Why do or don't you give the chickenpox vaccine

amother

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 7:31 am

My neighbors kid has the chicken pox and it's just so weird. Who gets chicken pox today? She said that she doesn't give that vaccine because it's not well studied and is dangerous for pregnant women. She is even willing to let her baby who was exposed get chicken pox rather then give the vaccine and prevent it which is totally negligent IMO. WDUT?

Iymnok

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 7:55 am

I understand where she's coming from, we grew up worth chicken pox and now we are all totally immune. The vaccine needs a booster and isn't always effective. By giving it to her kids she is giving them a lifelong immunity. I vaccinate but when they made this vaccine I thought it was silly and a waste of resources. Growing up wee had chicken pix parties to spread it to immunize the whole community at once.

Barbara

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:08 am

Iymnok wrote:

Funny. When I grew up, no one had "chicken pox parties." No one was happy about their kids getting the chicken pox. I had them when I was 2. It was summer. My mother had to put sox -- those little cotton bobby sox with ruffles -- on my hands to keep me from scratching. And repeatedly bathe me in oatmeal bath. I can still smell that stuff. I remember it all well, because it was pure h3ll. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

luppamom

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:14 am

I had chickenpox at age 5 IIRC. I had 2 siblings and we all got it one at a time. I just remember being very itchy, missing a week of school and oatmeal baths. No bad memories. But, they're are plenty of people w/ scars and complications can develop. Not sure how I feel. This thread may help influence my thoughts on the topic.

Anyway, what is the chickenpox shot called anyway? When is it given?

water_bear88

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:18 am

Yes because (a) like Barbara, I remember having the chicken pox myself, and wouldn't wish that on my kids if they can avoid it and (b) I've known several people who had the shingles (mostly of my age and older, plus a few years ago an elementary-schooler who was unvaccinated)- I kind of assume I'll get them at some point when I'm older, but I'm not letting that happen to my kids.

etky

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:24 am

I vaccinated some of my kids. My oldest DD contracted chickenpox when she was 2 and a half, right before the vaccine was introduced in Israel. I then vaccinated my younger kids but was actually pleased when my youngest DD contracted the disease, in an extremely attentuated form due to having been previously immunized (she hadn't received a booster yet). I feel safer that my girls' immunity was reinforced by having actually had the disease. You don't want to run the risk of them getting it when they are pregnant be"h. With boys that's one less worry.
That said, I'm glad there is a vaccine. It's a horrible disease if you get it full blast. I had it in my early twenties and it was a nightmare. I also know a child who had to be hospitalized with neurological complications from the chicken pox. B"h no lasting effects but still.....

Scrabble123

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:25 am

Studies show that so far the vaccine is really living up to its expectations: there were issues when only one vaccine was given, but since introducing the booster shot, immunity has not weaned. Infection with chicken pox almost always offers lifelong immunity (yes, there are rare instances of people having it more than once), but I'd still give the vaccine. Many children have severe cases of chicken pox: chicken pox can appear inside of the eyelid, in the bladder, etc. etc. which can ch'v lead to blindness and bladder/kidney infections. Some children get serious secondary infections where the blisters are: staph and even flesh eating bacteria. Many children, although more so adults, develop varicella pneumonia which is a serious condition. Today, antivirals can be given to lesson the symptoms and they really work. I agree that chicken pox usually passes just fine in healthy children, but it is entirely negligent to knowingly expose your children and to not take appropriate precautions after exposure.

Scrabble123

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:28 am

luppamom wrote:

It's given at age 1 year (12-18 months) followed by a booster between the ages of 4-6. It is called the Varicella vaccine and it can be combined with MMR in a shot called the MMRV. Some people have seen an increase in fever with the MMRV and therefore choose to give the MMR and the V(Varicella) separately, even at the same time.

I had the chicken pox before the vaccine, and I while I do not have scars BH because my aunt kept my hands in gloves, I still would rather vaccinate my children than have them have the disease, and as I stated before, feeling that Chicken Pox parties are negligent as is the decision to not take further precautions when your child is exposed.

