Pregnant-predicament after vaccine

redvaldo

I'm in a predicament at the moment and do not know what to do. I got the chicken pox vaccine a few weeks ago and 10 days later fell pregnant(unplanned but all okay).
I have looked online and there seems to be a lot of information saying that you should avoid pregnancy for 4-6 weeks after the vaccine because there is evidence that there can be foetal abnormalites and brain damage. Through research online, there seems to be this common thread of 'foetal abnormality' linked to varicella vaccine.
I visited my GP but she said you'd have to go to a foetal specialist privately-and avoided the topic.
I'm thinking of travelling to the UK. I'm now 4 weeks pregnant now and really do not want to take a chance. Does anyone have any insight/information on vaccine and pregnancy?

Metric Tensor

National Immunisation Office might be able to offer some advice and or info:

http://www.hse.ie/eng/health/Immunisation/

They were helpful and informative to us when we rang about the kids but I don't know where their remit ends.

RobFowl

Talk to the Irish family planning services.

redvaldo

Thanks to the 2 posters.

Vorsprung

Link

Major Birth Defects after Vaccination Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), 1990 to 2014

Abstract

Background

Major birth defects are important infant outcomes that have not been well studied in the postmarketing surveillance of vaccines given to pregnant women. We assessed the presence of major birth defects following vaccination in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a national spontaneous reporting system used to monitor the safety of vaccines in the United States.
Methods

We searched VAERS for reports of major birth defects during January 1, 1990, through December 31, 2014. We excluded birth defects from vaccines that had been studied in pregnancy registries or other epidemiological studies (e.g., human papilloma virus, varicella, measles/mumps/rubella, and anthrax vaccines). Birth defects were categorized into trimester of vaccination and classified based on the organs and/or systems affected. If several birth defects affecting different systems were described, we classified those as multiple body systems. Empirical Bayesian data mining was used to assess for disproportionate reporting.
Results

We identified 50 reports of major birth defects; in 28 reports, the vaccine was given during the first trimester; 25 were reports with single vaccines administered. Birth defects accounted for 0.03% of all reports received by VAERS during the study period and 3.2% of pregnancy reports; reported defects affected predominately the musculoskeletal (N = 10) or nervous (N = 10) systems. No unusual clusters or specific birth defects were identified.
Conclusion

This review of the VAERS database found that major birth defects were infrequently reported, with no particular condition reported disproportionally. Birth defects after routine maternal vaccination will continue to be monitored in VAERS for signals to prompt future studies. Birth Defects Research 109:1057–1062, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This recently released paper seems to suggest that the risk of a major issue due to inadvertant chickenpox vaccine administration during pregnancy would seem low.

redvaldo

"We excluded birth defects from vaccines that had been studied in pregnancy registries or other epidemiological studies (e.g., human papilloma virus, varicella, measles/mumps/rubella, and anthrax vaccines)".

Varicella vaccine is the chicken pox vaccine. They excluded this?

redvaldo

Vorsprung wrote: »

Link



This recently released paper seems to suggest that the risk of a major issue due to inadvertant chickenpox vaccine administration during pregnancy would seem low.

Thanks for your reply BTW