Will the Chicken Pox vax cause Shingles for a lot of adults later on?

[MilkOnTap]

This question is aimed mostly at those who have chosen NOT to vax against chicken pox (CP).

I'm just wondering if part of your decision to not vax against CP is the concern that the severity of shingles in adults is far greater/riskier than CP in children. I remember reading a link once that had the exact stats of those seriously affected and it seemed that the risk of morbidity were greater in those who had shingles as an adult.

The CP vax (from what I've read) is simply a booster shot for children to get through childhood. They can still contract CP however (kind of voids the purpose of the vax then, doesn't it?) The booster shot wears off at the end of childhood, making it more likely that the child/teen/young adult can contract CP or shingles (and its always worse in adults than in children).

So - logic would lead me to believe that a child who contracts CP naturally as a child has a better immune response to shingles as an adult.

This leads me back to my OP. With so many children receiving the CP vax, do you think this will mean when they hit their teens and young adulthood they will be at a greater risk of shingles than if they'd contracted CP naturally? Also - do you think that there will be a lot more cases of shingles than there have been in the past - simply because of the artificial immunities wearing off?

:detective:

[Fuchsia!]

That is the EXACT reason as to why i will not be vaxxing my children against CP.

Im actually getting a little worried because its goin g to be a mission to try and get my kids to catch CP.

If they dont get CP by the time they are 16 i will have to consider getting the vax for them and just hound them every 5-10years to get a top up

[MilkOnTap]

Im actually getting a little worried because its goin g to be a mission to try and get my kids to catch CP.

:laughing: Okay - thats not funny as in ha-ha funny - but I totally understand! Jedd has already been around and in contact with 3 kidlets who were contagious with CP and didnt get a single spot. I could only assume that was cause he was still getting my breastmilk with my immunities in it - but gosh - if he doesn't get it before he's 10 or 15 years old then I'll be getting a lil worried :o

[missie_mack]

From what I have read people need to come in regular contact with those carrying the virus to ensure their immunity to varicella remains strong..... and I don't believe the vaccine provides this :no:

I have known more people these days that have gotten shingles than I can ever remember before.... which is pretty scary if it is vaccine related as shingles are far more devestating than simple chicken pox:(

[Lillynix]

Yep, that's pretty much it!

I haven't had CP yet despite my mum going to every effort to expose me to it directly as a child, my natural immunity was working great guns I suppose LoL

However DH had it in his teens (16) and was sick, but not any worse than your average 5yo, so i'm not sure if i'll ever have the vax as an adult and i'll leave that decision to my kids aswell when they're older if they never have CP as kids.

[mumtofive]

My 7 and 5 year old are not vaccinated for cp, but my 3 and 1 year old are, and i will vaccinate the baby when he is old enough.

My dad got shingles in his 40s and was very sick, the medicine was very expensive and he had chicken pox as a child.

I am not affraid to admit that i am a vacinating parent, i suppose for me if it helps them not get the virus, then im for it.

[SorenLorensen]

we haven't decided yet if we will get the CP vax for DD2 (she is only 6 months so we have plenty of time to decide).
we did get it for DD1, mainly becuase that was when she was going through treatment for her talipes and CP if we could try prevent it at the time we would so we did got it done.since it was going around quite a lot at the time and we could not afford for her to have it.
mind you she had been exposed directly 3 times and never got it (thank heavens for that) BEFORE her needle.

but im curious about the singles thing....edumacate me :p
i thought you could only get shingles if you had, had CP. so wouldn't children who had CP have a higher risk of catching it (if not the only ones at risk) :confused:.
oh man......im so confused :o.

good thing i have a year to learn all this. :yes:

[forbetoel]

I didn't vax mine against it, purely because I was happy with them getting CP. Well not happy, cause I know it is not always a mild disease, but happy enough to know that it was probally better to just leave that one out.

I have had shingles and I wasn't vaxed against it.

[missie_mack]

My dad got shingles in his 40s and was very sick, the medicine was very expensive and he had chicken pox as a child.

Normally shingles is the second time the Varicella Zoster virus has become active. So it would be quite normal to have had CP before. Many Drs believe those that had mild cases of CP are more prone to getting shingles later on as their immunity wears off. This is the reason many people are concerned about the vaccine.... because you are given a small dose of the live virus enough to give you immunity but perhaps not enough to be long lasting. Many also believe coming in ongoing contact with the virus kind of 'tops up' our immunity so that it lasts longer (and of course if nobody is actually getting it properly nobody is toping up immunity).

So currently if you have a 2.5% chance of getting shingles between the ages of 20 and 50 and this doubles between 50 and 60 and so on what are the statistics going to be like in years to come when the majority have only been given a minimal introduction to the virus instead of a full blown introduction like those who have actually had CP....

[BreakfastatTiffanys]

:iagree: with SL on this one.

Dont you have to have had CP to actually get shingles?

[missie_mack]

Dont you have to have had CP to actually get shingles?

You are actually having the live virus injected into you when you get vaccinated and it isn't uncommon for kids to get a very mild (almost unnoticeable) case of CP after the vaccination.... so because the virus is in your system and lies dormant in your nerve endings near your spinal cord it can of course re erupt which would be shingles

[Miriam]

You are actually having the live virus injected into you when you get vaccinated and it isn't uncommon for kids to get a very mild (almost unnoticeable) case of CP after the vaccination.... so because the virus is in your system and lies dormant in your nerve endings near your spinal cord it can of course re erupt which would be shingles

:iagree:


I have concerns about the repercussions in years to come for those that have been vaccinated with the CP vax.

