Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine

Posted: Wed, Nov 28 2007, 6:43 pm Post subject: Varicella (chickenpox) Vaccine

Did you give your child/ren the vaccine? Why or why not?

Posted: Wed, Nov 28 2007, 6:52 pm Post subject:

I didnt give my children the vaccine because in england it was not offered and because of that when I moved to israel I didnt give it but after my oldest daughter suffering from it quite badly I think I would give the vaccine now but my second daughter got chicken pox when she was three months old and im not sure if I can give her the vaccine or if she has built up an immunity to it already if she hasnt I would like her to have the injection as its a really horrible thing.

No. All vaccines have possible side effects. For something as harmless as chicken pox I'm not exposing my kids. There are a lot of vaccines we are chosing to skip, like Hep B for example. I highly doubt our children will need to worry about a sexually transmitted disease.

I personally am for the vaccine, but personal issues aside, I overheard my children's pediatrician talking to a mom who wanted to refuse the vaccine for her kids. he told her (quite strongly) that the health department really really advises it, and that if she refuses, he would have to report her- and then, if there was a case of chicken pox in the child's school, this unvaccinated child, whether exposed or not, would be mandated to leave school for a minimum of 3 months. and if there would be a secondary infection, then the child would be unable to return for 6 months. he said that he had a case like that last year and the boy's parents had to keep the child home for 6 months! needless to say, the woman opted for the vaccine.
not advising you for/against it but just something to be aware of...

Silver Member Joined: Feb 09 2006 Posts: 728

If your child has a healthy normal immune system I believe there is no reason to give this vaccine. Imokay- I don't know what you overheard but my pedi signed that I refused to give ds the vaccine.He did make me promise that if ds didn't get chicken pox by puberty that he would then get the vaccine because chicken pox for adolecents & adults is dangerous. Anyway my ds is in scholl just fine. As amatter of fact pox was going around his school big time. My ds had the most mild case which he caught from all the boys who had had the vaccine. He was not sent home at all except when he was contagious.

Silver Member Joined: Jan 08 2006 Posts: 997

I weighed the pros and cons...

I delayed all the vaccines and had them split them up, so that a tiny little body wasn't being bombarded with 4 (!) vaccines at once.

I did give the chicken pox vaccine (after a year, I think) and will have my daughters get a booster before they reach child bearing age. I've read that sometimes it can wear off, and I don't want them to get the chicken pox while pregnant.

Silver Member Joined: Oct 02 2006 Posts: 597

I gave my daughter the vaccine yrs ago. it is about 80% effective. She did get chicken pox this summer, but it was extremely mild. Now she is most likey fully immune.
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Silver Member Joined: Oct 02 2006 Posts: 597

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Platinum Member Joined: May 22 2005 Posts: 13795

If you do a search on this topic I've written a lot about what I think about this vaccine. It is a money maker for Merck pharmaceutical co. that was originally approved to prevent "money lost to the work force" when parents had to stay home with a "relatively benign illness". I was much more worried that my kids would get it later in life when chicken pox becomes more dangerous b/c the vaccine effectiveness declines over time (which incidentally is why the shingles vaccine - basically the same vaccine - has to have a booster every 5 years). And while yes, some kids get milder cases after they have been vaccinated, I've seen some kids with really bad cases too, esp. the longer it's been since they were vaccinated. Yes, even after 2 doses.

Erm, Hep. B can be caught in eating in dirty dishes... if your child ever takes a trip to China, it's dangerous. I gave it to dd for that reason, I had it too and now that I'm a grown up and able to travel where I want, I'm happy about that!
Varicella I don't know what to do about it. We don't have 10, 20, 30 + years to see if it's really harmless like for other vaccines... I'm hesitating.
Indeed s-xually transmitted stuff is not needed for us but 40% of the people who catch Hep. B we don't know how they got it, except it was not s-xual!

(by the way, I asked about the papilloma virus vax, apparently there are more than 100 types of this virus, but only 4 are in the vax, and not even the most common, just those they managed to find a vax... the doctor told me it's worthless and potentially dangerous since it got out before the testing was finished, and of course we don't have any "step back" on the possible side effects - he was happy when I told him I'm just asking out of curiosity).
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Platinum Member Joined: May 22 2005 Posts: 13795

Hep B canNOT be caught from dirty dishes - it's a blood born disease. Maybe you are thinking of Hep A which can be a problem with food handlers - if they don't wash their hands after using the bathroom (it's fecal/oral transmission).

As far as I know Hep B is only caught s-xually or from sharing needles if you are a drug addict. It could be in the past you could get it from a blood transfusion but now they test blood for this so it doesn't happen anymore.