Chicken Pox vaccine

**RedPanda** · 29-04-2007 21:09

I'm a full-vaxer so far, but I'm really starting to consider not vaccinating DS against chicken pox. I don't like that the vaccine doesn't protect him forever, and I don't like the thought of him catching it as an adult. I would just prefer he gets it as a child and develops natural immunity.

However, if most children are now immunised against it, he is unlikely to get it as a child which takes me back to square one!

In the end, I'll probably vaccinate him. I asked the CHN and she said that if he does catch it after the vaccine, it won't be a nasty dose. She also said that they will probably come up with a booster some time soon.

Can anyone enlighten me or give me any more info?

Ta

**TwoBlue** · 29-04-2007 21:20

I was unsure about the pox vax also and spoke to my GP in great detail about it.
I trust her 100%

She told me a few things that helped me decide

Originally Posted by Hazellew

She also said that they will probably come up with a booster some time soon.

She said she believes that a booster will be available in a few years and that the likelyhood of our kids getting it later in life is extremely slim (after the booster)

Also explained to me that IF you get the pox as a child you are open to getting shingles as an adult.. YUCKO ! If I can avoid my kids getting shingles I will

Then I also thought about myself, I never got pox as a child, even when my brothers got it. I eventually got it at 16 and it was HORRID !

So I decided to get the vax.

Good luck with your decision making mate

**SilverStarfish** · 29-04-2007 21:21

To the best of my knowledge, you can still catch chicken pox after the vaccine (happened to my sister, anyway) but it is usually a milder case as your body already has already done some prep work in learning how to fight it.

Even if you son was to catch it naturally, thats still no guarentee that he wouldn't catch it again.

And you can have chicken pox as a child and get it as adult in a variation called shingles....

I'm pro-vax too, Sarah's fully up to date. I'll be getting her the chicken pox shot when she's due.

***Chels*** · 29-04-2007 21:22

Hey
Dont have much info for you.Dont know if its better getting it as a child or adult-its annoying and itchy either way.
I had a chickenpox scare with my 17 month old-the DR said they can develop croup or puenomia from it which is pretty scary!!!
Anyways,he didnt have it-just got a reaction from a spitfire caterpillar he befriended

I got his shots done last week and he was FINE.No reaction,no temp and not even a lump on injection spot like the other times.
My opinion-just get it done.
Hope this helps

**the_queen** · 29-04-2007 21:25

It's highly possible that if he catches it naturally, it will just be a mild dose, too. My DD got it at age 3, they were nasty-looking but she coped fine. I bought some anti-hystamine medicine but she never needed it, she didn't scratch.

I guess what you can do is what our parents and grandparents did

keep your ears open for anybody in the neighbourhood who gets it, then take him around there in the hope he gets it. Natural immunity is much better than artificial immunity - which isn't actually "immunity" because there hasn't been long-term (ie long long long long term) studies done. Your CHN is right, they will probably come up with a booster. What if they don't come up with it before he's an adult? What if the booster means that he'll have to get a booster every 10 years for the rest of his life - ie in his 20's he forgets, catches CP and as you know it's much worse as an adult.

Obviously this is all JMO

In my personal experience, my daughter caught chicken pox and it was quite mild, and now she has life-long immunity and will pass that on to her children through her breastmilk.

**Roxy** · 29-04-2007 21:30

I had DD immunised, and never got around to getting DS done.

Don't need to worry about getting him done now - he got a massive dose last year.

His immunised sister also got a dose - but she had 3 spots that didn't turn into anything more than a pinhead that went scabby within 2 days and then were gone in 3.

I discovered that, in our house, the immunisation wasn't 100% effective, but there was certainly a vast difference in the case that DD had compared to DS.

I'd vax again if we had another child - nursing my DS through his CP and the burst eardrum he got (because he had a CP on his eardrum that got infected) is not my preferred way to spend 10days.

**Chumps** · 29-04-2007 21:39

What's the story with the chicken pox vac? They issue it at 18 months, then how long does the vac last after a child gets it? I guess I just assumed it was for life too. So if there is no booster to date - what does that really mean? Are the kidlets only protected for x amount of time?

I will be getting my DS done regardless, but I am just curious now.

**Angelmist♥** · 30-04-2007 06:53

After thinking that CP was a pretty harmless childhood disease, I wasn't too stressed when my sons got it.TBH they weren't really affected by it.

Then my son contracted shingles at the start of this year.It was the most horrid thing I've ever seen my child have to go through.Constant severe pain, migraines, numb down one side of his body..........oh and the best part, the staph infection that infested his last sore.So just when we thought it was nearly over, we had another week of anti-biotics, migraines and an extremely ill child.

I just thought I'd tell you a bit of our story

There's not a chance I won't be immunising DD against CP now.