It is important to keep your baby vaccinated right from birth. The right vaccines, immunizations, and flu shots must be given at the right time, in order to avoid any risks for the baby. As a baby’s immune system is still growing and not fully developed, they may be more prone to infections and diseases than adults.
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Infections such as chickenpox, Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease, ear infections, etc. are common among children, especially kids below 5 years of age, as some of these infections are contagious. Hence, the right precautionary measures must be taken to avoid any of these potential issues among babies.
What is chickenpox?
Chickenpox is usually a mild, yet highly contagious virus, that rapidly spreads from person to person through direct contact. As chickenpox is highly contagious, there are vaccines available that help immune the body to it. It is caused by a virus.
Some of its symptoms include the following:
Who should get the vaccine and when?
Children and adults, both must get two doses of the chickenpox vaccine.
For Children, it is best to get their:
1st dose from 12 months through 15 months of age
2nd dose from 4 years to 6 years of age.
For adults, if you haven’t got chickenpox previously, or haven’t got vaccinated, it is best to get both doses maintaining a gap of a month between the two doses. It is best advised to consult your doctor before on when to take it depending on your age and a few other circumstances.
Side effects of Chickenpox vaccine:
Usually, the side effects of the chickenpox vaccine are mild and go away in a few days. A few such side effect may include:
Although serious side effects are very rare and are mostly caused due to allergies, it is best to consult with your doctor beforehand.
It is always safe to take all the precautionary measures beforehand, by protecting and immunizing kids at the right age from these harmful viruses like chickenpox. Vaccines are the best way to prevent the spread of these contagious viruses. It is always best to get vaccinated at the right time, without much delay, in order to contaminate the virus and keep yourself and your baby safe.
Stay healthy, stay happy!
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Yes, in most cases, once exposed to chicken pox, you will develop immunity to it. Most individuals who were infected by chickenpox or got the vaccine will develop immunity towards it and will not get chickenpox again. Only in rare cases do individuals get chickenpox more than once.
Yes, despite being immunised against chickenpox, a child can get chickenpox. Known as breakthrough chickenpox, the infection will be milder. This, however, does not happen to most immunised children.
Yes, children get the varicella vaccine as an immunisation against chickenpox. The immunisation is done in 2 doses – the first dose between 12 and 15 months of age and the second dose at 4 and 6 years of age. For those children who have missed this vaccine, two doses of the vaccine will be given about 28 days apart.
Yes, babies are born with some immunity against chickenpox that may not last long. They get this immunity through the antibodies transferred to them from the mother during pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, if the mother was never immunised or infected with chickenpox, there will be no antibodies to transfer to the baby.
