Chicken Pox Vaccine/vacation??

[Debs5angels]

I'm not sure where to post this but, my 5 year old twins have to get this vaccine in order to enter kindergarten in Sept. They are due to get the shot 4 days before we go on vacation. My question is has anyone's children received this vaccine and are there any reactions? I have heard that some children will get the chicken pox after being vaccinated.

Thanks,
debs5angels

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I would ask my doctor about this, he/she is far more informed about this than we are.

 

[tink2]

Both of my children had this shot and had no major reaction. They may have had a low grade fever, but that's all- and it was very low grade and short lived- a day or so. I agree, talk with your doctor. Each child is different- making reactions different.

 

[shelleyz]

I have 2 DS's who have had this shot. One had no reaction at all and the other got a mild rash like a week after the shot.

 

[disobsessed]

Both my DD (9) and DS (3) had the vaccine and both got the Pox from it. However, each of them only had a few pox-very light case- DS more than DD - and they didn't seem to itch or bother them. They just looked like the pox. Gave them some Benedryl and they were fine. Doctor said it happens quite often, and is probably a good thing because you know th immunity will take and they are very unlikely to get a full blown case in the future.

 

[Terry S]

I choose not to get this shot for my kids because at the time (3 years ago) my doctor was suggesting not to get it. He said it only lasted 10 years and wears off, by that time the kids are older and you don't want them to get chicken pox. Schools are not really to willing to tell you this, but by law there is form you can sign off on saying that you don't want them to get the chicken pox vaccine. This is what I did.

Anyway, I know you didn't ask me that and the reason I came to this thread was that I saw the title Chicken Pox and Vacation. About 2 weeks after we returned from WDW 2 years ago, my kids both came down with the chicken pox. We knew immediately and the doctor confirmed the time frame that they had gotten them while we were at WDW, there was a kid on the bus that they were sitting next to that had chicken pox all over him. I am assuming he was fine since once you break out and scab you are not contagious, but his sibling was probably in the contagious stage.

 

[PrincessAurora]

This vaccine is does NOT contain live virus. I had no problems with it with the exception of a sore arm. It is also in 2 stages. Low grade fever can happen but kids usually handle this better than adults.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Terry, your Dr. is outdated Hopefully he has changed his advice from 3 years ago.
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babywellness/1725.html

I have known 2 kids who almost died from the chicken pox and another who suffered brain damage. It is nothing to mess around with. The shot has been used over 30 years(not approved until later)! Yep! It is safe and effective.
My kids got the shot 5 years ago, no reaction and no pox. Can you not get the shot sooner if it is troubling you?

 

[buffett010]

My son received the vaccine as soon as he could. Unless it has changed, children only need one stage of the vaccine, while the adults get two stages. However, if another child or an adult that your child would come into contact with has not been vaccinated or else has never had chicken pox, your child could potentially give it to them.
My husband is a pharmacist, and we researched this as he had never had chicken pox, and we were told to keep our son away from him for a week after the vaccine so that my husband wouldn't be prone to a very severe case of the pox (it tends to be much worse in adults). Thus, we had our DS get the vaccine when my husband would be at work the whole week and away from us!
I'd recommend that if you get the vaccine to get it a week or two ahead of your trip just to be on the safe side.
Good luck!

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Like I said, your doctor is the best one to advise you regarding this vaccine.
It is interesting that one poster mentioned serious problems when children get CP, BUT, no one has mentioned reactions to the shots. That is definitely something to look at. No vaccine is 100% harmless.
I would be somewhat hesitant to have my children innoculated and then bring them into crowds where they could potentially spread CP around.
BTW, CP is totally contageous until all the pox are gone, not just scabbed over, new ones pop up all the time.

 

[laurie31]

I"d second the opinion of the poster who suggested moving up the appointment. Why risk having them feel bad while on vacation? Hopefully they will have no reaction at all, but remember there are lots of children with serious illnesses who choose Disney World for their "wish" and they could die from chicken pox. I wouldn't want to risk exposing anyone in the parks in case one of your kids did break out with a light case.

As for vaccine reactions, I have never read of serious reactions to the chicken pox vaccine but I do know several children who developed life-threatening complications from chicken pox

http://www.aap.org/policy/re9941.html

Laurie

 

[bratray]

HI

why can't you wait till you get back from WDW then get the shots?

it really wouldn't be fair to possibly take the chance of infecting many unknown people at WDW- especially pregnant women- who can have birth defects in their first trimester if they catch the pox- or children like mine who take steroids for asthma as CP and steroids don't mix and a child could become extremely ill !

lisa

 

[excitedmom]

my doctor has never mentioned a chicken pox vaccine for my kids, and as far as the school system is concerned, i dont' have to vaccinate my kids for anything, it is MY CHOICE! i have never heard of anyone having sever complications from chicken pox before this thread and would therefore not even think to vaccinate them from such a thing.

