Does a Child Get One Dose or Two Doses of the Varicella (Chicken Pox) Vaccine

Straight from the CDC's vaccine information sheet:

1st dose is between 12-15 months of age
2nd dose is between 4-6 years of age

"Chicken pox is a common childhood disease. It is usually mild but it can be serious, especially in young infants and adults...it can lead to severe skin infection, scars, pneumonia, brain damage, or death."

"Before the vaccine, about 11,000 people were hospitalized for chickenpox each year in the United States."

"Before the vaccine, about 100 people died each year as a result of chickenpox in the United States."

"Most people who get chickenpox vaccine will not get chickenpox. But if someone who has been vaccinated does get chickenpox, it is usually very mild. They will have fewer blisters, are less likely to have a fever, and will recover faster."

"A person who has had chickenpox can get a painful rash called shingles years later."

So, as you can see, the numbers aren't high at all but they're not zero.

Johanna----I recommend you check out this website before you get this vaccine for your child, www.nvic.org. The vaccine is so new, the manufacturer doesn't even know if it is effective, as it hasn't been tested long enough to know for sure. From what I understand, lots of kids are still getting cp after the vaccine and so it is thought that they will need a booster as a young adult.

C Pox is a nuisance but it is not life threatening when contracted as a child. IF the vaccine fails to protect, these kids are at risk from possible death if they were to contract it as an adult. Also know that vaccines are not mandatory and cannot be forced on you...nor can you be threatened to have your kids kept from school if they don't get them.

Please understand that I am NOT anti-vaccine, but I really do feel, based on science and research, that we are being over vaccinated. Our bodies are infinitely capable of protecting us, and when our immune system is challenged by the flu, or c pox, it builds an immunity that is far stronger than one acquired from a vaccine. I would also recommend checking www.askDrSears.com for advice and read the Dr. Sears 'Vaccine Book'. In it he advised an alternate vaccination schedule so that these babies do not receive so many different vaccinations at one time. I believe that this is where vaccine problems originate, too many at one time which overload the poor baby's immature immune system.

Other factors like diet, particularly the mother's during pregnancy, help to determine how capable a child's immune system is. I work with a Naturopath who has her PhD in Nutrition, taking a series of wellness classes taught by her. I have documentation that I can share to support the suggestions I've posted here. I'd be glad to share, if you'd like. Good luck with you exploration and decision making. Remember, doctors don't know everything and largely depend on what manufacturers tell them. Do you think that what they share is unbiased information? It's not their fault...docs don't have a lot of time and they simply don't know what they don't know. Be well, D.

my daughter has had two - one around 12 to 18 months and one at her 4 year check up.

Regrettably my children got one dose . . . (they are 16 & 13).

Apparently now children are supposed to get boosters because the immunity wears off.

It probably would have been better for them to actually have chicken pox (as children, not adults) and gain lifelong immunity. Of course there are complications to chicken pox, but those are pretty rare.

This ever-growing list of vaccines and boosters frustrates me to no end.

And no, I'm not anti-vaccine. It's just not a black and white issue imho. I wish it was.

PS: I'm not a health care professional of any type - this is just my personal "mom" opinion.

My son got the one shot as soon as the vaccine came out (I can't remember exactly what age he was at the time).
He's been pox free and I'm glad he'll never have to go through all the itching I went through when I was a kid. I still have 2 scars from it. I had itchy bursting welts in my mouth, inside my ears, my scalp, arms, legs, all over my body. My Mom put me and my sister in the tub and just slathered us with calamine lotion but it didn't help the itching much.
The disease is way worse than the vaccine.

There are 2. One when they are small, and then they recommend a booster when they are around 11 or 12.
I still don't know (do we ever) if we did the right thing by giving them to our kids. I had chick pox as a kid and it was awful. But not as bad as having them as an adult. So the vaccines seem like a good idea. But then, if they wear off and you can still get it later on. Not such a good idea.
BUT, once you do have it, contrary to what many think, it doesn't mean you'll never get it again. (you can only usually it is milder) But you also then are susceptible to getting Shingles later on in life, which is AWFUL. If you happen to get shingles in your eye, it can cause blindness. And it is a very painful condition generally (not just itchy like chicken pox).

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to whether or not to get the vaccine. I think we won't know until we are 80.
Just my opinion.

And yeah... I have lots of pox scars-- I was embarrassed throughout childhood and my teen years by them. On my knees/legs... terrible. (I had pox and poison oak simultaneously... talk about torture). A few smaller scars on my face and arms, but nothing deforming or self esteem damaging.

My kids (18,16,13) got one shot at about 2 yrs, and have had one booster since (just last year for all three). None of them have gotten the chicken pox, though they are directly exposed to it every year at school. So yeah, that works for me!

:)

All 3 of my kids had a one dose shot when they were 12 months and all 3 actually got full blown chicken pox covering their body, within the next few years. My oldest was about 5, my next was 2 (they had it about the same time) and my youngest was about 15 months.

S.
www.LiveYourDreamsAtHome.com

When my oldest got hers (she is 12 now) it was only one dose. A couple of years ago the protocol was changed to two doses. My girl's pediatrician said that one dose is sufficient to protect 80% of the kids but 20% need the second dose. Well I did not want my girls to have the vaccine if they did not need it so we had their titers checked with a simple blood test. My youngest daughter's titers were fine...she did not need the second vaccine but my oldest daughter did so she got the second dose at age 12.

Birth through 6 years
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/2010/downloads/ed...
7 through 18 years old
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/chil...

Birth years through adulthood
http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4050.pdf