Sanguine

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 8:57 am

I just thought "oh no, not another vaccine thread" cause I'm all for vaccines... LOL - all my kids had the chicken pox!! The vaccine was newer and they each caught it at some point when they were little. It was never terrible. The hardest thing was keeping them from running out to play with the neighbor's kids when they saw them outside.

It seemed silly to give a vaccine for such a "safe" disease and then have to worry the rest of their life about boosters.

I'm really pro vaccine but I didn't run to get this when it was new. I might have done it if I first had kids now. Or maybe not.

And I think chicken pox parties are ridiculous.

NotInNJMommy

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:03 am

While I'm pro-vax, I was always skeptical of the chicken pox vaccine. My bro and I had it when we were young, no big deals etc. I'd also read that there were issues with the effectiveness of the vaccine.

That said, my children's father and his mother can't remember if he had it as a kid, so since getting it as an adult is so dangerous, I decided to give it to my kids. The risk of their father getting seriously ill wasnt something I wanted to live with.

Scrabble123

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:04 am

NotInNJMommy wrote:

He can get the vaccine as an adult as well (unless he has a medical contradiction to it).

NotInNJMommy

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:11 am

Scrabble123 wrote:

He can get the vaccine as an adult as well (unless he has a medical contradiction to it).

He's not my husband anymore, so the chances of my getting him to do anything like that are slim to none. Also, at the time my kids were vax'd, adult chicken pox vaccines weren't covered by insurance...one more reason I couldn't expect their father to do anything about it...

Also he is deathly afraid of needles....

Gotta work with what I've got lol

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:16 am

FWIW, shingles can occur in anyone with a weakened immune system (due to stress or whatever) if they had chicken pox or the varicella vaccine. That vaccine does not protect against shingles. I just needed to clarify that assumption from earlier in the thread.

PinkFridge

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:17 am

I mentioned this on another thread. This was nogeiah to me soon after the vaccine came out. There were responsible, pro-vax drs saying to wait till the kids were 10 to see if they contract it naturally in which case they'll get life-long immunity; if not, give it to them. That's what I did. All my kids got it naturally, ironically the last batch got a full blown case from someone who had a mild case after the vax.

If I were raising kids now I would probably have them get the shot as the chance of them getting it naturally is so much reduced.

No, I don't feel that way about, say, measles. Why is chicken pox different? Can't articulate or the moment, or defend. I think I was dealing with a different perspective then as the shot was so new.

Scrabble123

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:25 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

The shingles vaccine has 14 times more the amount of the attenuated varicella virus than that of the chicken pox vaccine.

And yes, many people have hypothesized that through exposure to children with chicken pox, adults received a "natural booster" that boosted their immunity to chicken pox. I know several adults who had shingles earlier in their lives (way before the vaccine came out) and I still would support vaccination of chicken pox over natural disease. Those who get shingles after receiving the vaccine are a smaller group than those who get shingles after a natural infection with chicken pox (this will of course have to be studied though because the chicken pox vaccine has only been routinely administered for 20 years so we'll have to see what happens with that age population).

Scrabble123

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:31 am

Hashem_Yaazor wrote:

What does any of that have to do with what I said?

I was just saying more information.
You said that the chicken pox vaccine does not protect against shingles so I discussed the shingles vaccine. Do you want me to delete it?

luppamom

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:32 am

We all had the chickenpox as I mentioned before, but my mother was very careful. She had to go out one night and I remember having a boy neighbor for a babysitter b/c he had chickenpox already. No parties for us.

My DH had chickenpox as a kid and shingles as a teen. He said it wasn't horrible. But, I have a friend who got it has an adult and she was sick for so long and felt so horrible. Scrabble, did you mention a shingles vaccine?

Hashem_Yaazor

Mon, Feb 16 2015, 9:33 am

Ok. Sometimes I feel posters on this board have to deliberately try to make me seem like I am saying untruths and go out of their way to be argumentative. I am not trying to convince anyone to do anything; I just like giving a clarification if necessary.