Chickenpox Vaccinine

My brother somehow avoided chickenpox until he was 16 (even though I had it in 1st grade and we were always together, he didn't get it). He was incredibly sick! Worse than the flu, and missed over a week of school. He still has some huge scars from it (bigger than his acne scarring)

Chickenpox isn't fatal in normal, healthy kids. But it can lead to scarring, and I've heard of cases where a pock forms near the eye and can actually lead to blindness. IIRC, having had chickenpox (vs the vaccine) also increases risk of shingles later in life (which can have a lot of other complications, especially if it's a pregnant mom).

I had all my kids vaccinated against chickenpox. The above are a couple of the reasons why. I also worked in the school system and saw the difference between kids who had received the early version of the vaccine (the one that wasn't 100% effective but reduced the intensity of the illness; they've gotten better since) and kids who weren't vaccinated. Days out of school, recovery speed, amount and severity of pox.... I just felt like I would rather reduce or eliminate this for my own kids. There's enough other stuff to worry about.

My oldest had it and still got what should have been a milder case, milder case my asparagus plant - she was out of day care for 6 weeks b/c one kept popping up after what we thought was the last one crusted over. I wish I had never gotten that for her and I really regret having had gotten it for my youngest, however the pedetrician explained to me that w/the 6 yrs difference in age of my girls that things had improved and so far so good. I think that sometimes, actually a lot of times it's okay to make the decisions.

I've been kind of up in the air about this one too. I have 3 kids, the older two had already had their second doses of chickenpox vaccine before I became aware of the movements not to vaccinate and the reasons why.
With my 3rd child, we have done some vaccinations, but not others. Dr. Mercola's website and the NVIC website have been helpful, but definitely swing towards not vaccinating at all. I have chosen not to get the chickenpox vaccine on the "normal" time schedule, just because we seemed to have cold virus after virus this past winter, and I definitely didn't want to vaccinate when my toddler was sick. But I do plan on getting the chickenpox vaccine and here's why.
My toddler has one of those personalities where I know if she gets chickenpox she is going to itch and scratch and pick until she bleeds and gets scabs all over. I'd hate for her beautiful skin to be ruined. I got a mild case of chickenpox when I was a kid, and I still have scars on my face, which stinks.
Secondly, I know of quite a few kids that still got chickenpox, even after one dose of the vaccine, but they definitely didn't get it very bad, it was very mild.
Lastly, my husband got chickenpox when he was 19 and it was awful, absolutely awful. He had them in his ears, mouth, you name it.
And to top if off, I got shingles a few years ago, and ended up with 3 years of horrible vertigo and hearing loss because I got them in my ear and neck area and it caused nerve damage. And I still get outbreaks in that area when I get stressed, it's ridiculous. I know some people will say that can't happen, but it does, and I have an infectious disease doctor treating it.
So for me, I guess the potential benefit of the vaccine outweighs the risks.

I don't understand the point of the Chicken pox vacc.
Yes it is annoying but its a HUGE amount worse if you catch it as an adult.
I do believe that a lot of kids today are over medicated.
Our bodies have an immune system for a reason. If you put all these vaccines into their body it makes their immune system not have to fight.

Fighting sickness is what builds a healthy, strong immune system.
When I was little I was vaccinated, but there were 18 total vaccines, now there are, what like 30something?
I ate dirt, got chicken pox, the flu, ran around got dirty etc
I even had spinal meningitis as an infant.
When I got sick, I wasn't hurried to the doctor. I went to bed.

I've seen a lot of parents (not saying you in specific) who run they're babies to the dr. at the sound of a small cough. I think it is going to make for a lot of unhealthy people in the future. but that is just me

Sorry, i don't mean to offend if I have.

Well we don't vaccinate, at all. So...obviously, I don't see the urgency.

I've never met or personally heard of (until your post, of course) a Dr. who was terribly concerned with the chicken pox vaccine. Most treat it as a take it or leave it kind of vaccine. They don't really have a strong opinion one way, or the other. There is money gained from every vaccine given, and that might be his real reasoning.

I haven't and will not! Natural immunity from all diseases is far superior to vaccine immunity. Kids who got the chicken pox vaccine are now getting shingles at age 11, shingles is much worse! I've gotten some very good information from www.thedoctorwithin.com about all diseases, likelihood of catching them, vaccine side effects, etc. Even my friends who do vaccinate dont do hep b, chicken pox, or gardasil. What jamie said below is why not to do it actually, the vaccine wears off after 10 years so unless you get boosters for life you stand the chance of contracting it as an adult, or shingles. Good luck!

