s/o Why do you want your kids to have CP

[Dmpmercury]

The complication rate in children is smaller than in adults. Kids typically have miler cases of chicken pox and there complication rate is statistically less. Before we had the vaccine parents would expose children so they could get it as children when the complications are less. Getting chicken pox in pregnancy is not good for the developing fetus so that is another reason you want it in childhood.

Now that we have a vaccine chicken pox is a lot less common. My pediatrician rarely sees a case of it. If parents don't get the vaccine then the chances of being exposed to it nowadays are not that high. So when parents hear of someone with chicken pox they expose their kids because they might not get another chance and then they risk getting a more severe case or getting it during pregnancy for a female. I get the shot but if I lived somewhere where it wasn't on the schedule and it was still a common disease I probably wouldn't go out of my way for my kids to get it unless they were getting older.

The one thing that people don't think of though when exposing kids is the long incubation period and potentially exposing people who don't want to be exposed like babies or people with compromised immune systems. A have a friend who had a pox party and she wouldn't do it again because everyone just went about their business afterwards not worrying about the incubation period and people showed up pregnant about to pop and didn't think about potentially exposing a newborn.

[syfitz]

I'll be happy if my kids get cp, but will not go out of my way to expose them. Any of them that don't get it before age 12 will get the vaccine.

[MamaNae]

It's a fairly benign illness. I had it and survived, my diabetic husband had it and made it through just fine.

I was in 7th grade (so almost 13) when I got it. I itched for a week and that was that...worst part of the ordeal was I spotted up on Dec 26...I didn't get to miss a single day of school. No fair at all. My brother didn't get sick until Dec 31 and he got to miss 4 or 5 days of school.

My mom tried for YEARS to expose my brother and I to CP...in fact 3 or 4 months before I got it my mom tried to get me the vaccine (it was brand new then) since I was 'so old' the doctor wouldn't do it, something about complications in teenagers. Said if I'd been exposed to it as many times as I had (slept over with 2 sets of cousins, my best friend, my mom's friend's kids, and a neighbor) and hadn't come down with it I was probably naturally immune....3 months later a kid in my science class was gone for a week right before Christmas with Chicken pox...and poof I get it...we were the only 2 kids in the whole school who hadn't already had it lol

[MyLovely]

It confuses me too, OP. People who get CP are at a higher risk of shingles than those who get vaccinated. I had a nasty but relatively normal case at age 6, and it SUCKED. I missed school and was miserable. My grandma had a very mild case and ended up with some nasty scars despite never scratching. I think that the lower risk of shingles paired with missing 7-14 days of misery is well worth getting one vaccine and a few boosters over a lifetime. Not to mention, staph and MRSA is all over the place these days, and I would never be able to forgive myself.

[Kiliki]

I want my kids to get it b/c I think it makes their natural immunity stronger than what it would be if they were vaxed for it.

I also think the vax is completely re-donk-u-lous, created for the convenience of working parents, so no one has to take 2 weeks off work while their kid gets over it. Which, IMO is really a bad reason to vax against a typically non-lethal disease. I'm quite frustrated that the vax even exists, and even more upset that it's part of the vax schedule. Ugh.

If your kid is not immuno-suppressed somehow, they likely won't have any lethal reactions to CP.

I also personally think illness is part of life. We get sick so we can have a stronger immune system. I don't want to, nor would I, vax against every possible disease that my kids could contract. Being sick isn't fun for anyone, and of course I don't want to see my kids suffer, but IMO at some point the overall health of their immune system trumps their comfort. If they can be sick and miserable for 2 wks but then healthier than they were before, and likely never contract that same illness again, than to me the momentary discomfort is worth it.

If they made a vax for the Rhinovirus, stating how many people die from this terrible disease each year (and yes, some elderly or immunocompromised people DO die from a common cold), would we all be jumping to give this vax to our kids?

At some point it just gets ridiculous. For me, that's where I am at with the CP vax. It's almost laughable.

I had CP twice as a child. My brother had it once. Every other relative of mine has had CP. No one has had any serious, long-term effects. I've honestly never heard of anyone IRL having any serious effects from CP. I don't count scars as a serious effect.

[DesertRat]

Originally Posted by MyLovely It confuses me too, OP. People who get CP are at a higher risk of shingles than those who get vaccinated. I had a nasty but relatively normal case at age 6, and it SUCKED. I missed school and was miserable. My grandma had a very mild case and ended up with some nasty scars despite never scratching. I think that the lower risk of shingles paired with missing 7-14 days of misery is well worth getting one vaccine and a few boosters over a lifetime. Not to mention, staph and MRSA is all over the place these days, and I would never be able to forgive myself.

When adults (who had CP as kids) are around kids with chicken pox they get a sort of natural "booster shot" which helps keep them from getting shingles. People who typically got shingles were much older, with weaker immune systems who hadn't been exposed to CP for a long time. Shingles are on the rise because adults aren't exposed to chicken pox anymore.

Interesting though-- in the past children RARELY ever got shingles. Now, with the chicken pox vaccine, kids are getting shingles. While the CP vaccine may save kids from CP, it's creating other side effects that may be worse.

[stevensmom]

As a person that has had shingles every year for the past 20+ years it sucks!

And as far as the shingles vac...you can't get it until you are 50 (which they just decreased from 60). Even for those that get Shingles regularly they wont do it

I made sure my kids got the cp vac because I don't want them to go through what I have

[PoshPants]

I think you can pay to have the vax in the UK.

A friend vax'ed her DS and he got shingles or something, it was awful.

I got CP when I was 17ish and my boyfriend was like 23 and got it too (talk about a fun start to a relationship) well he was sick as a DOG, the scars don't heal as well as an adult either I'm told.

I wouldn't try to make my kids catch it though, even though my case sucked as a teen

[EmmaGM]

Because I want my kids to have sweet childhood memories like mine of taking oatmeal baths with their cousins and scratching each other's backs. Just kidding! I'm still totally undecided about the vax. I didn't realize shingles was so common?

[PoshPants]

Originally Posted by stevensmom As a person that has had shingles every year for the past 20+ years it sucks! And as far as the shingles vac...you can't get it until you are 50 (which they just decreased from 60). Even for those that get Shingles regularly they wont do it

Why? even if you pay for it they won't? what is the thought behind saying no?