Chicken Pox Booster Necessary?

[Fiestabeth]

My oldest dd (8) was fully vaxed, mostly on schedule. The doctor's office just called and said she is due for a physical and varicella booster. Since she did receive the first one should she also receive the second, or is it okay to skip it? Any info and/or links would be appreciated. Thanks.

[alegna]

You can stop at any time. There is no danger in doing so.

-Angela

[CrazyCatLady]

If you want to vax on schedule, then yes you need a second dose. The first dose worked so well that vaxed kids everywhere continued to get chicken pox anyway, so they added another dose and I'm sure they'll add at least one more in the future.

If you're not worried about it, and if maybe you'd like your child to have a chance to catch chickenpox naturally. Then skip it. Nobody can make you vax your child wih anything you don't want to. And there is no harm in stopping at any point.

[Plummeting]

If you don't want to do it, don't do it, but your child won't be immune to chickenpox much longer if you don't. She might not even be immune now. She might not ever have been immune to begin with. The vaccine doesn't work well. Two doses might work better than one. If you give her two, she'll need one again as an adult, because eventually she'll lose immunity after the second dose. Better to skip it and expose her to chickenpox as many times as you can.

[umsami]

They're finding out that one dose isn't enough... and kids are ending up with a more severe form of it as teens... that's why the recommendation for the booster. Here's an article on it:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Infectio...ccines/tb/5255

"Varicella vaccine efficacy drops dramatically over time, according to surveillance data that contributed to the CDC's decision last year to recommend a booster.

In the surveillance data, children vaccinated five or more years earlier were 2.6 times more likely to have a moderate-to-severe breakthrough case of chickenpox than those who had been vaccinated more recently.

The breakthrough varicella rate eight years after vaccination was 12 times higher than in the first year after vaccination even accounting for changes in exposure, reported Sandra S. Chaves, M.D., M.Sc., of the CDC, and colleagues. in the March 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. .."

[Fiestabeth]

Originally Posted by umsami

They're finding out that one dose isn't enough... and kids are ending up with a more severe form of it as teens... that's why the recommendation for the booster. Here's an article on it:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Infectio...ccines/tb/5255

"Varicella vaccine efficacy drops dramatically over time, according to surveillance data that contributed to the CDC's decision last year to recommend a booster.

In the surveillance data, children vaccinated five or more years earlier were 2.6 times more likely to have a moderate-to-severe breakthrough case of chickenpox than those who had been vaccinated more recently.

The breakthrough varicella rate eight years after vaccination was 12 times higher than in the first year after vaccination even accounting for changes in exposure, reported Sandra S. Chaves, M.D., M.Sc., of the CDC, and colleagues. in the March 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. .."

Thank you. That was the kind of info I was looking for. My worry with skipping it is the possibility of having her get a horrid case as a teen or adult, or increasing her risk of shingles.

Another question: My 2yo dd has not had the varicella vaccine. Could she get chicken pox from her sister if I do go ahead with the booster? Is that a bad way of "catching" it?

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by Fiestabeth

Another question: My 2yo dd has not had the varicella vaccine. Could she get chicken pox from her sister if I do go ahead with the booster? Is that a bad way of "catching" it?

It's possible, but it would be the same as giving her the vaccine if you did that. The only difference would be that she wouldn't get whatever other additives/preservatives are in the vaccine. Since the virus she would catch would be the exact same one in the vaccine, it would NOT be as effective as catching chickenpox the old-fashioned way, because immunity would be as weak as that provided by the vaccine. Immunity would be stimulated by the vaccine virus, so it would be the same as that conferred by the vaccine.