Avoiding Chickenpox Vaccine Has Consequences, Study Finds

I had chicken pox when I was 18, my mother had it when she was 26. My mother remembers the experience being terrible, I remember it being miserable but not intolerable. I suffered a temp of 102 and an excruciating headache the night before the breakout. I had a limited number of pox on my face following the fever but my torso was covered. I had them in areas I thought pox could not appear. I have 3 scars today as a result.

After much research and long discussions with our pediatrician over a few visits we have chosen not to vaccinate our youngest child. If she is lucky to never get the pox she will never be at risk of shingles. If she gets the pox naturally we don't have to worry about the booster. If the percentage of those with the vaccine who get the pox is so low it seems odd that I, as one person out of a nation of 300 million, knows 2 families who had children with the vaccine who ended up with pox anyway. Our pediatrician has been in practice since the early 70's and has known only of one person, an adult, to die from pox. She was not his patient but instead he knew of her from a colleague.

I would like to know the percentage of those who die from complications from the vaccine. I would guess that the percentage of people who die from the natural contraction of the chicken pox is comparable.

michelle of MN 9:00PM October 16, 2011

The varicella vaccine is one of the few I have refused for my children. They have received most other vaccines. I have told my pediatrician that if they reach the age of 9 and haven't caught CP naturally by then, they will get the vaccine. So far, my oldest caught it naturally when she was 2 and the youngest has yet to catch it.

The main reason I wanted my children to get it naturally is they have more of a chance of lifelong immunity than if they get the vaccine. Adults don't always remember to get boosters and if they catch CP as adults, it will be much more serious.

A large part of my job involves research and on top of that, research is a bit of an obsession I have. With any decision I make regarding my children, I research all the pros and cons till I have a headache, then research some more. I don't make any decision lightly. I have discussed all my reasons with my pediatrician, and he agreed completely and didn't try to force it on my children at all. He thinks waiting until they are older is reasonable.

My oldest caught CP from family friends. The dad had a case of shingles and the children caught CP from him. Because of a series of moves the family had made, the oldest hadn't had the vaccine, the middle child had and the youngest was just 9 months old so wasn't quite ready for the vaccine yet. The middle child who'd had the vaccine -- the only one of the three who had the vaccine -- had the worst case of the three children. It was inside her mouth, ears, eyes, genitals and her body was covered from head to between every toe. My daughter caught a bad case of it as well, about as bad as the case I'd had as a child, but it wasn't as bad as this other little girl's. It was hard to watch her with this but she braved it well. The only thing that made me feel better about not getting the vaccine to try to avoid it for her was the fact that her friend had the vaccine and was suffering with a case quite a bit worse. Two and a half weeks later, she had a lifelong immunity to CP, or at least as good as mine and my husband's. We didn't catch CP from her and we're looking at around 30 years since we'd had it.

So, we skip that one, at least till the youngest is older if she hasn't caught it naturally by then.

C of TX 10:31AM January 19, 2010

I was also a school teacher, but I taught science and my mother is a pediatric nurse practitioner. The "real" reason for the vaccine is that the cases of chicken pox now, as compared to past years (I had it in the '70's) is much more severe. In addition, the chances for getting the toxic side infection that can lead to limb amputation and even death is much more common. The rate of reaction to the vaccination itself is so small...Are you willing to risk your kid's life? Not me!! In addition, every kid who comes to school without certain vaccinations risks infecting other students as well as ME!! How selfish is THAT!!

As for shingles, the problem is that a huge portion of the general public doesn't understand several things: that MOST vaccines are DEAD bacteria and viruses, so you can't get the disease from the vaccine. If you don't get the chicken pox vaccine and you DO get the disease, you can still get shingles, because the virus retreats to the spinal cord - I got it in my 30's and it is triggered by stress and/or a weakened immune system.

So, you are actually MUCH better off getting vaccines than not, AND you protect yourself as well as others by doing so.

JK of CA 3:08PM January 06, 2010