Nicco has chickenpox - should we have gotten him vaccinated?

[Natasha Tuck]

Hi all,

It's been awhile but I thought I'd reach out to this group because I remember discussion of chickenpox parties... 

We did not have Nicco vaccinated against chickenpox (which I felt good about until now when my doubts are rising) and he came down with chickenpox yesterday (actual spots appeared yesterday morning after a fever on Saturday - good thing we didn't see you Morgan!). I'm doing a bit of research and was surprised to see that Dr. Sears recommends the vaccine. Do any of you have strong feelings either way? I was under the impression that it was good for them to actually get chickenpox rather than be vaccinated...

Wish us a fun week at home!

Best,

Natasha

Natasha Tuck
http://www.linkedin.com/in/natashatuck
http://twitter.com/nstuck
cell: (415) 713-0013

[Arie]

Hi Natasha,

I'm so sorry that Nicco is sick!

I think with chicken pox it's really personal preference (I personally would NOT say that about many of the other vaccines). If you have chicken pox as a kid you are immune to it getting it again, whereas with the vaccine you have to get boosters or you could still contract regular chicken pox. If you've never had chicken pox I *think* you can never get shingles, but now there's an approved vaccine for shingles, so probably there's a way that you can be protected from that as an adult.

All I really know is that I got chicken pox for the first time when I was 24 and it was the worst thing imaginable. I was beyond miserable. I caught it from the 4 year old I was nannying. I think the point of having the disease or having the vaccine as a child is to avoid contracting chicken pox as an adult which ranges from awful to actually dangerous.

Either way for the kiddo, it's better to get either the vaccine or the actual disease before your 20's, but it's just a matter of which is worse - getting full immunity by having the sickness, or having to boost your partial immunity periodically.

Now you don't have to wonder about if you should have gotten him vaccinated, I guess. I hope he feels better soon!

Hugs to you guys,

Arie

 

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[Natasha Tuck]

Thanks Arie - I hate to feel regret about it since of course, I can't do anything now but am confused about why I don't remember more discussions about it with doc (!!) or if I decided early on when I was on the fence about most of the vaccinations. Your words are soothing though and I guess we've just gone the natural route, which I don't think I can be mad/sad about.

xo

Natasha Tuck
http://www.linkedin.com/in/natashatuck
http://twitter.com/nstuck
cell: (415) 713-0013

[Lucas Buxman]

All the best Natasha on your week at home! That's tough for him and
his parents.

Nonetheless I think it best for Ethan to actually get chickenpox
rather than be vaccinated, and I can't think of another immunization I
feel that way about (including the flu shot).

I also can't remember discussing it with the pediatrician, but your
question makes me think we should ask next time we go in :)

All the best!

PS: Miss seeing the old gang. Hope you're all well.

[Ellenor Varvel]

Hi Natasha,

Poor Nicco! I hope he's young enough that it passes quickly and painlessly. I do know it's one of those things that the younger you are, the easier it is on you.
Tell him Iris says, "hello and feel better soon! "

As to your questions, Arie is right, CPox is one of the few vaccines can be determined by personal preference as much as anything. Since it is milder the younger you get it, you don't have to worry too much about passing on a disease that might hurt or kill a child too young or immunosuppressed to get the vaccine.

For us, I got CPox at 6 months and barely noticed, apparently. But David had a traumatizing and hospitalizing case of it at 12 and still has the scars, so we were overjoyed to hear there was a vaccine when we got pregnant.

As to why your Dr didn't push it: in my experience there is so much push back against vaccines in the bay area that most Dr's don't push them. They just don't have time to get in a big long argument that they'll expect they'll lose anyway. So they say, "such-n-such is due" and the parents will either say OK, or NO. And they just move on. It's a disservice, I believe, since part of their job is patient education, but that's the reality of 15 min appointments.

Here in DC, where anti-vaccers are rare, when I say I want to space all of the due vaccines out over a week, I get strange looks and serous push back from everybody; receptionist, RN, aide, MD, everybody.
But if there is really anything to the mercury thing, the only anti-vacc argument that holds water in my book, then spreading 4-6 shots out over a week or two eliminates that concern.

I hope he recovers quickly and that he doesn't have to hard a time of it. Hopefully your week is just snuggles and books while you wait for his quarantine to end.

Miss you guys and good luck!!

-e.

[Jackie Schwartz]

Hi Natasha,

For what it’s worth, chicken pox is a vaccine that we skipped as well because I personally was not so wild about the fact that the vaccine does not provide lifetime immunity, especially since the severity increases with age (as I can attest for having gotten it from my 6 year old sister when I was 18).  If Sadie hadn’t missed most of the past 2 months of school due to fun things like hand foot mouth, etc and wasn’t having a hard time getting back used to school. I would ask for a playdate with Nicco. 

