Chicken Pox Vaccine

[willsmom216]

We had my 20 month old exposed yesterday to Chicken Pox.. Yea!!!!

We don't vaccinate at all and I have many reasons why.. but for the chicken pox vaccine I did not research as much..I just knew we were not... no need to research.

What are specific reasons? My MIL was asking me why we don't for the chicken pox...(she doesn't know we are completely non-vax) and I didn't have the scientific backing for the chicken pox vaccine I have for all the others.

Can anyone give me their reasons why not? We have Thanksgiving with the inlaws and I wanted some scientific reasons why not. (they are very unsupportive of our life choices and I want to be armed)

Thanks!

[just_lily]

My biggest reasons are that it is still a new vaccine so we don't know the long term affects (this is true for ALL the vaccines on the recommended schedule as well), and that we have no idea what the need will be for boosters - it is looking like they will be needed as often as every five years. This pushes normal, mild, childhood illness into adolescence/adulthood where it can be more serious and/or complicate a pregnancy. I would much prefer my child to contract the actual illness while young and have real lifetime immunity.

Oh, and vaccinated children are now coming down with shingles.

[kiara7]

Everyone used to have chicken pox in childhood - it's a mild illness and needs only tlc. With vaccines' unknown long term side effects and shingles which is on the rise among vaccinated groups.
Also, purely anecdotal - rarely did anyone used to be hospitalized with cp. You stayed home for a week or two and you had lifetime immunity. Since there is less exposure to cp because of vaccine, you're going to have someone like my mom's coworker. Somehow he managed to escape cp in childhood and was recently hospitalized for 2 weeks because of cp (at the age of 25).

[CookAMH]

Mine wasn't based on research, per say. I want our kids to get the actual illness and gain lifetime immunity from it. The shot does not provide lifetime immunity and is more likely to wear off by adult hood. CP as an adult is less pleasant than as a kid. Just ask my DH.

[Gitti]

Since they use the chicken pox vaccine, more and more very young children have shingles. It used to be only something you heard in old people and only rarely. Now this has changed.

So they are (or did) bringing out an shingles vaccine. How many more will follow?

Also the cp vax does not give life long immunity. So there will be a second vaccine out soon for the cp as well.

Besides, how many more vaccines do we want to inject into our kids? (None for mine.)

Your grandmother got maybe 2, your mil got ca 4-6, you got about 20? Now kids get close to 40. It is insanity!

[jessa810]

I recently had to defend my decision not to get DS vaxed against cp to a friend of mine. Her argument was that since he is in daycare and around kids who have presumably gotten the cp vax, that I should in turn have him vaxed since he will most likely not come into contact with the virus until later and at that point it will be much worse for him.

I didn't have a good enough come back - any suggestions for how to address that specific argument?

[lemurik]

You could always give the vaccine later (when its more dangerous to get the disease) if your child doesn't come in contact with the virus before that. The immunity from the vax wanes anyway, so by that time those kids are likely not to have immunity either and need boosters. This way you at least skip one dose of chemicals.

[rabbitmum]

I have heard that the only reason you vaccinate against chicken pox in the US is that employers have pushed for it, because they don't want to have parents stay at home with sick children - I don't know if this is true?

Anyway, it seems like one of the more pointless vaccines, since chicken pox isn't dangerous for kids at all. We don't even have that vaccine here. Basically all children get it at an early age, it's completely undramatic.

[quarteralien]

This is an excellent article on why not to do the chicken pox vax.

[knucklehead]

All I have to say is..........IM JEALOUS!!! Where did you find CP???

[MammaKoz]

I have a friend, whom in the last two weeks has had all 3 of her kids come down with CP. And a seemingly raging case of them at that.

They were all fully vaxed for CP.

My niece and nephew had CP this summer. Same thing, fully vaxed.

Apparently it seems to be a very effective vaccine.

/sarcasm.



That being said, I'm hoping to get my kids exposed to her kids with CP this week. I'll keep y'all posted on how it goes.

[cadejaxellamom]

Man, I am jealous too Now correct me if I'm wrong (because it wouldn't be the first time ) but one of my main reasons is that if my daughter gets chicken pox naturally she can pass on her immunity to her children (not sure how long the immunity last in the newborn, but any time is better than none) and if she gets the vaccine she can not pass on that immunity.

[MammaKoz]

Man, I am jealous too Now correct me if I'm wrong (because it wouldn't be the first time ) but one of my main reasons is that if my daughter gets chicken pox naturally she can pass on her immunity to her children (not sure how long the immunity last in the newborn, but any time is better than none) and if she gets the vaccine she can not pass on that immunity.

I think so?? I dunno honestly and that is a great question. I believe if immunity is passed from mother to baby it lasts for about 6 months or so.

Or is it, if you have immunity during pregnancy then you pass it on to the baby, no matter how you got immune?

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong too... I'd love to know the real answer to this question....

[willsmom216]

thanks for all the help!!!

We found the chicken pox across the street

Our neighbors 18 month old has the chicken pox... and we have been over ALOT.

Let's hope we get them this coming weekend


Thanks again!