Well, aside from the obvious (natural immunity), this is one huge reason why my kids won't be getting it...http://www.naturalfamilyawareness.com/parenting/index.php...

I thought this was a interesting article pointing out the elephant in the room (not really trying to point out the autism aspect but it is interesting).
Feel free to google 'fetal cell lines in vaccines' for yourself if you (or anyone else) feels this article is hogwash.

HTH!

I don't vaccinate any longer. My step daughter is one of those kids who had a "terrible reaction" to her vaccine and now she's permanently disabled and diagnosed as moderately retarded. The problem is you don't know if you have one of those kids who COULD have a reaction to it until they GET it...and then its too late. So you didn't ask about that but I think not getting the chickenpox vaccine is not a big deal. Obviously. Good luck.

My doctor suggested that we opt out of the chicken pox vaccine as it is not a fatal disease if they do contract it and it is actually more damaging the second time around. I did not realize that Chicken Pox is a disease that you carry for life too. You seldom get reoccurrence (Shingles) but it is much more damaging than the first time.

That sold it for me....why deliberately infect my child with a disease that they will carry forever?

No thanks, I think I will skip that one.

Clearly you have picked a hot topic with people :)

I vaccinate my kids on a slower schedule, but I do get all the vaccines. I, too, KNOW without a doubt, that vaccines are safe and that they DO NOT cause autism, but I do vaccinate them slower because it is hard on their little immune systems, and my kids stay at home with either me, my husband, or our nanny. I am giving this information to show that I think I have a similar standpoint as you. I, too, was under the impression not to vaccinate against chicken pox because it is so innocuous (3 days of feeling like garbage, a little itching, and Voila! You're done). Also, not all vaccines give 100% lifelong immunity, like the disease does, so I was pretty firmly against it. But, after a very honest and respectful conversation with my pediatrician I did change my mind.

The reason we find chicken pox to be so harmless is because when we were little, they were. But with the invention of the vaccine, many strains of the disease have died off, thus the only remaining chicken pox strains are super virulent. Whereas we got chicken pox and life was uncomfortable for a bit, kids these days are frequently hospitalized, and do occasionally die (which was almost unheard of from our generation). The more compelling reason that I chose to vaccinate my daughter is the rampant abundance of MRSA, which is a resistant type of aggressive and fast growing bacteria. It started as a nosocomial, or hospital only, bacteria, but has now flourished in places like the gym and grocery store as well. So you get a kid who is covered in open sores, and then you can unwittingly infect just one of those wounds with MRSA, and all of a sudden you have a significantly bigger ball of wax. And that's not just scare tactics of a pediatrician, I'm a nurse and I see all the time the widespread MRSA community acquisition.

Anyway, just food for thought. No matter how strong people's opinions are I don't think there is one right answer to the vaccine question. Good luck!!

I've written up a balanced paper on the relative benefits and risks of vaccination vs. controlled exposure (chickenpox party). I'll send it as a private message, since it's 4 pages long! Anyone else who wants it can contact me privately.

The basic summary is that the vaccine has lower short-term risks and higher long-term risks. The disease has higher short-term risks and lower long-term risks. You have to decide which you are most comfortable with.

If your child does get chickenpox, please be very, very serious about quarantine. This is one of the reasons I support chickenpox parties: it enables you to do perfect quarantine. Chickenpox can be *fatal* to children who are on steroid medication. Most such children look perfectly healthy and do not know they are in a high risk group. Quarantine matters.

Hi Mommakate,

Everybody on here knows my opinions of vaccinations so I will simply answer you :)

The chicken pox vaccine is only effective for ten years. What happens when your older child is exposed then? Do you revaccinate or do you allow them to get the disease then. If your child has a strong enough immune system to avoid chicken pox as a little one then, they may be able to avoid it on their own later. (A strong immune system can prevent them. If the immune system is not as strong as it should be supplemental digestive enzymes can prevent it also.) When your daughter is in her child bearing years, the chicken pox will become dangerous.

I don't believe in exposing a child to a disease on purpose (one DEAR friend of mine took it upon herself to expose my girls....arrrgh) but I also dont believe you should simply postpone a problem. The chicken pox vaccines can prevent chicken pox but it can also create shingles.....

Hope this information helps.

M.

My kids had the CP vaccine in the 90's and I was not told at the time that they would need a booster.

If I had it to do over again I wouldn't do it.

And my question is - why do we hear so much about shingles now after over a decade of the chicken pox vaccine in the ped population? Here is an article from the NY Times (though it was published in 2005 so perhaps there is an updated position on this) which discusses the issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/health/03vaccine.html .

