Chicken Pox Vac

[Mommy12]

I took my 12yr old son into the Doctor for the Chicken Pox Shot and 2 days later he ran a very high fever and broke out in a small number of spots. When I called the Dr. office I was told that he could get a "mild" case of them. He has been running a fever right at 101 for 5 days now and is covered from head to toe in pox. I would hate to see what he would look like if he had gotten these on his own. His "mild" case is so much worse then his older sister had when she caught it as a 4yr old. I got his  shot because the school REQUIRED it before we could register him. Now he is going to miss his first week of school. This just makes no sense to me.Why get the shot if this is what happen?

[anxiousmomtobe?]

I don't see how this can happen, it is dead virus.  He must have been exposed elsewhere before immunity could take effect.

[RockRose]

I agree with anxious - this sounds like a coincidence that he had the shot.  

The incubation period for chicken pox is 10 - 20 days - so he didn't get the infection from the vax.  He was carrying it for about 6 - 14 days when he got the vax and broke out two days after the shot,  as a coincidence.  

Anyway,  that's how it sounds to me.  The incubation period doesn't match at all for the shot to have caused it.

[AHP84]

It's interesting you post this--I have recently read about the chicken pox vaccine in a news article based on a medical journal. It said the CP vaccine is being used to vaccinate young children, mostly infants (my son had the shot when he was about 10 months old or so), BUT, medical findings are showing that the vaccine's effect, or potency, is weakening within about 10 years or so of the time given. This means that the vaccinated children, who are then adolescents, are more succeptable to getting chicken pox even though they have been vaccinated against it. And when a person gets chicken pox as an adolescent or adult, it is more severe for them to handle and takes longer for them to recover; oftentimes, they end up hospitalized for a few days.
Also, it is possible for a newly vaccinated person to show symptoms of the virus they've been vaccinated against shortly after the shot. It very rarely happens, but it does, and like your doctors said, it's usually "mild." However, there have been really bad cases, even crippling, that I've heard of, but those are extremely rare. They do happen though. Whether the virus is dead or not, a foreign substance is injected into the body in order for the body to build immunity against it, but sometimes it can go wrong.
I'll post back later with the title, author, and medical source used for that news article I mentioned above.
I hope your son gets better.

[JTSHB]

I actually opted against getting the vaccine for my small daughter...the doctor pushed it, but said they still can get the ch. pox....so I thought, what is the point on getting it then....and I avoid any vaccine I don't have to get.....they give enough to them normally.


JT

[rubyolivia]

This is a shot that I will not be getting for my little guy! I work with kids and the majority of the kids who get this vaccine end up getting chicken pox and they get it more than once! Kids who get them on their own may get them a little more severely, but they don't come back! (Generally speaking)

Plus when getting this shot in a young child, it only lasts until the teen years. Then they need a booster that wears off by adulthood. What's the point? Adulthood is the worst time to get them! I'd rather have them as a child, itch for a week, miss a week of school and be done than get them as an adult!!

[rubyolivia]

You know what?! Come to think  of it, my exboyfriend who had cancer coudn't be around anyone who had gotten the vaccine for the same reasons! He couldn't be around anyone who had received the flu shot either!

[Mother of bailey]

My son is starting kindergarden next wensday. he has cancer...he CAN NOT bearound any child that got the chicken pox vac for at lest 72hours after..thay told me it was a live vac...so i dont know...

[Mother of bailey]

i dident know about the flu shot..but its live 2 soo ill make sure the school knows...im so worryed about him goning to school..and bening around all of the dif germs..lol...i view kids as walking germs now lol..and i have 3 other boys at home...but i dont think school will watch him as good as me..lol

[Crritter]

We had an outbreak at my son's daycare, the school kids got it right at the end of the year and one by one the kids got it.  Most of them just ran a fever and got a few pox.  They were uncomfortable for a few days, but got over it fast.  Most of them had gotten the vaccine too.  My son was 11 months old when he got it so we did not have to get the shot the next month.  He was covered and ran a high temp for a good week once the outbreak covered him.  They are now starting to do a second shot later, like a booster shot to help reduce this, but it is more common than you would think.  He probably was better off with the shot though.  

[wonderme]

The chicken pox vaccine is the Varivax vaccine and is made from a LIVE strain of varicella (chicken pox) that is very weak.  It is live and most people will get a subclinical reaction -- meaning there are no symptoms.  About 5% will get the chicken pox...don't know how long it takes, but since it is actually injected, my guess is it could be quicker than a "normal" exposure.  This is the one I know about, perhaps there are others that are NOT live virus...

I get the flu shot every year (love it) and the one I get is NOT live...don't know if any of the flu shots are, but the nasal flu mist IS live...that may be the one to avoid.

Both my kids got the chicken pox vaccine when it was fairly new...I'm very nervous now with all the questions about l/t immunity...did we just make it worse for them?

Makes me leary of getting them the HPV vaccine -- it's so new too...and who knows where that will be in 10 years!

[ImmortalOne]

My oldest had the Vaccine when it was first introduced... to date she's had 4 "mild cases" of the Chicken Pox.... I will never get that shot for another child again.  

[tmv]

My kids did not have the vaccine, they had the disease at 3 and 7 yrs old. I controlled the fever and forced fluids on them, and they did well within 10 days all dried up and rearing to go. My niece and nephew both had the vaccine and have had 2 to 3 outbreaks mostly mild but much harder on the older child (now 15). Younger kids can tolerate a higher temp than older ones which worries me about the vaccinated kids immunity wearing off and getting it when they're older. That's when they're going to have problems.