Chicken pox vax

[NYCVeg]

I have many questions about this vax, but it boils down to this: Would you get your child the CP vax at some point if they did NOT contract CP naturally in childhood?

Dd is 3, totally unvaccinated. I'm not concerned about chicken pox as a childhood disease, but I am concerned about dd contracting it when she's older and it's more dangerous and/or contracting shingles as an adult.

I've never been able to find CP in my area, and I have reservations about the pox party idea. First, I've read on these boards that if you knowingly expose your child to CP, you need to more or less keep them for two full weeks to see if they develop symptoms (and then possibly additional time, if they contract the disease). I don't see how we could do this--dh and I both work full time, and taking two straight weeks off is simply not a possibility.

I'm also concerned about the immunity that dh and I have. We both had CP as young children, but my understanding was that you needed to have some further exposure to the wild disease as a natural "booster" for the antibodies you've developed. Since CP just seems not to be around these days, I don't know if we've had any exposure. My mom had shingles when I was a kid, and I remember how unbelievably awful it was. I'm worried about intentionally introducing the disease into the house--not for dd's sake, but for ours.

I'm curious about the choices people make: actively seek out CP; just hope the child is exposed and do nothing; or hope the child gets exposed and at some point get her the vax if s/he doesn't get the disease.

Let me add that I think the introduction of the CP vax was completely unnecessary. Of all the vaxes, this is one of the most ridiculous. But now that so many parents get it, we live in a world in which, unfortunately, natural immunity is hard to come by.

[Fyrestorm]

I've decided to leave the decision up to DD if she doesn't contract it by the teen years. It's her body and she can make the choice.

As far as shingles...she can't get them unless she's had CP or the vaccine.

You can also have titers done

[ammiga]

Well, I knowingly exposed dd to CP and didn't isolate her for 2 weeks. I didn't isolate her at all. And, she didn't get them. She was still a heavy nurser at that time, so that might be why she didn't get them. Or maybe she developed immunity without breaking out.

For your "boosters", you might be running into CP at the mall, daycare, the gym, the grocery store, etc. all the time and not know it. CP isn't gone, and most people stay home once they show pox, but that doesn't mean that they aren't contagious before then.

I have actively sought out CP in the past, and will continue to do so. I hope DD gets them, as well as other normal childhood diseases. We don't vax for anything, but I would certainly never vax for this. Not at any age, for any reason. I hope dd opts to not vax herself for anything, but at some point, it will become her decision. This is not a decision that I will ever force into her body.

[Deborah]

some info on chickenpox that might help:

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/...-sure-why-not/

[Gitti]

That article on Chicken Pox is really informative.

We exposed our grandsons several times to cp and they never got it. None of them out of the 3. Well, just about a month ago, our 4 yo. came down with it. 20 some pox (that's all). We have no idea where he picked it up. His brother or cousin still did not get any symptoms although now they were really exposed from the very onset all the way through. Go figure! We consider them immune.

They will not get the vaccine under any circumstances (unless they are adults and decide to have it then), since we really don't know whether they have immunity or not. But I am sure their own body knows when and what it needs. We are not going to interfere.

That's just what we do.

[inchwormz]

Originally Posted by ammiga

Well, I knowingly exposed dd to CP and didn't isolate her for 2 weeks. I didn't isolate her at all. And, she didn't get them. She was still a heavy nurser at that time, so that might be why she didn't get them. Or maybe she developed immunity without breaking out.

For your "boosters", you might be running into CP at the mall, daycare, the gym, the grocery store, etc. all the time and not know it. CP isn't gone, and most people stay home once they show pox, but that doesn't mean that they aren't contagious before then.

I have actively sought out CP in the past, and will continue to do so. I hope DD gets them, as well as other normal childhood diseases. We don't vax for anything, but I would certainly never vax for this. Not at any age, for any reason. I hope dd opts to not vax herself for anything, but at some point, it will become her decision. This is not a decision that I will ever force into her body.

Agreed. This is what we do.

[NYCVeg]

Hmmm. In other threads, people have been lambasted for taking a possibly-exposed child out in public and possibly infecting the immunocompromised. The sentiment I read was basically: "If you choose not to vaccinate, you do so knowing that if your child is exposed at a pox party or elsewhere, it is your responsibility to quarantine the child for at least two weeks and anything else is just unethical."

[MCatLvrMom2A&X]

I allowed dd to have the cp vax in my ignorance. Ds has not had it and I have no intention of him ever getting it. If as an adult he wishes to get it that is fine.

I personally had cp at around 13yo it wasnt that bad really so I dont fear either kid getting cp in their teens.

[lastrid]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg

Hmmm. In other threads, people have been lambasted for taking a possibly-exposed child out in public and possibly infecting the immunocompromised. The sentiment I read was basically: "If you choose not to vaccinate, you do so knowing that if your child is exposed at a pox party or elsewhere, it is your responsibility to quarantine the child for at least two weeks and anything else is just unethical."