If my kids were little today and I was considering the CP vaccine I would want to have a much better understanding of the vaccine, when it wears off (i.e. how often will boosters be needed throughout a person's life span?), the risk of getting CP naturally, and the shingles issue.

I agree with you 100%. My kids are vaxed, but I refuse to have them get that one. Their dr. when we lived in CA was Dr. Sears, and he is very against that one (which helped my decision). Every kid that I have known that has had that shot, has gotten chicken pox with in a year. My daughter had chicken pox naturally, and I am hoping my son gets it before he has to start K becuase here in VA, there is no waiver for it (that I have found at least) and his new dr. here is already trying to fight me on him getting it.

It's controversial, that's for sure! When folks who have already had chicken pox are exposed to children with chicken pox, it's like taking a booster shot to prevent shingles later on. SO, follow me here, there's a hypothesis floating around which states that fewer active cases of chicken pox in the general population will lead to increased cases of shingles in adults (due to lack of this natural "booster" effect). So far it hasn't exactly panned out that way, and the vac has been available for a number of years, but only time will tell.

I was a bit iffy on this particular one as well, and actually didn't give it to my oldest until she was over 5 years old, and my 2nd was almost 3. At that time, I was working in the same office with my pediatrician (new dr for the kids), and she explained it to me in a way that made me decide that it was best to get it. She explained to me that while Chickenpox is a fairly harmless childhood disease, the problem comes in when the virus skips over a kid thorughout their entire childhood. If the virus is contracted as an adult, the complications have a better chance of being deadly. There is also a greater potential for scarring, the older a person is when they contract the virus. Studies have also shown that men who contract the virus as adults have a good chance of developing fertility issues. People who have had the virus are also more vulnerable to contracing shingles in their later years.

the chicken pox vaccine is the one I was most interested in getting for my children...although it's a relatively "easy" disease - the problems associated with it (possibly infertility, hearing loss, scaring (very minor but happens) and eye damage (yes, you can get the pox on your eye!)), etc. we chose to vaccinate.

just because she's healthy NOW doesn't mean it won't happen. I don't do them all at once - I do spread them out...my pediatrician was fine with spreading them out.....

check with your school district to see what their stance is on the vaccination...

GOOD LUCK!

I had the chicken pox when I was 5 and it was AWFUL. However, I do not see an urgency for the vaccine. My sons pediatrician wanted my son to get it at 12 months. He wont be getting the vaccine until his 3rd birthday.

I vaccinated my kids for chickenpox simply because it sucks to get it. I remember being absolutely miserable having the chickenpox as a child. If I can prevent that misery for my own children, I will.

We don't do the pox or flu vaccines in our house. Well, we don't do the pox for little kids.
My oldest is turning 13 and hasn't had chicken pox. At his next appointment, we'll have his titers checked. If they don't come back with pox immunity (which they could - I have the immunity and have never had pox or the shots), he will be getting vaccinated because the virus is much more severe in older kids.

My kid has the chicken pox vax plus all the boosters and she is just fine. I am so glad that she never had chicken pox. I had it and man it was just horrible. And my Mom had to take off work cause since I had it first my sister had it next. 6 weeks of itchy whiny kids not to mention the missed time in school. I remember having pox from top to bottom ( even down " there") and it hurting and burning while trying to pee. Have some scars left from chicken pox as well. Like I said I am so glad my kid was spared that.

I haven't read any of the other responses.
I mentioned this in a post the other day though.
Children of my generation and before were purposely exposed to chicken pox if other children were known to have it. The thinking was not as crazy as it sounds. It's much easier for young children to have chicken pox as opposed to getting it in teen or adult years.
Now, there is a vaccine for it.
The bummer about the chicken pox virus is that it can lay dormant in your system and may or may NOT result in shingles in later life.
You can't get shingles without having had chicken pox.
I am the only one in my large and extened family to get shingles.
So, I'm guessing the thinking goes that if you can vaccinate against chicken pox, you have a lesser risk of developing shingles later on.
Shingles is extremely painful. I wouldn't wish it in anyone.
The virus that causes chicken pox is a herpes related virus as is the virus that causes shingles.
My daughter had a baby in May and she will get him the chicken pox vaccine when it's time. She will do it to lessen the chances of him getting shingles later in life.

Like I said, when I was a kid, there was no vaccine and moms purposely exposed their kids to get it over with. Getting chicken pox later in life causes many risks that younger children could pretty much sail through.
As someone who has had severe issues with shingles, if a vaccine would help me from getting it, I would take it and give it to my children.
My children both had chicken pox so it remains to be seen what will happen, but they've never gotten shingles from close contact with me. Nor has any other member of my family.

