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I'm not sure if this topic has come up or not.
I am contemplating rather or not my 22 month old boy should get a chicken pox vaccination. I heard that it has gotten better. My mom (who's a nurse) said that it is a prerequisite for Oregon schools and she thinks the vaccination is a good idea since there is a (tiny) chance of death caused by chicken pox and she said that she didn't like seeing her children miserable.
There is still a possible mild case even after the vaccination but it's still mild. Any thoughts? Posts: 1417 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Do you want your kid to be the only one who's out for two weeks while his friends are sick for only 4 or 5 days, or even less, or don't get sick at all? 'Cause there's a possiblility that's what would happen if the chicken pox came around and your kid was the only one not vaccinated.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Or worse, he gets past puberty without contracting it at all then gets hit. I believe it's far worse post-pubescence, especially for males.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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We don't know if our son ever had the chicken pox. There were a couple of times that we brought him to the pediatrician and he didn't know if it was chicken pox or a rash. He had a lot of weird rashes.
I'm thinking we'll eventually have to get a blood test done to figure it out.
However, on the subject of vaccines, is there any proof that they last a lifetime? I just wonder if there is going to be a sudden onset of 30-50 year olds getting the chicken pox. That would be terrible.
The reason we didn't get our son the vaccine was because it was brand new at the time and I was already freaked out enough by the mandatory vaccines. We did get him to hang out with kids that had chicken pox a lot though, in the hopes that he would get them. We just don't know if it worked. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I think you should go for the vaccinations. Even if they don't last a lifetime, they're still some protection. Despite what people say, getting Chickenpox once does not mean you're immune to it - I had Chickenpox 3 times when I was a kid, and it was hell. So in my opinion, it's not worth hoping for natural immunisation. But I also had no idea there was a chickenpox vaccination - What're the side effects?
posted
But chickenpox has different levels of severity and if only one of Belle's kids got a mild case of it, that's better than all of them getting it badly. (I think that's her point?)
Posts: 77 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Luckily, I got the chicken pox when I was 18 months so I don't remember it at all. I asked if our family doctor gave the vaccine and they looked at me like "Oh no.. not that evil shot"
Maybe I need a new family doctor especially since they are 30 minutes away... what was I thinking? The doctor is wonderful though.
posted
In Hawaii, the CP vaccine (actually called varicella vaccine) is required for school attendance. You can get an vaccine exemption only for religious objections, and then you cannot pick and choose which vaccines your child has. It's all or nothing.
I've investigated a number of chickenpox outbreaks in elementary school. Vaccinated children do occasionally get the disease, but in every case, it's so mild as to not even call it a disease. Immunized children usually have no fever, no respiratory symptoms and usually only one or two localized lesions. They might miss one or two days of school, where the unimmunized children (the vaccine has only been required since 2003) miss a week or two.
If there is an outbreak at your child's school, and he/she is not immunized, your child will be excluded from school for the duration of the outbreak, or until he/she receives the vaccine. The last outbreak I investigated lasted about six weeks, so that can be a major hardship, both for the child and for a working parent.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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5-10% of immunized children will actually get chicken pox. (My niece among them.) However, their cases are usually far milder.
I had a relatively mild case when I was a kid (my brothers, who caught it from me, got it far worse). But compared to my "mild" case, my niece's case was far less significant.
My kids all have been immunized for varicella. If/when I have another, s/he will be as well (assuming no immune system problems or similar issues).
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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