Chicken Pox- to vaccinate or not???
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This discussion came up at our mom’s group last night as one of the mothers has an 8 month old with the pox. I wasn’t planning on vaccinating and apparently this mom wasn’t either- until now that she sees the misery her son is in she said she would have vaccinated her son.
To vaccinate or not??
Pros: You don’t have to deal with an unhappy, scratching or crying infant for 2 weeks! You don’t pass it on to any adults who may not be immune. For adults, it is a potentially serious illness and even fatal. If everyone gets vaccinated less adults will be exposed.
Cons: Your child is only immune for 5 years whereas if she gets it naturally she is immune for a lifetime.
What else am I missing?
Is it dangerous for a child under 1 year to get it? I thought I heard that somewhere……? I heard that if an adult gets chicken pox it can turn into shingles which is apparently so painful.
HOT NEWS: THIS JUST IN FROM A READER (okay, my mom- whose father was a doctor, so she sent me this info from the CDC)….
about 8
to 9 of every 10 people who are vaccinated are completely protected
from chickenpox. In addition, the vaccine almost always prevents
against severe disease. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it
is usually a very mild case lasting only a few days and involving fewer
skin lesions (usually less than 50), mild or no fever, and few other
symptoms.
P.S. Forgot to add: my doctor friend’s concern is based on the fact that since kids have only been getting vaccinated for a few years, nobody really knows yet how long the immunity will last, despite what the CDC may says.
The thing with shingles is that once you’ve had chickenpox, you’re forever after at risk of getting shingles, because shingles comes about because a little bit of the virus sticks around in your system forever, and can pop up when you’re physically or mentally stressed to cause shingles. (Of course, you could get shingles anyway, through exposure to chickenpox that comes out that way instead of as chickenpox.) I have a doctor friend who’s very opposed to vaccination, and I know other doctors who are in favor. I do know that my baby brother had chickenpox at 7 months along with the rest of us, and then had a (mild) case of shingles at around 14, which is a strange age to get it and our doctor thought probably meant he’d been a bit too young to develop proper immunity the first time around. I haven’t decided yet what to do about this (I’m only 5 months pregnant), but it’s going to be a tough decision.
It’s required in our state (Indiana) for entry into school, so if we choose public schools we must have this vaccine. Honestly, that bothers me.
I just had my one year old vaccinated. Apparently they now do a “booster shot” at 4 years so your child should be immune for life.