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.

[Amaunet]

Having the virus doesnt prevent shingles! I've had the CP virus and two lots of shingles.

[BellyBelly]

Moved to vaccination forum

[*Ang*]

We have had all 3 done. When DD3 was just under 18mths and hadn't yet had the vaccine the older 2 caught CP despite being vaccinated. DS only had around 4 spots and ended up with 1 scar on his face and DD1 was covered quite a bit but still considered a "mild" dose. CP was going around our area/school at the time and a number of children who weren't vaccinated ended up with very severe cases.

I chose to vaccinate for a number of reasons but my main one was that even if my kids did get a milder version of CP despite being vaccinated it HAD to be better then what I had when I was in final year of highschool...I had 2 weeks off school in the middle of exams with a very severe dose of CP and there is no way I would want anyone else to have that. My uncle in the 70's ended up being hospitalised as an adult with a severe dose of CP and I met a woman just before my kids got CP who only 3 years ago was hospitalised for approx 2 months with CP - She developed secondary infections and at one stage was in a coma! She was only in her mid 30's with 2 young children and 6 months after having CP had still not gone back to work because she was still unwell. Why would I risk doing that to my kids? It certainly validated my reasoning hearing that.

[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

[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.

[~clover~]

TripleJ - Thats one reason I haven't vaxed. When MIL was a kid she pent alot of time in hospital. At one point she snuck into isolation & was in contact with CP. Slowly kids out of isolation contracted CP, but she never did.

We talked about this when DD2 had her bout of it. Being only 6 months old I assumed DD1 must've brought it home from pre school. But DD1 never showed any symptoms of it herself. Possibly a cold/temp etc, but I don't remember now...

When SIL was younger, she also never contracted CP, even though MIL often had her around kids with CP (yes, kind of a pox party thing ). She's now 18 & has never had CP or the vax that we know of (given you can contract but not show all symptoms, eg. spots)

DS was playing with a little boy just 3 or 4 days before he broke out in spots. DS didn't catch it either.

So while I obviously don't know for certain that this is whats happened, I'm assuming the kids have possibly inherited a gene or something that prevents them contracting it, or for some reason just not showing symptoms. MIL described herself as a carrier.

I don't know if that makes sence to anyone else, but I think there's a pretty good chance my kids don't need the vaccine

It probably sounds as nuts & as stupid as the look I got from my CHN when I tried to explain it to her, but thats my story & I'm sticking to it for now. Until proven otherwise.