Chicken Pox Vaccine

[Princess_Aurora]

I had to take DS in for his one-year shots. He got his Polio, Measles, and Chicken Pox vaccines. Because of the Chicken Pox vaccine, the doctor asked me if everyone in the family has had chicken pox or the vaccine. DD (age 5) hasn't had chicken pox or the vaccine. So, the dr recommended that we give her the vaccine too. She said that when you get the vaccine you could become contagious therefore infecting anyone that has never had chicken pox. She said it was really rare and she had never seen it happen before, but just to be on the safe side she wanted to give DD the vaccine too. Man, you can only imagine how surprised DD was when suddenly she was going to be getting a shot too. After all, she was just there to see little brother get his shots. Man, she got mad. Anyway, she also said that most schools were requiring a chicken pox vaccine. I was wondering if that was just around here or if schools everywhere were requiring it???

 

[janette]

My 8yo DD received it when she was young. It was pretty new then but she was asthmatic and the Dr thought it was better than the risk of her getting CP.

LISD does require the shot, my older DD had CP when she was about 2. It really wasn't bad then. I think the schools require it because of the contagious factor and it can take a long time for they get over it so they would miss several days of school.

Since she is 5 and hadn't already had them it is probably best that she have the shot.

 

[MomE@Home]

It's not a requirement in my children's school district but our Ped. suggested it. My oldest DS & I got the chicken pox at the same time 10 years ago, it was awful, so I had my two youngest get the shots.

 

[mrsmom]

My dd now 9 had it when it first came out and they were giving it only to teenagers. or childrenwith extreme medical conditions, She was 1 and just went threw repair of cleft palete and she has a very small airway. her brother was almost 3 and they said the same thing ,so he got the shot too, Now they are 9 and 11 and have been exposed atleast 10 times and have never gottin them .So i keep my fingers crossed. I hope your kids are doing better now!
As for the school i do think when my 5 year old entered kindergarten this year they asked if he had gottin the shot or chicken poxs.
Mrsmom

 

[ez]

My daughter is 9 and got the shot before she started kindergarten. I think it is required in Fl. now for public schools. There were some major outbreaks amongst 3rd graders this year, on her soccer team and in school. One day like 2 weeks after I knew she was exposed at soccer, she had a couple of what looked like bugbites on her forehead. She was fine, but I had to wonder if it was from coming in contact with chicken pox. I have heard that vaccinated kids actually can get an extremely mild case, so mild that parents seldom know it, as they appear to be bugbites. So I wonder-but while all those kids were missing 2 weeks of school, I was certainly glad she got the shot. There was also a woman on this board not very long ago, whose daughter was hospitalized with complications from Chicken pox. I think it was probably a good idea for her to get the shot, and I think now that its been around awhile, most doctors agree.

 

[cgcw]

Yes, it's required in our area. Both of my children have had it. DS8 when it first came out and DS3 when he was about 18 months. Isn't there another booster required in the early teen years if there hasn't been a mild case?? I know they can have a blood test to see if they have been exposed.

Most cases, with the vacinne show up as just a couple of pox.....but doesn't that mean those couple are still contagious?? I know I took care of a little one who had just one spot on the top of his head (very blond so it was very noticable) and the doctor couldn't tell whether it was a pox or not. No one else broke out so it probably wasn't one.

 

[mtemm]

I think the schools around here require the vaccine or proof you had it. I opted to wait until Daniel's 18 month appointment for it.

 

[MerryPoppins]

The schools in our area are now requiring it. DD was grandfathered in since she was older when the shot came out. She never got it and I really wish she had. Some of you may remember when she got the Chicken Pox in February. She was almost 12 and she got them really, really bad! Then she got an infection and ended up in the hospital for 9 days. She missed about a month of school and had to learn to put weight on her ankle all over again.

If anyone is in doubt . . . get the shot for your kids. I had heard that she would have to remember to get boosters. I thought it would be better to just get them and have it over with. I was so wrong! She could have died. It was really scary.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

DD's old ped. from our hometown also thought it was best that she get CP naturally instead of getting the vaccine. The vaccine had just come out around the time she was born so that's why she never had it. Our ped up here didn't think anything of it until it was Mikey's time to get the vaccine. She said they would've given it to her with her round of shots when she was 4 but their usual practice is to give it to patients on their one-year visit so they didn't think to look to see if she had it already.

I was less than a year old when I had CP so I don't remember anything about it. I do remember around the 3rd grade a lot of my classmates were absent for weeks with CP. I guess it makes since then for them to require the vaccine that way they don't miss all those days of school.