This seems a bit over the top to me. Do these same people keep their kids in if they've been exposed to a cold? Obviously everyone should be careful not to spread disease, but we can't all live in a bubble. Are chicken-pox even contagious before spots appear? I don't recall.

I also would not get the vax for any reason. And as far as shingles goes, I believe that you and your DH being exposed to the pox can lessen your chance of getting shingles in the future.

[pantufla]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg

Hmmm. In other threads, people have been lambasted for taking a possibly-exposed child out in public and possibly infecting the immunocompromised. The sentiment I read was basically: "If you choose not to vaccinate, you do so knowing that if your child is exposed at a pox party or elsewhere, it is your responsibility to quarantine the child for at least two weeks and anything else is just unethical."

How bizarre. What do they expect people to do, whose kids have been exposed unknowingly? Do they expect people who get their children vaccinated for CP to keep their children home for two weeks also? The CP vaccine sheds.

I, for one, wouldn't knowingly take my kids around an immune-compromised person if they had been exposed to CP or recently vaxed for it. But I wouldn't stay home, either. The argument makes no sense given that so many vaccines shed and people don't expect parents whose children have been recently vaccinated to quarantine themselves.

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by NYCVeg

Hmmm. In other threads, people have been lambasted for taking a possibly-exposed child out in public and possibly infecting the immunocompromised. The sentiment I read was basically: "If you choose not to vaccinate, you do so knowing that if your child is exposed at a pox party or elsewhere, it is your responsibility to quarantine the child for at least two weeks and anything else is just unethical."

Then I assume that these people keep their children home whenever they go to daycare or the mall or wherever and someone sneezes near them?

I think that it is primarily people who are vaxers, scared of non-vaxers, or non-vaxers who make their decision out of fear who feel this way. At least, that is my experience with this sort of sentiment.

[Marnica]

No DS will not get this vax (until he is an adult and can make his own choices)
I had CP at 19...it wasn't fun, but I'm still here...

[Gnatty]

Well, I just heard of a family near me with CP, and if we do get it I will be cautious about going out in public until we're not contagious any more. We're around a lot of babies and pregnant moms... one friend of mine has never had CP, and has a baby... I would hate to give someone CP at a time when it was really not best for them to have it. If we get it I'll let all my friends know, but I don't want to give it to a pregnant, non immune mama and know that I could've stayed at home a little longer and didn't.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by pantufla

How bizarre. What do they expect people to do, whose kids have been exposed unknowingly? Do they expect people who get their children vaccinated for CP to keep their children home for two weeks also? The CP vaccine sheds.

To me, the big difference is whether I know. If/when I try to contract CP for the kids, I'll look up the contagious period and we'll stay home, or visit friends' houses who know we may be contagious.

The argument makes no sense given that so many vaccines shed and people don't expect parents whose children have been recently vaccinated to quarantine themselves.

Sadly, a lot of parents _don't_ know that the live vaccines shed. But, I haven't seen anything that makes me think they are nearly _as_ contagious as a kid who's on the verge of breaking out with CP spots, so I think the risk/benefit balance is different for the contagious aspect of the live vaccines vs actual infection.

Almost every kid in the US is vaccinated for measles, often a couple times. If that one, for example, were as contagious as getting measles itself, we'd have more measles around. I can accept that measles can be missed by a doc who's not looking for it, or parents don't even visit a doctor, but I don't think hundreds of thousands of US measles cases are being missed each year.

Originally Posted by ammiga

Then I assume that these people keep their children home whenever they go to daycare or the mall or wherever and someone sneezes near them?

I think that it is primarily people who are vaxers, scared of non-vaxers, or non-vaxers who make their decision out of fear who feel this way. At least, that is my experience with this sort of sentiment.

I'm pretty okay with my kids getting sick, I've had a lot of experience with illness with my son, and for typical colds, I don't do the same thing as something like CP. Is CP a vastly dangerous disease like the CDC wants us to believe? No, of course not, and CDC would have more credibility if they didn't exaggerate the risks, but there is a segment of the population that is more vulnerable, and I feel a responsibility to keep us out of the general population if I think we have an illness that has extra potential to cause problems for the vulnerable.

I kept the kids home for a good chunk of November after I realized that DD's coughing illness was continuing, and she was vomiting after coughing fits, and I realized that maybe we were dealing with something more than the usual (the timing around Thanksgiving didn't fit for testing, so I'll never know if it was WC or not ).

[ammiga]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

I feel a responsibility to keep us out of the general population if I think we have an illness that has extra potential to cause problems for the vulnerable.

I totally agree with this. If I think dd has an illness that has potential to cause problems for people, I would keep her home (as I would keep myself home). I just don't think that being exposed to an illness is cause to think that we actually have and can spread the illness. As soon as symptoms began to appear, we would stay home. I can't live my life acting as though my family contagious from every sniffle and disease that we have been exposed to. It's just not realistic for us.