For anyone thinking about vaxing DC for chicken pox

[momtoNatalee]

I know most of you here already know this, but just thought I'd share this incase there are any lurkers thinking of giving their dc CP vax.

Why are they giving it when it is going to clearly make things worse, I just read this in Stephanie Caves book:

One major concern that I share w/ many experts and parent groups is the mass immunization of young children w/ the varicella vaccine will force the disease to take hold in older individuals, in whom the disease often causes serious, even deadly, complications. This possibility is based on two factors: that immunity from the vaccine may wear off, which has been determined by the manufacturer , and that the disease will not be as prevalent in the popualtion as the years pass. These two factors work together in creating this concern.
It works like this:As more and more healthy children are vaccianted today, there will be decreasing number of unvaccinated children who will have an opportunity to get chicken pox and aquire permanent natural immunity. When both the vaccianted and the unvaccinated children reach adulthood many may be at risk for getting chicken pox and experiencing serious complications. If, however, children are allowed to get chicken pox (which is usually mild in childhood), they will have permanent immunity and thus eliminate the risk of getting the disease in adulthood.

Now, I'll take the permanent immunity for my DD thank you very much

And also not sure exactly how serious she means when she says "serious complications" or how often they can occur in adulthood.

[appifanie]

excellent. my mom, my 1/2 sister and i have never had the pox. i was even exposed! hung out w/ a friend who had it!

sheesh.

thx for the info! wasn't going to get it anyway, but nice to know it wears off. yeesh.

[suschi]

You can't fool mother nature

[laohaire]

Also, vaxing our kids increases ADULT risk of shingles. Since actually, even if you had CP as a child, the immunity isn't totally complete.

Ideally, you had CP as a child, and your child has CP. When you are exposed to your child's CP, you get a booster (one time is all you need) thus preventing shingles (a more serious CP-related disease) later in life. My DH's father, for example, noticed a single pox (and no other symptoms) when my DH and his sister had CP when they were kids - and DH's father did have CP as a child himself.

With vax, maybe you had CP as a child but your child is vaxed. You are not exposed as a young/middle-aged adult. Later in life, perhaps you are exposed to an outbreak and develop shingles and complications. Likewise, your child, later in life, may also be exposed.

[momtoNatalee]

Originally Posted by laohaire

Also, vaxing our kids increases ADULT risk of shingles. Since actually, even if you had CP as a child, the immunity isn't totally complete.

Ideally, you had CP as a child, and your child has CP. When you are exposed to your child's CP, you get a booster (one time is all you need) thus preventing shingles (a more serious CP-related disease) later in life. My DH's father, for example, noticed a single pox (and no other symptoms) when my DH and his sister had CP when they were kids - and DH's father did have CP as a child himself.

With vax, maybe you had CP as a child but your child is vaxed. You are not exposed as a young/middle-aged adult. Later in life, perhaps you are exposed to an outbreak and develop shingles and complications. Likewise, your child, later in life, may also be exposed.

yep!

The next section in the book talks about shingles, here is part of it:

The varicella vaccine also holds another possible risk. It's been shown that the varicella vaccine can cause shingles in children, even though shingles nearly always occurs in adults. In the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the vaccine expert Stanlry Plotkin reports that two children who recieved the varicella vaccine developed shingles 4 years after their vaccination. He also notes that in Japan, where the vaccine has been given for several years longer that the United States, there have been many cases of shingles in children.