# Varivax - chicken pox vaccine



## stuart (11 Aug 2006)

Anyone recommend a doctor's surgery or clinic that carries, Varivax - chicken pox vaccine, as I have tried my own and it is like pulling teeth to get the info from them and to no avail so far

Also having recently moved from Drogheda (where doctor is) to Santry i am not too pushed and travelling back just for that

stuart


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## JohnnyBoy (11 Aug 2006)

Why would you want a chicken pox vaccine?


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## Vanilla (11 Aug 2006)

According to my GP it is not available in this country. I know it is available in the Uk- or at least to health care professionals as my sister who is a dentist has been offered it. I was thinking of asking her to get some for me if possible and bring it back here to me.


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## Vanilla (11 Aug 2006)

ps why do you think someone would want the vaccine? To be immunized against chicken pox of course!


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## JohnnyBoy (11 Aug 2006)

The reason why I ask is that 90% of population are immune to it anyway so there is no clinical need for it!


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## Vanilla (11 Aug 2006)

I might be going out on a limb here but I'm guessing that, like me, the op is not immune...


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## JohnnyBoy (11 Aug 2006)

You probably are,the vast majority of infections are subclinical,ie you were infected,therefore u have immuity(but without the infection having been potent enought to produce the characteristic symptoms


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## Vanilla (11 Aug 2006)

No I'm not. You sound as if you have medical training, therefore you probably know that it's standard to test for immunity to chicken pox during pregnancy. I was tested relatively recently and the result came back that I do not have immunity. I even had to get a VZIG (?) drip during the pregnancy because I had a possible exposure to the virus. I thought it might be a good idea to get the vaccine in the near future as with two children now ( one young baby) I may well get exposed by them, and if all of us come down with cp our house will be hell!


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## santiago (11 Aug 2006)

Vanilla said:
			
		

> According to my GP it is not available in this country.


It is on the Irish market (although there are often availability problems with vaccines). Your pharmacist should be able to order it for you, but you'll need a prescription. If I were you, I'd ask your pharmacist to check whether his/her wholesaler has it in stock before potentially wasting money on a doctor's visit (don't order the vaccine yet) and if it's available then ask your doctor if he/she's prepared to vaccinate you. If the doctor says yes, then get a prescription and go back to the pharmacist to order the vaccine.


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## Vanilla (11 Aug 2006)

> According to my GP it is not available in this country.


 
So much for his advice! I love my GP, but sometimes....


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## JohnnyBoy (11 Aug 2006)

as far as I'm aware,the vaccine is very unreliable & it's use is not recommeded in UK & Irl


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## liteweight (11 Aug 2006)

JohnnyBoy said:


> Why would you want a chicken pox vaccine?



My children had chicken pox when they were young. I had never had it and picked it up from them. Chicken pox in an adult is a whole different ball game. I became so ill that I was hospitalised for three weeks. I developed chicken pox pneumonia, which I believe is rare, and the survival rates aren't great. This has left me with numerous health problems to this day.


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## JohnnyBoy (11 Aug 2006)

I'm aware of that,yes it's more serious in adults,but the complication rate is still rare.Yes,anything can happen,but in general terms,the risk -benefit ration is against having the vaccine.Pregnant mothers are a different situation
As for why I asked the q in the first place,I was merely curious


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## daithi (12 Aug 2006)

God be with the days, when Johnny down the road got the pox we were all sent to play with him..I think Americans call them pox parties..!BTW, Varicella immunity testing does't form part of the antenatal screening protocol in our part of the world-maybe it varies according to region of the HSE...

daithi


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## aman (12 Aug 2006)

I was in the same situation as you - my child got chicken pox, the my husband got it from her. He was very ill with it & I assumed I must be immune. I got pregnant a while later & blood tests showed up that I was not in fact immune. My pregnancy passed without incident but after the birth I enquired fro my GP about the vaccine. She thought it was a good idea & gave me a prescription for it. My local pharmacy ordered it in for me. It's a two dose vaccine - one injection now & one four weeks later. The total cost of the vaccine was €120 - had it done in March of this year.
HTH


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## Henny Penny (12 Aug 2006)

I rememeber getting the chicken pox a few years ago after my eldest had been in hospital in Crumlin. (Ironically they had signs on the door warning people that they were likely to get the pox if they visited the hospital)  I was miserable with them ... it is a disgusting disease. 

I asked my doctor why Ireland don't vaccinate against chicken pox when places such as the US and Japan have been using the vaccine for 30 years or so. He told me that in the US the incidence of teenage pregnancy and young motherhood was much higher. Because of the demographic of the population having babies that may not have been exposed to the virus during their lifetime, they felt it was safer to vaccinate routinely.


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## ramble (12 Aug 2006)

do you need a booster for the chicken pox vaccine?  My son was vaccinated in the US as a baby and is now nearly 11.  Some of the other vaccines are boosted at this age.  Vaccine has worked fine up til now. We have had the pox in the house twice since he got the vaccine and he hasn't caught them.  I don't want him getting them as an adult


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## stuart (12 Aug 2006)

santiago said:


> Your pharmacist should be able to order it for you, but you'll need a prescription. If I were you, I'd ask your pharmacist to check whether his/her wholesaler has it in stock before potentially wasting money on a doctor's visit


 

Sounds like the most practical route, thanks


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