Chicken Pox Vaccine Boston MA

Ask the Doctor - Chicken Pox Vaccine

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By Randall Neustaedter, OMD, Lac

I know controversies surround a number of childhood vaccines. In particular, why should I give my child the chicken pox vaccine if it is such a mild and normal childhood illness?

Good question, since the disease itself rarely results in complications. Prior to the introduction of the chicken pox (varicella) vaccine in 1995, deaths from chicken pox occurred in only 0.0014 percent of healthy children. My advice is not to vaccinate, but instead to expose your child to chicken pox if you can, since the disease itself confers lifelong immunity. The vaccine, on the other hand, does not. Once its protection declines (after about 10 years), your child would be susceptible to chicken pox as a young adult. At that age and into later adulthood, the disease tends to last much longer and come with more severe symptoms.

What concerns me even more is the fact that the vaccine is associated with a number of severe reactions. In fact, in the first five years of the vaccine’s use, the government-funded Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (www.vaers. hhs.gov) received 9,500 reports of adverse effects from the vaccine. These included several deaths and 193 reports of nervous system reactions including partial paralysis and seizures. Other reported reactions include arthritis and bleeding disorders.

In healthy children, chicken pox is a mild and self-limiting disease. Although the disease is uncomfortable for your child, I do not feel the potential benefit from the vaccine is worth the potential risks.

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