 

[Pooh93]

It is required here also. I had already planned on getting it because somehow I escaped the chicken pox as a child and did not get them until I was 28 yrs old. A horrible experience that I would not wish upon anyone.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

It is required in Missouri as well. I was NOT happy about that. For various reasons, I did not want my kids to have this vaccine. Oldest DD got them when she was 3, so that wasn't a problem. I tried like heck to expose my youngest before she started kindergarden, but to no avail. She has had the shot and I just hope that when boosters are never offered and the vaccine isn't good anymore that she doesn't get CP as an adult.

 

[ByTheSea]

My son had the vaccine at about 10 months of age.. he's 9 now so it was fairly new. It is now required in his school district.

He also got the Chicken Pox when he was about 4 years old. I remember watching the Pox pop out right before my eyes.. mostly on his face, body and legs - we did get quite a few of them..

but he never had a fever, never "acted" sick, and didn't even seem itchy.. the pox ran it's course very quickly, within 3 days I believe. We were told to treat him as if he was contagious until the pox had healed up.

 

[ennazus]

It was not required for my son in Maine. He's currently in the 2nd. grade. Just a couple notes regarding "required" vaccines....
The chicken pox vaccine is developed with the use of aborted fetuses (as well as other vaccines)

You can get an exemption from having to give your child the vaccine if you so choose. It is NOT required as they lead you to believe.

ThinkTwice

Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety

 

[browneyes]

It's required in Georgia, atleast my part of Georgia. My ds had to have the vaccine. My dd had chicken pox when she was 21 months old, so she didn't have to have the vaccine. I think when she goes to middle school in a year, she'll have to show proof of immunity.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Originally posted by TIdoublegaER
I just hope that when boosters are never offered and the vaccine isn't good anymore that she doesn't get CP as an adult.

The sheet they gave me on the CP vaccine says that if you do get the CP later on it will just be a mild case. In most cases your immune system treats it as if you've already had CP therefore you're immune for life.

Originally posted by ennazus
The chicken pox vaccine is developed with the use of aborted fetuses

Ewww...I didn't know that. That's just yucky.

 

[KimRaye]

5yo DD got hers at 1yo also. I had DS get the shot also at that time, he was 11 and, never got CP so, I felt it better to protect him.

Last year, when DD started preK 4, the school was informing everyone that it WOULD be required for Kndg so, I just informed them that she already had it and, her previous medical history sheets would prove that. That's all they needed.

 

[Buckalew]

DD (9yo) had the shot at 15months. She's had 2 very mild cases. One when she was 3 & one at 5.

I had the CP my 9th grade year. It was horrible & I'll never forget how bad it was!!

 

[joeokw]

M SIL did not opt for the varicella vaccine for her kids. But just the past weeks her son then daughter both got the chicken pox. She had to scramble to find cargivers because the day care problem . yes I know the s concern of vaccine side effects and no way as a RN I will ever say "the chances of bad side effects are one in 100,00 and do not worry. All I can say is as a adult varicella zoster( chicken pox) in somes cases can lead to viral meniginitis and can be severe enough to cause coma and or death. So the choice always is up to the well informed parent .

 

[snookhams]

Well we must be really behind the times here in the UK, I did not even know that there was a CP vaccine, I wish some one had given it to me, has it been around very long? I got CP on my 17th Birthday, awful, but have had Shingles 6 months ago- even worse, I am still not right, unfortunatly had it on my leg which is very rare and I am now having problems with it being very swollen, so obviously this vaccine is a help because you can't have shingles if you've not had CP. I was always of the opinion that I wanted my children to get CP to get it over and done with while they are young after my experience at 17, but after shingles I would not want anyone to get that so I would have opted for the vaccine if I had known about it not even sure if it is available here, never ever heard of it until I read this thread.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by snookhams
I was always of the opinion that I wanted my children to get CP to get it over and done with while they are young after my experience at 17

You're not alone there! When I got CP at 8, my brother got them and, my Aunt purposely brought my younger cousin over to 'catch' them. It was and, still is, something better 'caught' during childhood, if you're gonna get them.

As for how long the vaccine has been around, I'm not positive but, I'll guess about 15-20 years. I could be WAY off there but, my Mom seems to remember my brother having this vaccine available and, he's 28 now. It was purely an elective vaccine, at least before now, when many schools are now requiring it. Not sure how insurance companies are handling this, tho.