Chicken pox vaccine?

O

OlympianCity

Registered User
Hi, everyone
i am just curious if anyone 's baby has got the chicken pox vaccine? I am still thinking about it. It's just that Chicken pox seems to be such a minor issue - my brother and i both got it when we were little - so i wonder if it is necessary to jab my baby. I've asked my doctor if it is absolutely necessary.. she told me : "most people who got it just wanted their babies to look nice - meaning they didn't want to see chicken pox scars on their babies' face to affect their look" . . i was like ...seriously? if that was the only reason, i certainly won't care to have my baby to get it! anyone could think of any other reasons why my baby should get it? Thank you !!
 
We had the jab! My little guy was sick quite often when he was baby/toddler. I didn't want him to have to go through CP too. I think we got it when he was around 18mths, as it was going around at his cousin's school.
 
We got it. Before there was a vaccine there were about 100 deaths a year in the US and 11,000 hospitalizations annually. Actually can harm adults who haven't had it and my wife doesn't know if she has had them or not (records were sketchy when she grew up). Risks of a shot were outweighed by risks of no shot so we opted to take it. Also don't really like the idea of my kids suffering any more than they have to with a bout of the pox.
 
It doesn't guarantee no chickenpox if you have the vaccine, but if they do get infected it would only be a very very mild case. We got our kids vaccinated as my niece had it last year aged 5 and ended up in hospital with a complication and was really very ill. It it not necessarily a harmless disease although I know it is in most cases.
 
we havent got it yet because it is relatively mild at young age (usually). plus it gives immunity against all it's family diseases. however, if bub doesnt get it by the time he's ten or so we would get it.
 
I don't believe there is any vaccine that guarantees you won't get a disease, just google the vaccine efficacy rates to get a better idea of all major immunizations. What is being seen is that those who get chicken pox after the vaccination generally have a more mild form. I think with chicken pox the initial effective rate in the first year was in the mid-90% not getting the disease, but as time has gone by and more and more people have had the vaccine for a longer period, the rate has dropped into mid-70s or 80% or so.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/291/7/851.abstract

Doctors are now examining the vaccine schedule to see if a booster shot should be recommended.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2...e-of-vaccine-protects-from-chicken-pox/?print

There are, of course, people who should NOT get the shot. You can review the CDC's site about the chickenpox vaccine here:

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-varicella.pdf
 
Both my kids have had the chicken pox vaccine and I can assure you their looks were the last thing on my mind. My son has been very sick from a young age and I wanted to give him as much protection as possible, particularly knowing this is one of those childhood diseases that once it infects a school it can potentially go through it for months. In Australia is it one of the prescribed immuninsations at 18 months. I was also told that once my kids have the immunisation any exposure to Chicken Pox would be lessened, particularly as adolescents/adults. It also allegedly prevents those immunised from getting shingles later in life (or lessens the effect, depending on what you read).
Neither of my children had any ill effects from the vaccine. At the end of the day vaccination is a personal choice, so there is no right or wrong answer.
 
Your child is unlikely to be harmed by the vaccine, but I can understand any reluctance to do it on the basis that it's usually a very minor disease in healthy children. I too never had a vaccine and got it the natural way! No scars BTW. I have read that it doesn't provide complete protection though, whereas kids who get it naturally have excellent immunity against the virus for the rest of their lives. Contrary to what kiwiinoz says above regarding shingles, I have seen information from a study which linked increased incidence of shingles (which can be very nasty) with the vaccine. I think because it hasn't be given for very long the long term effects regarding immunity are not fully known.

I recommend reading Dr Sears vaccination book - he has a very well-rounded perspective on each vaccine and whether he would consider it necessary or optional. I think chicken-pox he placed under optional.
 
I believe one of the studies showing an increase incidence of shingles does not come directly from the vaccination but from adults not being exposed to children who have the chicken pox. Adults who are in contact with children who have the pox have sort of a natural 'booster' from that exposure that may help them fight off shingles. With more and more kids not having the exposure due to vaccination, there is less interaction and thus less protection in older people.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12057605

It will be interesting to watch as the population ages and we get better data.

I do not recommend reading Dr. Sears book. I would recommend reading these comments about Dr. Sears.

"Cashing in on the Fear of Danger: Dr. Sears"
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/cashing-in-on-fear-the-danger-of-dr-sears/

"The many problems with Dr. Bob's alternative vaccine schedule"
http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2009/08/many-problems-with-dr-bobs-alternative.html

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/08/dr_bob_sears_stealth_anti-vaccinationist.php
 
Last edited:
OlympianCity said:
Hi, everyone
my brother and i both got it when we were little - so i wonder if it is necessary to jab my baby. I've asked my doctor if it is absolutely necessary.. she told me : "most people who got it just wanted their babies to look nice - meaning they didn't want to see chicken pox scars on their babies' face to affect their look" . . i was like ...seriously? if that was the only reason, i certainly won't care to have my baby to get it! anyone could think of any other reasons why my baby should get it? Thank you !!
Click to expand...

miran said:
we havent got it yet because it is relatively mild at young age (usually). plus it gives immunity against all it's family diseases. however, if bub doesnt get it by the time he's ten or so we would get it.
Click to expand...

You never know at what age you might get it. I got it when I was in the University, and I suffered a lot. You just fell so itchy all over your body, and you just want to scratch and scratch, but you have to resist cause you don't want to break any blister and leave any mark or get any skin infection.... I will definitely give my baby the jab!
 
My kids had/will have the vaccine. I also got Chickenpox at age 19 and I had a horrible case. I had it all down my throat, inside my eyelids - it was ridiculous. And I got a number of scars, even though I was careful not to scratch. Some just got rubbed or got wet etc.. I wouldn't wish it on anyone!! I figure even if the vaccine only works to give them a more mild case, it's worth it!!
 
Once you've had chickenpox, the virus can lie dormant in your spine and could reappear as shingles later in life. Getting the vaccine can reduce your risk of getting both.
 
Agree CP could be insufferable if u have it in adulthood. My husband caught it a month before our baby was due. When I first noted the spots in late evening it scared the shit out of me as I was heavily pregnant and I didn't know what it was and worry it might affect our baby. Luckily it was all ok for me and our baby. Wasn't nice at all to see my husband suffered for about a week though. He was really sick for about 2-3 days (he almost never get really sick) and afterwards for terribly itchy which nothing could help.
 
I had the cp when I was 29-- soon after my newborn was born. He got it too when he was 1.5 months old but he suffered much less than me.. (I had fever n body chills). My son had a mild fever n ended up with some scars even though he was an infant. Made sure my second child got her cp vaccine as soon as she was old enough.
 
http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/elocal/news.htm?elocal&20110624&56&764821

The health department announced today that the boy who died last Tuesday from scarlet fever did not have the mutated strain, but the conventional strain. However, they added:

"...the boy who died was already suffering from chicken pox. In addition to his immunity being compromised, these chicken pox blisters provided a multiple entry points for the scarlet fever bacteria, thereby worsening his situation."
 
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