, can affect male fertility in a couple of ways.

First, a high fever associated with the illness can temporarily decrease sperm production. Typically, sperm production returns to normal within 90 days after the fever ends.

Second, infectious diseases may cause inflammation of the testicle (orchitis). This may result in testicular shrinkage (atrophy) and infertility. However, orchitis is most often associated with mumps or infection of the drainage tube of the testicle (epididymitis).

The second is more likely to be from mumps yes, but there still is that chance it can happen from chicken pox. And to me that minimal chance is big enough for me.

Each to their own, but this is the reason i am choosing to immunize my son.

[Pandora]

DS had it, it was a rush job -- we found out one of the kids at his daycare had chicken pox, and he was due to have his vaccination in a fortnight. I emailed the vaccination coordinator at the council who told me that if he wanted to have it at all, it had to be within 5 days of the exposure - and it was day 5 (hadnt been back to creche til that day to find out that he'd potentially been exposed) so I had to book him in to my GPs and have him done that day.

He didnt get chicken pox that time, but he did about 3 months ago, and only got around 10 spots and very minor if any irritation, I was so glad that we had it done becuase I remember being covred in them, insessant itching and calamine lotion, yuk! Thankfully he didnt need any of that.

ETA- It is on the immunisation schedule & free in Victoria.

[Matryoshka]

My DH had chicken pox as an adult and luckily it had no effect on his fertility.

[*Ang*]

I had chicken pox in Yr 12 in the middle of one of my sets of exams - what horrible timing! I still have a couple of scars on my face from it.

Both of my children have been vaccinated against it. My theory being - why expose them to a disease eg chicken pox when it is not necessary and they can possibly in fact be immunised against it? And yes some of the stories on here are "horror stories" but I would much rather my child have the vaccine and perhaps a mild dose of the chicken pox as opposed to being one of the unlucky ones who becomes a horror story. But that is all IMO of course!

[shellbell3]

I'll definately be getting Ash vaccinated against it. I remember get CP when I was 14, was just awful, I'd never want to see my daughter go thru it if she doesn't have to.

[widdly]

I wasn't quite sure about giving the chicken pox vax as i too figured that it is a fairly mild disease that you usually catch when you are very young. i however caught it when i was 16 and got a really awful case of it. I did my research and in the end decided that it was worth getting, i figured, its free, its as safe as the rest of his vax's, and it might prevent him being ill so why not. He had no troubles with the vax and hopefully he wont get chicken pox.

[AJC]

I support the vaccintation 100%. As part of my post m/c medical investigations my wonderful ob/gyn discovered that I was not immune to chicken pox. The vaccination 'apparently' takes 3 months after you are vaccinated to settle into your system. For someone ttc 3 months is like 3 years! If they get the vaccination while they are young then 3 months will pass just as quickly as 3 minutes. I thought my ob was mad telling me to get it at 28yrs of age then I met a client who was over 35 and had recently caught cp! Then i saw the method in his madness and was thankful for his advice.