Chicken Pox after Vaccination?

[Guest]

Both of our kids have been vaccinated for chicken pox - varicella.

For the past couple of days our young son has been grumpy. He's had a mild sore throat but it seemed viral as he didn't have a temperature so we comforted and treated him with tylenol and ice cream.

This afternoon we noticed he has a bit of a face rash and tonight he's been complaining that his back is itchy. I slathered him up with Aveeno and then realized that the little bumps developing there look suspiciously like the proverbial dew drop on a rose petal.

Damn it.

I remain hopeful that this outbreak will be mild, but I was so hoping the vaccination would have given him enough immunity to avoid it completely.

Anyone else been through chicken pox after vaccination?

 

[Recidiva]

Better that they get it as kids, as adults it's dangerous and called "Shingles."

Very painful from my understanding, my mother had it in her 60s. No sleep for the duration almost because of the severity of itching. She survived it, it was mild in lethality, but one of the most inconvenient, exhausting and painful illnesses she's had.

I haven't had more than one case, my daughter had it at 2, and my son has had a vaccination, I was hoping it would hold. Been lucky so far.

Good luck to your itchy munchkin. Pretty much living in Aveeno oatmeal baths saved my daughter's sanity, though she went nuts the last day and scratched everything off, has a few scars to show for it.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Both of our kids have been vaccinated for chicken pox - varicella.

For the past couple of days our young son has been grumpy. He's had a mild sore throat but it seemed viral as he didn't have a temperature so we comforted and treated him with tylenol and ice cream.

This afternoon we noticed he has a bit of a face rash and tonight he's been complaining that his back is itchy. I slathered him up with Aveeno and then realized that the little bumps developing there look suspiciously like the proverbial dew drop on a rose petal.

Damn it.

I remain hopeful that this outbreak will be mild, but I was so hoping the vaccination would have given him enough immunity to avoid it completely.

Anyone else been through chicken pox after vaccination?

I haven't heard of anyone I know getting it after the vaccination, but they did tell me at the health department that it wasn't 100% guarantee to be pox free. Here's an article that gives the same percentages they gave me at the health dept.

 

[entitled]

Oh, it's very possible. And what they DON'T tell you when they give the vaccination is that because the kids develop a mild immunity, if they get it, it will be a worse case than normal.

Good luck.

 

[lil_elvis]

Our doc was against giving the kids the vaccination unless they reached their teens without getting chicken pox. "The vaccine isn't 100% effective, while if they get them, it's over and done with and they won't get them later for sure." We followed his advice. I think they were like 10, 8 and 6 when it swept through the house. At least it's over and done with.

 

[Guest]

Both of our kids have been vaccinated for chicken pox - varicella.

For the past couple of days our young son has been grumpy. He's had a mild sore throat but it seemed viral as he didn't have a temperature so we comforted and treated him with tylenol and ice cream.

This afternoon we noticed he has a bit of a face rash and tonight he's been complaining that his back is itchy. I slathered him up with Aveeno and then realized that the little bumps developing there look suspiciously like the proverbial dew drop on a rose petal.

Damn it.

I remain hopeful that this outbreak will be mild, but I was so hoping the vaccination would have given him enough immunity to avoid it completely.

Anyone else been through chicken pox after vaccination?

Yeah.. all three of mine got it in a week's worth of time... My oldest had been vaccinated, and he brought it home from school.... it happens. I refuse, ever again, to have my kids vaccinated for chickenpox. In my opinion, it doesn't work, and it just makes them cranky and hurting for no reason for three days.

 

[wishfulthinking]

I think I count the 4 times I been sick in my life. 2 x measles, and 2 x chicken pox [if you include the recent bout of shingles]. Yes, I was vacinated for em.

Good luck with the itches

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

My sister's best friends kids all just had chicken pox... at least one of them had been vaccinated but she said he had a very mild case of it. Now we are just hoping it doesn't hit her kids (or mine since mine were around hers after they were exposed).

 

[Guest]

My sister's best friends kids all just had chicken pox... at least one of them had been vaccinated but she said he had a very mild case of it. Now we are just hoping it doesn't hit her kids (or mine since mine were around hers after they were exposed).

Thank you Crim, everyone -

We'd heard about having a milder outbreak after having the vaccination and we are hoping this will be the same for our son.

He doesn't have a temperature - still - and doesn't even seem really sick, so that may indeed be the situation. (Fingers crossed.)

 

[Eilan]

My eight year old was vaccinated at her 12-month well check.

She was exposed to chickenpox this past Christmas day when she was visiting my ex. Her stepsister, who had also been vaccinated, was sick at the time, but they didn't know until a couple of days later that she had chickenpox.

I was hoping nothing would come of it, but about two weeks later, she was a little feverish and lethargic while visiting her dad, and when she came home, I lifted up her shirt and saw a few spots.

Overall, my little one's case was pretty mild; she ended up with about a couple dozen spots on her chest and back and one or two on her face, and they didn't scab over or anything. My three younger daughters, all of whom have been vaccinated, didn't get chickenpox. I'm hoping they'll get a little boost in their immunity because they were exposed to it.

I was reading somewhere that it's possible that the effectiveness of the Varivax might compromised if it's given at the same time as the MMR, which is generally given at the 12-month checkup.

Better that they get it as kids, as adults it's dangerous and called "Shingles."

Shingles is a reactivation/resettling of the varicella virus in nerve endings. I had chickenpox when I was five and shingles when I was 16. I couldn't play softball that spring because it had settled around the shoulder and armpit of my throwing arm. Hurt like hell, too, and I had scars for almost a year.

A former co-worker of mine had shingles in one of his eyes. It took him several months to recover from it.