Chicken pox in children in and of itself isn't necessarily that bad. I've never known a child to die from it although it may happen.
I think the idea of the vaccine is to keep the virus out of the system as much as possible all together.

I'm not really sure where to get good information, but if the vaccine was available for my children, I would have done it.
If the vaccine was available when I was a child, mothers of my generation would have done it as opposed to trying to get it out of the way as young as possible.
That was really the only option then.

I hope you get some good responses. I work with pediatricians. I'll try to get you some info links.

I wish the chicken pox vaccine was given to me as a child (my Mom wanted me to have it - got sick at age 2), but I made sure my daughter got it.

Sure, most children survive getting the chicken pox, some don't. Once you GET the chicken pox - you now have a virus which will lay dormant in your body for the rest of your life and it will re-emerge in times of immune suppression, old age, stress and sickness as SHINGLES.

If you get the vaccine for chicken pox, your chances of getting shingles are greatly diminished. In many adults who get shingles - which is an excruciatingly painful version of zoster (chicken pox, shingles and herpes) - it can cause permanent nerve damage, palsy and even death.

I'd give your child the vaccine next time he goes in for other vaccinations.

With a respect to your decision, I wish this vaccine was available when I was a child. I had a chicken pox at 9. I was far from home (kind of summer kids camp) and nobody told me that I should not touch my face that was terribly itching. I have scares and acne for many years...

If a child gets chicken pox it may or may not be mild or it may have serious complications. If that child gives it to an infant or an adult, or a senior, it actually can be more dangerous for those age groups. It can also complicate another medical condition that someelse may have who contracts chicken pox from your child. It's your choice but it is other people we have to think about too.

My sister got it very badly when she was 6, down her throat and everything. Like Shane B. said, our mom wanted us to get chicken pox and would let us play with known vectors to try to get it young when it was easier. It didn't happen and then all of a sudden our whole school broke out (school was so small that they shut down for a week or so while enough kids recovered) and we all got them in time for Thanksgiving.

I chose to get most of DD's vax on a delayed schedule so she got fewer at a time and we discussed the different options with the pediatrician. What irritates me more than individual vax is the "just one shot" idea when they stuff 7 different vaccinations in one go, and some are no longer offered individually, like MMR. Even for myself, I only need a tetanus booster and I got a combo vaccine (my error for not verifying).

Coworker of mine got shingles in his late 20s and was miserable. I do realize there's a possibility - but there is also a possibility if she got chicken pox, too. Everyone needs to make their own choices. I generally do not get DD vaccinated every year for flu. She's not in daycare. I don't get the shot, either.

I am with you on this one...to a point. I know there CAN be some serious consequences to chicken pox however, the vaccine does not prevent a person from getting chicken pox. If you get chicken pox, the vaccine helps lessen the severity of the outbreak; however, with less severe outbreaks comes the higher chance to get a second or third outbreak....like once is not bad enough.

I had a mild case when I was a toddler and got them again in 4th grade when my little sisters got them (was previously told you could not get them twice). My second case was so bad I have scaring without having scratched them. Ironically, my son got chicken pox when he was 8 months...he two has the same scares (same place too). Because of this, he was not required to get the chicken pox vaccine for school...they didn't require it when he started but then tried to enforce it when he was in middle school because their regulations had changed. I explained he had them, provided documentation and he never got the vaccine. My daughter will be required to get the vaccine when she starts school. I don't fear this one but I don't agree with it either but since it is required for school, I don't really have an option.

I have let my daughter get the flu shot but not the H1N1 shot. Since this year they were combined, I didn't let her get it at all.

I have given all 4 of my kids the chickenpox vaccine with no issues. Unfortunately, the kids need this vaccine in order to go to school.
It is always better to be safe when it comes to this vaccine as my girls have had contact with someone with chickenpox so many times and never got it. They are now teens and I would hate for them not to have gotten this vaccine...then ended up being one of those that enter adulthood and get the disease since it is worse for adults..... My hubby is one of those adults who has never had the disease nor the vaccine. I worry big time about him getting the disease.

I would go ahead and get her the chickenpox vaccine. It may seem like a disease you never hear of much anymore but it is like all the others...(measles and whooping cough) they seem to hide and then WHAM they peek their heads out and get ya!

I have never gotten my kids the flu vaccine and they were fine. I have gotten a flu vaccine and pneumonia vaccine.... now I cannot eat eggs unless I am craving it. Otherwise I have bad tummy issues.