[nippa&pippa]

Just been informed that one of teachers got child with chickenpox, but this child doesn't attend kindy, so the risk of chickenpox is very low but just warned me knowing UK childen don't have vaccine for chickenpox......
She mentioned about that there is chickenpox vaccine as my both children have not yet caught pox despite my son have been in very close contact three times, but never had chickenpox..so he may have immune to it? (like my husband, didn't had his till he was 28 despite close contacts)
I am personally feel that vaccine is unneccesary as UK children don't offer it. Is i am right? after they have lots of jabs lately with men b and hep b and my daughter is due for MMR at 15months...

[Ana&Steve]

Sorry I don't know the answer, but would like to piggyback on your thread :o Steve and I have never had chickenpox, we are in our 30s and we have inoculations here but there are side effects. I wonder if we should go ahead and get the shots before moving?
Ana

[gil]

That's right, there isn't (or wasn't) a vaccine for CP in the uk, usually exposure to it is enough, and (apparently, once you've really had it, and not another virus that is similar - how you know, I'm not sure- that's it, never again.) However, adult CP or worse, shingles is really bad news. My dad and Steve's dad both had shingles that lasted nigh on 10 weeks each and were very poorly with it so if you can get it over and done with, that sounds appealing to me!

Question: is CP a world-wide strain or are there variants that would mean a US jab wouldn't work in NZ?

Gil

[veronica]

Feel that chicken pox is one of the things its best to get naturally, the immunity seems to be better and its not one of those things like measles that is known for complications.

[nippa&pippa]

Feel that chicken pox is one of the things its best to get naturally, the immunity seems to be better and its not one of those things like measles that is known for complications.

That what i thought, if UK children don't have it, why should our kids have it after they already overload with so many jabs they had. Having read info on vaccine from Kindy mention that even you had jab, you will need more jab as only last 20 years, so if my children had jab and not bother to have another in 20's, they will eventually contact chickenpox force them off work etc!

[Jeany]

All my sisters / cousins/ friends and myself had the chickenpox vaccine when we were little. Never heard anyone of us got side effects from it, and none of us ever got the chickenpox. I paid $80 (it is not incl. in the free immunisation scheme) to get the shot for my son before he started kindy and never need to worry about it since. He never seemed to be bothered by all the jabs he was given.

[SarahEDH]

Another slight derailment of thread, sorry, might be of interest to the geneticists on the forum -- I was never vaccinated for it and have never caught chickenpox in the US, nor did my mother, and when my daughter caught it she had a very mild case (her dad had a severe bout with it when a child). In my family the women seem to carry an innate defense to it, in varying degrees. As if we needed more confirmation of our resilience and biological superiority over the males in the family :laugh