Chickenpox Vaccine,

I am so pleased that this has become available. Chickenpox can be horrible for children. My DD had it very badly and it was terrible to see how uncomfortable she was. However , luckily, my DGD had it mildly. I can’t believe why any mother would prefer to let their child suffer rather than have a jab especially if there is a danger of serious complications if they catch the disease.

Just waiting for the anti vaxers to start. (Hopefully not on this site).

I remember when the Nanny State had school nurses and doctors who went round to primary schools giving vaccines to all. Before that there was the health clinic with those awful health visitors who did great work. In Australia when DD2 lived there all children had to be immunised before attending nursery or school and had to provide proof. All this kept children safe.

I’d be happy if these methods were used to ensure children were vaccinated. It would save heartache and illness for parents and children.

The problem imo is that parents have no community memory of what it was like to have epidemics and children dying from now preventable disease. According to my baby book I had measles as a child before vaccination was available but fortunately survived intact.

It’s about time our future generations were given the care we had as baby boomers.

A high percentage of children will already have had chickenpox, but if this vaccination is included in the baby vaccination cycle it will pick up 90% ish of babies, which will reduce the prevalence within a few years. My GD had hers done privately at Boots, who also offer the service to adults - if I hadn’t had it already I’d definitely pay to have it done, because I know somebody who ended up in ITU, he was in hospital for three weeks, really poorly.

A friend who was a teacher caught chicken pox in her thirties. She was extremely ill with it and missed almost a whole term at school.
Vaccines have saved countless lives and people need to listen to medical professionals not conspiracy theorists.
My GS had chicken pox and it was mild but a problem for my DD with childcare as he had to stay at home.
Another reason to get your child vaccinated.

So wish tha UK would follow many other countries and insist that any child being admitted to nursery or school must be able to show their full vaccination history.
Cannot put a dog or cat into cattery/kennels without this, why are humans treated differently?
My children were fortunate, back in the 70's/80's when we would deliberately try to get them to catch childhood illnesses like this whilst they were pre-school.
None of mine were dreadfully ill with Chicken pox, although I can remember how much calamine I used, and how long they spent in the bath. My eldest, who is quite dark skinned showed the marks for nearly a year afterwards, from those spots.
Cannot understand or sympathise with anybody who does not care enough for their children to get every possible vaccine protection they can.

It’s a live vaccine, so not suitable for everyone. My DGS, 7 months, is currently immunocompromised but hopefully by the time his jabs are due his immune system will be normal. His mum, DD, will take advice from the consultant about all jabs, including mmr.
We’ve all been grateful for the long summer where he’s been able to be outside.
Herd immunity is so important for those who can’t have jabs.

I did hear this was coming months ago Good!
My Son paid for his younger daughter to have the Vaccination as his elder one had Chicken pox as a toddler.
As a little chap he had it really bad he was so poorly I had to get the Doctor in.
Think it's a good thing but let's hope there is a good uptake, not holding my breath on that tho '

Yes it is a good idea chicken pox is a very nasty thing to have. I had it as a child, Mr J did not. In out twenties I had shingles and he then got chicken pox and was very ill. Awful to have as a child even more horrible as an Adult. Would not want to see anyone get this whether child or Adult. So hope there will be a good uptake when it is rolled out.

I agree with everyone here , chickenpox is a horrible infection, particularly for adults, and the sooner we inoculate against it, the better.

AGAA4

A friend who was a teacher caught chicken pox in her thirties. She was extremely ill with it and missed almost a whole term at school.
Vaccines have saved countless lives and people need to listen to medical professionals not conspiracy theorists.
My GS had chicken pox and it was mild but a problem for my DD with childcare as he had to stay at home.
Another reason to get your child vaccinated.

I also caught chickenpox from my daughter when I was in my thirties. I was incredibly ill and it took me at least 4 weeks to get over it. For an adult, chickenpox can be really nasty. I hadn’t had it as a child.

Why do they keep saying FREE NHS chickenpox jabs are being offered to kids? I can’t ever remember paying for any jabs for my kids or indeed ourselves.

This is such good news and long overdue.
Let’s hope the take-up is high.

Presumably it will also mean that when these vaccinated children become adults they will not suffer the agonies of shingles.

We've just seen this on the news so I was pleased to see someone had started a thread, Calenargirl.

The chicken pox vaccine should be rolled out imo but not be made compulsory. Lovemylife makes good points, and herd immunity would be quite effective.

Two of my children had chicken pox, one after the other and weren't too ill but the youngest one caught it later when she was two and had blisters around her eyes. She was smothered!

Could another benefit be that people who do not catch chicken pox may not develop shingles later in life?

X post JenniferEccles 🙂

I’ve had shingles Allira and know just how horrible it is, so that thought sprung into my mind, and yours too!

I've had it twice, JenniferEccles and yes, I've wondered that before because I know the chicken pox vaccine is given routinely in Australia.

Obviously not for long enough to see if it has any had any effect on the rates of shingles cases in older people.

Chickenpox vaccine was offered to most young women I know as there is a serious risk to unborn babies if it’s caught during pregnancy.I thought the whole of the UK did the same.

paddyann54

Chickenpox vaccine was offered to most young women I know as there is a serious risk to unborn babies if it’s caught during pregnancy.I thought the whole of the UK did the same.

Could you give a link for more information please? Can't find anything about that at all (probably silly me).
Scotland has yet to announce when they'll be offering free Chicken Pox vaccinations for children, but it's assumed they'll be following England's decision.

Primrose53

Why do they keep saying FREE NHS chickenpox jabs are being offered to kids? I can’t ever remember paying for any jabs for my kids or indeed ourselves.

The vaccination has been offered for some time for around £200, l assume the media is just highlighting it is now available free to help encourage uptake.

Primrose53

Why do they keep saying FREE NHS chickenpox jabs are being offered to kids? I can’t ever remember paying for any jabs for my kids or indeed ourselves.

Because up till now, the chickenpox vaccination was available but had to be paid for with private healthcare.

I heard on the BBC news the jab was £150 and won’t be free on the NHS until next year.

I had it aged 40! Not much fun.
Vaccines are there for a purpose, me and mine have had everything.

Every vax I mean