Chicken Pox Party or Vaccine?

[Anonymous]

I just thought I would do a little filling in on this debate.

When my son was an infant he was exposed to someone who had Shingles. While my son never developed chicken pox (most likely because he was breastfed and had my immunity), he was still exposed to the live virus. The virus used in the vaccine is killed, because the live virus stays dormant.

Over the weekend my three year old developed an odd rash. I took him to the pediatrician on Monday, and they were not sure what the rash was, and I was to bring him back today. Well we didn't make it that long. I brought him to the ER last night (just got back actually) and we learned that his rash is shingles. My poor child is in so much pain that they have put him on Tylenol#3.

He was exposed before he was vaccinated, and I never knew that this exposure would have resulted in his getting shingles at the age of three.

Prior to this I would have brushed off all worries about him ever getting the chicken pox, but I know better now. The vaccine isn't so much to prevent the chicken pox, as it is to prevent shingles later on.

[Anonymous]

Yea, but there is a shingles vaccine too. If you get the chicken pox (like most of us) you can get the shingles vaccine.

My son has not had the pox and I hope that he gets it on his own (but I will not be attending any parties to encourage it!). The pox vaccine does not last forever and I would hate for the vaccine to wear off when he's much older.

[Anonymous]

The shingles vaccine is only approved for those sixty and over.

[Anonymous]

here's my (limited) understanding. if you get chx pox (like we did as kids) you have life-long immunity to pox (but not to shingles - my sis got it last year at age 35 even though she had chx pox as a kid). if you get the pox vaccine, i think its good for about 5 yrs. are we then supposed to encourage our kids to get pox? or hope that since most kids these days are getting pox vaccine that when your kids are adults there won't be any more pox? i'm confused......

[Anonymous]

My brother was exposed to chicken pox as a little baby (under 1 year) when my sister and I got it. Unfortunately, this means that he now has the virus in his body and has gotten shingles several times. I understand that babies who are exposed at under 1 year are likely to get shingles. After that, if the are exposed, they will more likely get chicken pox and then have some resistance to shingles for a while, although that can wear off later in life.

These days, there is much more "wild" chicken pox which can have worse side effects. Vaccination is key!

[Anonymous]

I had chicken pox at 3 and shingles at 16, in highschool, due to stress and fatigue. You get shingles because you had chicken pox (or were exposed to shingles never having had cp). The typical scenario is that you get CP as a child, the virus goes dormant and "hides" in your spine. When you are older (65 or more) the virus utilizes a diminshed auto immune response to come out and voila you have shingles. My virus came out and caused shingles at 16 because I was stressed out an highly fatigued = a dinished auto immune state.

Shingles is typically a half "ring" rash of raised bumps running from your spine to your navel on ONE side of your torso that itches and shoots sharp pains through your torso. Its not fun. It can manifest as a rash in other places but the above is most typical.

[Anonymous]

The chickenpox vaccine has been proven to last at least 20 years (the reason for the limit is that this is as long as the vaccine has been available). My understanding is that part of the reason that they have and moved the booster up to about ~5 years of age is because the vaccine doesn't always "take" in younger children since their immune system is not as mature. This is true for chickenpox itself. The younger you are when you had chickenpox (such as a young infant), the less likely it is that you have complete immunity from that infection (our ped told us the same thing that the pp mentioned). So my understanding is that if your child receives the vaccine at 1 and then again between 4-6 then there is no need for a booster later in life. It has been proven that people who have had the vaccine and still catch chickenpox or come down with shingles will have milder cases than those who were not vaccinated or had naturally occuring chickenpox. I don't believe that chickenpox will ever go away since people who have had it or the vaccine can still come down with shingles which is just a different manifestation, but is the same virus.

[Anonymous]

My DS13 got the ch/px vaccine at around 2-3, and ended up getting a mild case of it anyway about a year later. I guess that was the best of both worlds because since he had the vaccine, he only got less than 10 spots, but now has the full immunity.

I don't know if the vaccine has improved since the early days (we were among the early adopters back then) b/c my DD7 has never caught ch/px, nor has DS3. I'd almost prefer they catch a little bit to make it all the way immune to later recurrences.

[Anonymous]

Chicken pox is a relative of herpes. Thus, you never really "get rid of it." It just goes into your nerve cells and quietly lives there until it decides to come out as shingles.

The reason you want your child to be vaccinated/catch the disease is because chicken pox can come with complications. Most people just get spots and a fever, but you can get extremely (like hospital) sick. And, you DON'T want to get c. pox as an adult. It is serious. Better your kid catches it when young.

My son had the same experience as 21:37. We got the shot around 7 years ago. Now they give a second dose.

[Anonymous]

Chicken pox is serious. I had it when I was 13 and I had it everywhere! Down my throat (which is very dangerous) and in my genital area. I was very sick for about 3 weeks. It was not fun. My only saving grace is it did not itch. I was lucky. It was the first time my Dr. had ever seen a case -- he was pretty young. It was touch-and-go for me for a bit due to the swelling in my throat.

Bright side: I know I'm immune to chicken pox.

[Anonymous]

I am curious now. I have never had the chicken pox, but my siblings did. I was tested during this pregnancy and they say I have antibodies. Does that mean that I will never get chicken pox, but have some risk for shingles? Or does it mean that I have some risk for both?

[Anonymous]

To 12:07. You had chicken pox - probably quite young so no one noticed (sometimes a kid will just get one or two pox.) Yes, you can get shingles.

[Anonymous]

Some people are born immune to pox. My son has had major medical problems and has had all of his organs and blood tested for every known problem. He has immunity to the pox (confirmed when he was 9mos old). I don't want him to get the vaccine, as it is unnecessary. I'm not sure how I'm going to get a waiver once school starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am curious now. I have never had the chicken pox, but my siblings did. I was tested during this pregnancy and they say I have antibodies. Does that mean that I will never get chicken pox, but have some risk for shingles? Or does it mean that I have some risk for both?

If you have the antibodies, you are at risk for shingles later on.