Don’t worry - I’m not an antivaxxer and I think Jenny McCarthy should have her eyes gouged out with spoon. We have ALWAYS obtained all recommended vaccines for our son, including chicken pox, and a few extras due to the fact we have raised him in developing countries.
But. Our understanding is that if you get chicken pox as a kid, statistically speaking it is NOT likely to be serious. I would really like hard statistics on the outcomes of healthy kids who get chicken pox when they are young, but can’t find them.
On the other hand, the chicken pox vaccine only seems to be about 80% effective. So if you get the vaccine, you are still at a fairly significant risk of getting chicken pox, probably at an older age than you would have if you hadn’t had the vaccine and simply had chicken pox the way kids used to before the vaccine.
Here’s the problem: as I understand it, chicken pox is much more serious if you get it when you are older. A 5 year old with chicken pox? No big deal. A 20 year old with chicken pox? Possible complications could result.
Anyway, we did have our kid vaccinated. AND GUESS WHAT?!? HE NOW HAS CHICKEN POX. He’s 13, and I guess there is no reason to be alarmed. He has also been prescribed an antiviral medication, so perhaps that, along with his vaccination, will help to ensure that the disease does have a very mild course.
Still, I am ROYALLY PISSED that our son is sick with a disease he “should” have had years ago. Now he has it at an age where he is only barely safe from the likelihood of side effects. The doctor here said chicken pox is more serious after puberty, and luckily he’s still pretty much a kid - though plenty of his 13-year-old classmates are well along into puberty.
If my resentment of the vaccine is misplaced, please educate me. I really, really don’t want to be one of those crazy ignorant people who is against vaccines because they are new age weirdos. But I’m having a hard time seeing how the risk of having chicken pox when you are 4 or 6 is greater than the risk of getting it when you are 13 or 18, which seems to be what you face if you get the vaccine.