chicken pox vaccine

Does anyone know if it's safe to get my DD immunised while I'm pregnant. I
am assuming its not a live virus, anyway I've made appointments for her and
myself next week but don't want to pay for both consultations if she can't
have it yet. I also don't want to waste the drs time by double booking.
Alissa

Well it is a live virus vaccination if that matters to you. I don't have a
clue whether it is safe or not during pregnancy. That you might have to ask
your OB about. But, I just wanted to mention that it is a live virus.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

alissa wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if it's safe to get my DD immunised while I'm pregnant. I
am assuming its not a live virus, anyway I've made appointments for her
and
myself next week but don't want to pay for both consultations if she can't
have it yet. I also don't want to waste the drs time by double booking.
Alissa

"alissa" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if it's safe to get my DD immunised while I'm pregnant. I
am assuming its not a live virus, anyway I've made appointments for her
and
myself next week but don't want to pay for both consultations if she can't
have it yet. I also don't want to waste the drs time by double booking.
Alissa


I'm assuming you haven't already had chicken pox? FWIW, my 4yo daughter
recently got a very mild case of chicken pox despite being immunized for it
several years ago and the doctor said that her case was not contagious
because she'd already been vaccinated. My husband and I had it years ago
(chicken pox) and her brothers had the vaccine and none of us got it. And
as far as I know, no one at her school got it, either. They didn't even say
anything about it except to ask if she'd been vaccinated. But it's best to
check with your doctor if you haven't already been immunized, though.

Leigh

"alissa" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know if it's safe to get my DD immunised while I'm pregnant. I
am assuming its not a live virus, anyway I've made appointments for her
and
myself next week but don't want to pay for both consultations if she can't
have it yet. I also don't want to waste the drs time by double booking.
Alissa


Depends on how far along you are. I remember with one of my kids it was the
scheduled time but he/she couldn't get it cos I wasn't in the right
trimester. I think you can only be in the 2nd one, or something weird.
Can't you call and ask? I'm assuming you mean the vaccine is for her, and
not you as well?

Sophie
#4 due 7/18/04

thanks for all that info, I certainly won't risk getting her immunised
until after I have the baby.
Alissa
"Richard" wrote in message
...
alissa wrote:
: Does anyone know if it's safe to get my DD immunised while I'm pregnant.
I
: am assuming its not a live virus, anyway I've made appointments for her
and
: myself next week but don't want to pay for both consultations if she
can't
: have it yet. I also don't want to waste the drs time by double booking.
: Alissa

The chickenpox vaccine is live, attenuated varicella virus.

Merck's prescribing information for their Varivax brand vaccine [1]
includes
this:

Pregnancy

Pregnancy Category C: Animal reproduction studies have not been
conducted with
VARIVAX. It is also not known whether VARIVAX can cause fetal harm when
administered to a pregnant woman or can affect reproduction capacity.
Therefore, VARIVAX should not be administered to pregnant females;
furthermore,
pregnancy should be avoided for three months following vaccination (see
CONTRAINDICATIONS).

Of course, that says nothing about having DD vaccinated.

Also,

It is not known whether varicella vaccine virus is secreted in human
milk. Therefore, because some viruses are secreted in human milk,
caution
should be exercised if VARIVAX is administered to a nursing woman.

But here are the key paragraphs:

Transmission

Post-marketing experience suggests that transmission of vaccine virus
may occur
rarely between healthy vaccinees who develop a varicella-like rash and
healthy
susceptible contacts. Transmission of vaccine virus from vaccinees
without a
varicella-like rash has been reported but has not been confirmed.

Therefore, vaccine recipients should attempt to avoid, whenever
possible, close
association with susceptible high-risk individuals for up to six weeks.
In
circumstances where contact with high-risk individuals is unavoidable,
the
potential risk of transmission of vaccine virus should be weighed
against the
risk of acquiring and transmitting natural varicella virus.

Susceptible high-risk individuals include:

. immunocompromised individuals
. pregnant women without documented history of chickenpox or
laboratory
evidence of prior infection
. newborn infants of mothers without documented history of chickenpox
or
laboratory evidence of prior infection.

So Merck recommends you only vaccinate DD now if you have a history of
varicella yourself.

Richard
Micaela's dad

[1] http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_...varivax_pi.pdf