Has your child got chickenpox? Can my daughter come and play?

[Redmeghan]

Hello!

I've heard chicken pox is making it's way through a lot of local nurseries (we're in Herne Hill) but my daughter is at home with me so is missing out - I'd quite like to get it out of the way as our second is due in 8 weeks... If you don't mind a stranger coming to call (with a bottle of wine for Mum and Dad) please let me know. Need to play together before the sores scab over!

Thanks!

Meghan

[sunbob]

There can be risks to you and your unborn baby if you are exposed to chicken pox in pregnancy, especially in later pregnancy.

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1109.aspx?CategoryID=54

[Convex]

you could vaccinate, as another option.

[Mariamadeit]

as long as you are immune, you and baby are fine, I am 37 weeks and my daughter had it last week, just waiting to see if my son gets it now, come play if he does :)

[Digbina]

Why on earth would you want to expose your child to a disease that, yes, may be mild, but may have serious complications? I wouldn't play games with her health. Get her innoculated instead.

[Strawbs]

We just had our youngest vaccinated and it was very easy and straightforward. Two needles which were 4 weeks apart so if it's something you are thinking of better to get cracking so all can be done and dusted by the time baby arrives. We used 'citydoc' .

[ACBP]

How much was it Strawbs? Thanks

trawbs Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We just had our youngest vaccinated and it was

> very easy and straightforward. Two needles which

> were 4 weeks apart so if it's something you are

> thinking of better to get cracking so all can be

> done and dusted by the time baby arrives. We used

> 'citydoc' .

[BikeChick]

Health Hub in Herne Hill do the vaccination - mine have been done there (and also recently had their Men B there, too). The vaccination is routine in other countries (US, Canada, Australia) but not here (cost I believe). Would really recommend Health Hub - the doctor there is so lovely with the kids. http://www.healthhub.london/vaccines/

[Saffron]

Redmeghan Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hello!

>

> I've heard chicken pox is making it's way through

> a lot of local nurseries (we're in Herne Hill) but

> my daughter is at home with me so is missing out -

> I'd quite like to get it out of the way as our

> second is due in 8 weeks...

You would be better off getting your child immunised, as although CP is highly contageous, exposure is not guaranteed to produce infection. Indeed, children are often most contageous just before the blisters appear. So exposure to someone who already has blisters would be a sub-optimal exposure. And, you would not know if exposure had been successful in producing infection until 10-21 days afterwards when symptom might appear. South London Travel Clinic offers the vaccine and is open weekdays/weekends. xx

[Strawbs]

Hi, it was ?70 per needle. Given how badly my eldest got it I just couldn't put baby strawbs through it so went down the vaccination route. X

[Loigal]

Can anyone expand on the potential downsides of the vaccination? I've read that vaccinating kids increases the risk of shingles in adults? Shingles poses higher risks to the elderly than chicken pox does to kids? How long does the vaccine work for, is there a risk of it wearing off and the person getting chicken pox when an adult which is more serious? Thanks

[Saffron]

The cp immunisation is not directly related to adult shingles. The relationship is complex. When someone has had CP previously, the virus may emerge again in adulthood as shingles. However, when adults who have had CP previously, are exposed to children with active CP, this is thought to suppress the reemergence of CP as shingles in that adult person.

There is now a vaccine for shingles, and it is being rolled out in a stepwise fashion on the NHS. There is also excellent anti-viral treatment for adults with shingles.

The duration of the CP vaccine's efficacy is also not straightforward, as it partially depends on population levels of overall immunisation. However, it's likely that an individual immunised in childhood for CP will require a booster in teen or young adult years. They will not require the shingles vaccine, because you can't get shingles unless you have had the actual CP viral infection.

The number of serious adverse reactions to the CP vaccine is significantly lower than the number of serious adverse reactions to viral infection itself.

Adults have a higher risk of serious reaction to CP infection, but CP can be serious at ANY age, even in otherwise healthy adults and children. xx

[goldilocks]

Thanks Saffron for that really informative post. In relation to the booster -I had both my kids vaccinated last year (age 1 and 3). Do you know how many years can elapse before they need a booster?

[Saffron]

Did your LOs have the 2 jab immunisation? Current thought is that a booster will be required late teens. However, as population immunisation dynamics become better understood over time, this age may go up or down.

If they only had the first of the initial 2 jabs, they should have the second jab now. Then the teens booster. xx

[Saffron]

Just adding a note to say that this is to the best of my understanding as of having my daughter immunised in the recent past, and having read the available primary research articles and patient recommendations at the time. xx

[Kes]

I did a lot of research on this when my kids got it last year and wrote a blog post about the pox and issues around shingles and vaccination: http://www.southwarkbelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/some-poxy-questions-why-doesnt-uk.html

Ultimately I wish I had vaccinated although both of mine got through it without too many problems it wasn't nice and my nephew recently ended up in hospital with a secondary infection after chicken pox.

Also bear in mind that it can incubate for 3 weeks and last more than a week so you could get really unlucky if the baby arrived a bit early and your other child was ill (this exact scenario happened to a friend a couple of weeks ago!)

[natty01295]

Check this out For more information

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/chickenpox-vaccine.aspx

[devsdev]

Strawbs - which Citydoc did you go to please? Trying to decide if we go to Bromley or go into town (LB) and go out from there.

To all who have done the vaccine a couple of questions:

1. Is it silly to try and do the Men B and chickenpox vaccines at the same time? We have a 2.5yr old and a 1yr old. Obviously more worried about the resistance from the 2.5yr old.

2. Should we go out and have fun after the injections or do you think coming home and having a quiet time is a better way to go?

Sorry this thread has been hijacked...but for what it's worth I wouldn't expose my child to a disease that can be horribly uncomfortable or more serious. We do all we can to protect our children from discomfort and harm. Deliberately exposing them to chickenpox seems to go contrary to that.

[simonethebeaver]

My daughter had a dreadful time with chicken pox and I intend to vaccinate my baby because of this. If I'd exposed my little girl to chicken pox in the first place, I'd have hated myself for it. Odds are that your child would be OK but it can be really serious - please don't do it.

[Strawbs]

Hi, we went to the new cross clinic (actually a pharmacy). We took a packet of crisps for baby strawbs and he was so excited by them he didn't even make a noise or stop eating lol! He was perfectly fine with no reaction afterwards so the day just carried on as normal. Just to note we had to wait 4 weeks post his MMR to get it done. X

[goldilocks]

Thanks to previous posters for booster info - mine had 2 shots each so should be good for a while then. In terms of after effects there didn't really seem to be any. Both of them were fine pretty much straight after. The 1 year old cried a little tiny bit, the 3 year old was bribed with chocolate buttons! In terms of timing its a live vaccine so you can either do at same time as others or wait 4 weeks. From what I've read about Men B this seems to involve more localised soreness so maybe they might not feel like a big day out after that. We went to see a friend but watched a film - sort of the best of both worlds - distraction and TV!