Pros and cons of the chickenpox vac?

[Loula]

As the title suggest. I'm unsure about this vac. I had heard that its better for the child to contract the virus as it prevents shingles later but I have not looked further into this yet. Any pros and cons would be great

Thanks


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[STARRYSKY]

HI Loula,

I had heard that too (also read somewhere about the prevalence in teens and adults getting shingles more so now, who were/ have been vaccinated with the CP )
Also the success rate of the vaccine, can't remember the stats but its not highly effective, it may reduce the severity of it, but I know personally LOTS of kids who have been vaxed and yet have still contracted it.

[Loula]

Thank you for your reply. My nephew had the vac and still got the virus. I'm so undecided as to what to do. Parenthood hey no one ever said it was easy.

DS has had all vacs to date but I always questioned this one


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[wysiwyg]

I was always unsure on this one because it isn't given in the UK and the fact that it isn't one you have to give to get the vaccination payment almost kind of suggests it isn't as important as the others. In the end of the day I was lazy and gave it because I hadn't got round to coming up with a really good reason not to.

[~clover~]

None of mine have had it. DD is just 18 months & I'm waiting for then CHN to contact me for it, but she won't be having it.

It was only new when DD1 was born & wasn't actually on the vac list yet. DD2 contracted CP at 6 months old, so they don't/won't vax her. DS I just ignored the time for it. I have had 2 health nurses tell me the reasons for, & my mum pushing me (to have every shot in sight ), but I just smile, nod & 'forget'.

[Nai]

Both of mine have been vaxxed - there was an outbreak of CP which was particularly nasty when DD1 was in kinder and some kids got very sick with lots of spots. A number ended up with scars on their faces from it. DD1 must has also contracted it. She had 2 spots, one on her scalp (the only reason we know it was CP for sure as the GP said that CP is the only virus that blisters the scalp) and one on her chest. She has a scar on her chest from the one that was there. DD2 didn't contract it at all.

I guess my point is that the non-vaxxed kids had a much worse dose than any of the vaxxed kids if they caught it and ended up with some nasty scars because of it.

[Cranky Kitten]

I'm having my DS vaxxed. I remember getting CP as a kid, it was horrible - I had to be sent away to stay with Nan because my mum was due to have my sister and hadn't had it, it itched like crazy with spots pretty well everywhere including my labia and I wound up with a couple of scars, luckily no visible facial ones though.

Even if it's not as effective as other vaccines, generally as Nai says, if they do get it, they get a milder and hopefully shorter case. And by contracting the disease, you become prone to shingles later. I haven't heard anything about those having the vaccination being susceptible to shingles.

[kelebek]

I guess my point is that the non-vaxxed kids had a much worse dose than any of the vaxxed kids if they caught it and ended up with some nasty scars because of it.

I'm curious to know how you know that the worse cases weren't vaxxed? Did you ask the parents/carers or assume it must be the case?

It is true that you can get both CP and shingles but it tends to happen if the case of CP was a mild case. I was reading that there is an increase in cases of shingles in Europe which some dr's are attributing to the CP vaccine.

I won't be vaccinating DS while he is a child but may consider it if he doesn't contract it naturally (and no I would never participate in a pox party) as CP can affect adults much worse then children.




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[Nai]

I'm curious to know how you know that the worse cases weren't vaxxed? Did you ask the parents/carers or assume it must be the case?

Yes - I spoke to the parents as I know them all quite well so it was openly discussed

[Arcadia]

It is true that you can get both CP and shingles but it tends to happen if the case of CP was a mild case. I was reading that there is an increase in cases of shingles in Europe which some dr's are attributing to the CP vaccine.

I won't be vaccinating DS while he is a child but may consider it if he doesn't contract it naturally (and no I would never participate in a pox party) as CP can affect adults much worse than children

This ^

Dd hasn't had it to date, but I will prob give it at her four year old needles. Cp tends to get worse as you get older, so I want her to have some exposure before she grows up, even if it's only through a vaccination. I was secretly hoping she might catch it before then, since the vax is not as effective as the actual virus, which is generally mild in young children and offers much better life long immunity than the vaccine.

[Loveinamist]

This ^

Dd hasn't had it to date, but I will prob give it at her four year old needles. Cp tends to get worse as you get older, so I want her to have some exposure before she grows up, even if it's only through a vaccination. I was secretly hoping she might catch it before then, since the vax is not as effective as the actual virus, which is generally mild in young children and offers much better life long immunity than the vaccine.

Sorry to hijack Loula but I wanted to ask Arcadia about the exposure to Chickenpox.

Arcadia - I was just wondering if DS's exposure could be considered enough to ensure he doesn't get a severe case when he is older. In short he has been exposed many times but never contracted it. Or at least may have had a very mild case when a newborn. This Spring alone I have had at least 3 mums over the last 6 weeks ring to tell me that they suspect their LO was contagious last time we saw them. DS hugs and kisses all his friends and would definitely have got some good exposure lol! In fact in German, chickenpox is called windpox because it is so contagious it is deemed to be carried 'in the wind' Anyway now into our 6th week of checking for spots and so far nothing??
I think he may have got a mild case when a newborn but I cannot remember him being sick or having spots but a friend did bring her chickenpox infected child around (without telling me!!!) when DS was only a few weeks old so it is possible.

Could his amount of exposure be enough to protect him as per your theory?

[Nai]

I was exposed to contagious people many times through childhood and adolescence (my best friend in Yr7 who I sat next to every day, my step-sister got them the day after our parent's wedding and we had been together the whole time, and my best friend at uni who I lived with all got chicken pox and I didn't but was in very close contact during contagious periods) however when i was tested for immunity when I was pregnant with DD1 I didn't have any. i was really surprised as I thought I must have developed a natural immunity seeing that I hadn't caught it any of those times. I ended up getting vaxxed when DD1 did so we went through it together.

[WannabeMum]

My DS has been vaxxed and my DD will be too. The vaccine does not stop all children getting a mild case, but I'd much rather my children have a mild case than get really sick - kids do actually die of chicken pox! Shingles is a reactivation of the virus that lives in a nerve root (much like herpes) which is why it is usually localised to a particular dermatome (where that nerve supplies). It's horrible, but doesn't necessarily carry the mortality of chicken pox in a child.

Those are my reasons. I had cp, along with my two brothers and my cousin, Mum looked after us all. We got lucky and it wasn't severe, but there are still severe cases around and they're horrid.

DS had it, and no reactions to it.

[kelebek]

Yes - I spoke to the parents as I know them all quite well so it was openly discussed

Thanks for the clarification


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[Loula]

Moved to vaccination forum

Thanks I couldn't find it from my phone

[*TripleJ*]

jamie got vaxed and got CP when he got it he also had a mystery virus which we suspect was CP before that i think it was GP said no
jazzy got symptoms of CP but no spots so the sickness before hand right after jamie got his spots she wont be getting vaxed

[Floweryfields]

We had an outbreak of CP at work a few years ago - there was a mix of vacc and non vacc children in the centre, mainly because the vacc was fairly new at the time - so some had missed it/not had it yet, etc.
The chidlren who hadn't had it definitely had worse reactions and were sicker. Some of the vacc children did also get it, but their reactions were very mild.
We haven't had one child with it for years now, so the vacc must be doing something in prevention of it spreading around.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

That is one i didn't get for DD.

I haven't really seen any outbreaks of it where i live so am not too worried. If she gets CP she gets it.