I heard on the news yesterday (Canada) that children now require a 2nd vaccine for chicken pox (varicella) and that the "one" shot that they receive at 1 year of age is not sufficient to provide immunity for life. As everyone knows, getting chicken pox when you are an adult is very dangerous... and I would guess especially so for someone with "D". So, I am thinking to look into getting DD the booster vaccine, however, I am soooooo nervous about giving her any type of vaccines. I mean, is it going to affect her BG negatively, is it going to make her sick, are there going to be complications, etc. etc. Does anyone have any experience with receiving the chickenpox vaccine after being dx with t1D, and how did your child react to it? Should I wait till after her honeymoon period? I ask this because I would hate it to suddenly curtail her honeymoon by majorly stressing out her pancreas with the vaccine.
My DD was dx at 10 months old so pretty much all of her vaccines were after she was dx. We do not see any negative effects regarding BG after she gets them. She has the same things as her non D sister. Sore arm, maybe a slight increase in temp (overnight only). By the next day she is totally back to normal except that we have hear about it until the next one I notice a change in insulin more when she has actually been sick than after she has her vaccine. We go yearly for the flu shot.
Every child, whether T1 or not, will have different reactions to the various vaccines. My dd had the varicella in June, along with 2 other boosters. She did have slightly higher BGs (30-50 pts) for about 3 days, & she also had a low-grade fever (101.2 was the highest). All of it was manageable with a small temp basal & some Advil. I worry more that she might be exposed to one of the childhood diseases without being vaccinated than I do about the side effects from the vaccines...but that's just me. My older 2 girls had chickenpox 2 weeks apart. Both ended up with strep throat, & have a lot of scarring. I wish the vaccine had been around back then (they're 31 & 27 now).
Noah had it this year, we saw a slight spike but nothing major and it could have been anything, not even the shot.
I believe they consider immunity to be possibly diminished at 10 years. I've seen that they now think it actually probably lasts 20 or more. But it is not thought to confer lifelong immunity. Same with rubella, and whooping cough -- you need to re-immmunize to get the full protection as time goes on. My kids did not get the vaccine (for the reason above) but they did get chicken pox. Selah saw slightly elevated bgs but no more than for a common sniffle. That could have been just her, though.
30% of kids with just one shot don't get immunity. Those kids, if they do contract chicken pox, can have a rash that lasts 7-21 days. I know this because my son did this last March. He had new outbreaks for 18 days. Very fun when I was 34 weeks pregnant. Just something to consider when you are deciding if you want to vaccinate now or wait.