My risk perception of getting the disease is probably skewed by having lived through so many friends/family having had chicken pox and not having had any complications, but to me, it just seems as if the benefit of lifetime immunity is compelling.  I am sure that I will/would feel differently when/if Sadie should get it.  It is so easy to second guess our decisions when our kids are sick and having a rough go.

I have the vaccine book by Dr. Sears if you would like to borrow it for peace of mind; varicella is not a vaccine he recommends (at least at this age) in his alternative vaccination schedule.  I believe he does recommend checking for immunity at around age 10 or 12 and vaccinating at that point if they are not immune.  

I hope you have a smooth week and a very quick recovery for Nicco!!!

jackie

[Keyara Setareh]

Hi Natasha,
I'm so sorry about poor Nicco. I hope he is not too uncomfortable.
I remember my experience w Cpox really well. I was around 6 years oldi believe. My sister Soraya got it first and then I got it. We had it together and I have the scars to prove it. Wow, all of this stuff of vaccinations makes me want to ask lots of questions to the pediatrician.
Give Nicco a big kiss from us.
Miss you all.
Love
Keyara

Inviato da iPhone

[Morgan Robinson]

Hi Natasha,

Poor boy!!!  I hope he has an incredibly light case!  I think I had 7 pock marks?  I wrote a poem about my experience with chicken pox in elementary school.  It ended:

My birthday party had to be post-poned

I was so sad, I moaned and groaned

I was moaning about the birthday party v. the chicken pox.  

I am pro-vaccine, but I have a hard time getting my knickers in a twist over people skipping this vaccination.  Dr. Sears does have the shot on both his regular and his selective schedule at 18 months.  Doesn't his regular schedule entail all the shots, just spread out and rearranged?   I think one of the ideas behind vaccinating isn't for our strong healthy children, who will most likely be fine, but since our children are disease vectors we vaccinate them to keep the diseases out of the population at large where it can do damage to the vulnerable members.  Nicco is going to be FINE, but chicken pox can cause birth defects in pregnant women and used to send 11,000 children a year to the hospital.

  

But it is all MOOT, because he acquired his immunity naturally!  You should sell lollipops he has licked.  :)

Feel better, Nicco!!

Hugs!

Morgan

PS Eleanor, I hope you are staying warm!  Y'all don't have piles of snow, right?  FYI I believe they took thimerosal, which contains ethyl-mercury, out of children's vaccines (except certain flu shots) in the US in 2001.  

Have you found a nice Montessori school for Iris?  We miss you!

[Natasha Tuck]

Thanks to all of you for your valued comments and thoughts (I truly appreciate this group of educated, supportive & loving parents)!

We got very little sleep last night and if that continues, I'll wish I'd made a different decision but for now I'm hanging on to life time immunity as the pay off.

Love to you all and I'll keep you posted but fingers crossed that this will be a mild case...

Natasha Tuck
http://www.linkedin.com/in/natashatuck
http://twitter.com/nstuck
cell: (415) 713-0013

[Keyara Setareh]

Thinking of you guys this week, really hope Nicco is ok. Let us know how he gets on.

All my

Love,

K

Inviato da iPhone

[Lindsay Gilmore]

Hi Natasha,

I remember having the chicken pox when I was 5 or 6… and have scars from those nasty itchy bumps..not fun…I really hope Nicco is doing ok & has a mild case. 

This is one vaccine that we decided not to do…..what we do is delayed and spread out vaccines. 

We (élan & arion)  have been dealing with a nasty virus….not fun.

Keep us posted & sending you all lots of healing love!

Miss you all!!

Lindsay

[Natasha Tuck]

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and well wishes. Nicco is fine and was home for a week. I would say it was an average case and thankfully, worth going through - glad at this point that we did not get the vaccination, phew!

I hope you all are well. I just got a full-time job at VMware and am starting on the 27th - OMG, how will I balance it all??? 

Love, Natasha

Natasha Tuck
http://www.linkedin.com/in/natashatuck
http://twitter.com/nstuck
cell: (415) 713-0013

[Ellenor Varvel]

So glad it worked out and congrats on the new job!
Thanks for keeping us posted!

Miss you!
-e.

[Krista Ward]

Congratulations Natasha on the job! I’ve been thinking of Nicco and am glad he did alright with chickenpox. I hope everyone else is having a happy & healthy Spring.

Warm regards,

Krista