Yet again...there have been no long term studies with this vax regarding safety/efficacy and side effects.

[amandaw]

I Well not happy, cause I know it is not always a mild disease,

I have had shingles and I wasn't vaxed against it.

Oh - I'm finding this all to be a bit of an eyeopener

slightly off topic but link to the quote...I guess it's just one of those risks....my DH teaches a student (who is actually part of the para olympic team members :yelclap:) who is deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other and lost a leg all due to contracting chicken pox as a child - and that's not a risk I'm willing to take with my kids

My Dad's also one of the anomalies who didn't have chicken pox growing up, but did then get shingles as an adult and it was BAD

[BreakfastatTiffanys]

You are actually having the live virus injected into you when you get vaccinated and it isn't uncommon for kids to get a very mild (almost unnoticeable) case of CP after the vaccination.... so because the virus is in your system and lies dormant in your nerve endings near your spinal cord it can of course re erupt which would be shingles

Thank you for that :)

I haven't had shingles as an adult so don't know how painful it can be. I did get CP as an adult in my early 20's and I have never been so sick.......really really ill.

My mum was also another anomoly, getting shingles as an adult but not having had CP.

I do think that the stats for shingles probably will go up, especially if the vaccine is only really a short lived one. So not offering permanent immunity at all......which is really not how they advertise it. Is it?

Good question though, going to ponder some more.

[Refresh]

Yes, this is one of our concerns also. I don;t believe there anyone knows enough about this vaccine (or most of the others......) for me to trust it.

[Josh]

Oh - I'm finding this all to be a bit of an eyeopener

slightly off topic but link to the quote...I guess it's just one of those risks....my DH teaches a student (who is actually part of the para olympic team members :yelclap:) who is deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other and lost a leg all due to contracting chicken pox as a child - and that's not a risk I'm willing to take with my kids

My Dad's also one of the anomalies who didn't have chicken pox growing up, but did then get shingles as an adult and it was BAD

This post gives me shudders, (no offence) only because my DD was only 1 yr old when she got chicken pox and we came within hrs of losing her, she had such a bad case of it and now 7yrs on she is blind in 1 eye and walks with a limp, courtesy of a very serious bout of chicken pox, and I still can't believe that there are people out there who try very hard for their kids to get it:hair:, I would love for anyone who wants to see the damaging effects of chicken pox to come and pay my daughter a visit.:flowerz:

[bigglet]

The CP vax is not new (only relatively new in Australia) and has been around for decades especially in Asia.

The incidence of shingles has not markedly increased in these countries - I initially had my concerns as well.

[forbetoel]

Oh - I'm finding this all to be a bit of an eyeopener

slightly off topic but link to the quote...I guess it's just one of those risks....my DH teaches a student (who is actually part of the para olympic team members :yelclap:) who is deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other and lost a leg all due to contracting chicken pox as a child - and that's not a risk I'm willing to take with my kids

My Dad's also one of the anomalies who didn't have chicken pox growing up, but did then get shingles as an adult and it was BAD

My sister worked with a woman whose baby ended up brain damaged from chicken pox, so I am not saying that it is never a dangerous disease...it is just usually not.:)

[Susan Mac]

I had DS vaxed, but ummed and aahed over it. I couldn't see the necessity of it, but I do know how dangerous it CAN get, even though it doesn't usually.
I still don't know if I made the right decision or not on this one!

The cynic in me thinks that this vaccine is just so that parents don't have to take too much time off work when their kids get chicken pox...

[maisymum]

Hi :), I had shingles as an adult, nothing as a child and I tell you it was horrid! I was off work for 2 weeks and had pains everywhere! I have just had my children vacs against the pox and i do hope they don't get it later on in life. Maisymum :flowerz:

[PunkyDiva]

No it didn't play any part in the decision process. I wasn't really aware of a link.
The vax wasn't around for my older kids so I figure the younger ones will just get the wild variety and be done with it.
I did consider it(vax) though because DH has had chicken pox three times now but again if you are fit and healthy adult most can get through it.

[amandaw]

This post gives me shudders, (no offence) only because my DD was only 1 yr old when she got chicken pox and we came within hrs of losing her, she had such a bad case of it and now 7yrs on she is blind in 1 eye and walks with a limp, courtesy of a very serious bout of chicken pox, and I still can't believe that there are people out there who try very hard for their kids to get it:hair:, I would love for anyone who wants to see the damaging effects of chicken pox to come and pay my daughter a visit.:flowerz:

no offence taken - some very big :hugs: your way

[Sheer Bliss]

See, I HATE threads like this - it just does my head in. DS is 16months, and i have been thinking about the CP vaccine for the last few months and i just can't decide!! It's too hard, and everytime I think about it i just go around in circles.

Does anyone have a crystal ball to tell me what to do?? PLEASE?? :confused: :laughing:

[Fuchsia!]

See, I HATE threads like this - it just does my head in. DS is 16months, and i have been thinking about the CP vaccine for the last few months and i just can't decide!! It's too hard, and everytime I think about it i just go around in circles.

Does anyone have a crystal ball to tell me what to do?? PLEASE?? :confused: :laughing:

I was the same, i still think some days am i doing the right thing. The way i see it is that while he isn't vaxxed i still have a choice IYKWIM? Once he is vaxxed i can't choose anymore