 

[laurie31]

Hi excited mom I hesitated to reply as I didn't want to be perceived as flaming. I am not criticizing your choice, and I'm certainly not questioning your right to choose. However, I had to respond to the idea that if you haven't heard of it, how can it be such a big deal. You see, I hear that every day. I am a pediatric nurse, and each day at work I hear parents say just that, in shock and disbelief. Whether it's a common infection - the parent exclaims she has never heard of that bacteria, how can it be common (I want to ask her how many bacteria she HAS heard of? But of course, I don't ) - or a lacerated liver from a child wearing a lap belt only - the parent is certain that such a thing is unbelievably rare, because they have never heard of it.

I have personally cared for kids with pneumonia and encephalitis from the chicken pox virus. I have to be careful what I say because of federal patient privacy laws, but I am not giving any names or ages, or any kind of identifying information. Just that these are not some kind of urban legend "friend of a neighbor's uncle" kind of people, they are real. I cared for them with my own hands. One child actually lost both legs due to chicken pox. Obviously most kids get chicken pox and recover without any problems. Out of every 1 million people with chicken pox, 2500 have serious problems and 25 will die. The rest will be fine. So the chance of you knowing someone personally who died from it is extremely small.

You do have to do the research yourself and decide what's best for your family and your child. If you feel the risks outweigh the benefits of immunizing against chicken pox, choosing not to immunize is your right as a parent. I hope, however, that you have chosen to immunize your child against the more deadly diseases such as polio and HIB. Again, it is your choice. I have a friend who distrusts all vaccines and her child is totally unimmunized. The fact that most other children are immunized ("herd immunity") protects her child. (and her choice is just something we don't discuss. We both know how the other feels - no need to debate it, we can still be friends )

As for the OP, I still vote for either doing the shot 6 weeks before you go or waiting until you get back. I think the risk of exposing someone in WDW is too high. Or if you decide not to immunize, you can get a waiver for it going against your personal beliefs. Obviously I am pro-vaccination, but I urge you to make your own choice based on medical facts, not a school requirement. Schools can't MAKE you do anything

Laurie

 

[Goofyish]

In the UK there is no approved chicken pox vaccine - it's just taken as a fact of life that you will get chicken pox at some stage.
I had it when I was about 11. Both my DDs have had it.

Out of interest - are children who have been recently vaccinated in the US infectious at all?

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

excitedmom-even one of our disers went through a horrible ordeal earlier this year with her DD's CP.
You can read how it begins here
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=329007&highlight=+infection

and more here. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=339899&highlight=+chicken++pox

She was in the hospital for quite some time. My son went to school with a girl who almost died from an infection in a pox. She ended up surviving but lost a lot of tissue(I am not sure what all had to be cut out) in her arm.
It is now mandatory for children starting Kindergarten here.

 

[nativetxn]

I'm going to move this to our community board for you.

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

Originally posted by shelleyz
I have 2 DS's who have had this shot. One had no reaction at all and the other got a mild rash like a week after the shot.

Other than I have DDs, that is exactly what happened to my kids. Older DD had a mild rash, and younger DD had no reaction.

 

[khawk]

I tried to expose my kids to chicken pox when they were young so they would get it over with and not get it as adults, they never got them so I had them vaccinated. Neither one of them had any reactions at all. But ALL vaccines have warnings about potential side effects. I was told by the Dr that I work with that the vaccine is only 60% effective and children who have had the vaccine can still get CP but probably a mild case if they do. My DD's have since been exposed to CP by there stepsisters and never got CP. I was not aware that the CP vaccine was not a live virus but it makes sense. People who have had CP can eventually get shingles and people who have had the vaccine wont get them.

I suggest waiting until you get back from WDW to have your kids get their vaccine or have it done several weeks before you go, just in case they do have some type of reaction, you dont want to take the kids while they are sick.

Have fun.
Kim

 

[mickeysaver]

http://www.immunize.org/vis/varic99.pdf

This is a document that will tell you about side effects of the vaccine. I work in a pediatric office here in GA. By law this is the information sheet that we have to provide for every patient that gets the vaccine. I am the "phone triage nurse" and in the 8+ years of working in the field, I have heard of only a handful of cases of reactions to the vaccine. I think you should voice your concerns to your doctor. You might even want to consider making a nurse visit after your trip to WDW, for the vaccine if you are concerned about potential problems. Mickey