Chickenpox Lollipops
 

What in the hell is wrong with people?! Nevermind, I already know. This is dumber than "chickenpox parties."

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Chicken pox parties are still around? We had them when I was little long before the vaccine was even a thought. The idea was that it was far better for a child to get chicken pox while young than to get them when they became an adult. Both of my kids had them since they were still working on the vaccine when they were young. Both were exposed to cases before the other child actually broke out with the poxes. Luckily, both of them had VERY mild cases.

DaffyKD

W. T. F.

Ugh. I hate that people deliberately give kids the chickenpox. Chickenpox usually is a mild disease, but if you have it, you usually never get rid of it. The virus lurks in your body for the rest of your life. When you are over 60 or become immune compromised, it can spring back to life and give you shingles, which is extremely painful, and which can reoccur over and over.

In the days when we had the chickenpox parties it was thought that only those who had never had chickenpox as a child would be susceptible to shingles when they were older. The parents thought they were preventing problems down the line only to learn later they were wrong.

DaffyKD

Not only that, there was the worry regarding the severity and possible complications of adult chickenpox, and pregnant women who had not had chickenpox contracting it. It was a pay me now or pay me big time later scenario. But yeah, that was all BEFORE the vaccine became available.

My oldest had chickenpox at age 4.5. Six years later My youngest got the vaccine at 5 y.o. I am much more worried about kid2 getting reinfected vs. kid 1.

Once the vaccine came out, my 7 youngest got it (the older ones had already had chicken pox). Every one of the vaccinated ones got chicken pox anyway. When I asked the doctor about it, he said they got a lighter case than they would have without the vaccine.I think he made that up since their cases were as bad as those of my unvaccinated ones.

:eek: As the only person I know who never has had the chicken pox and who got vaccinated in my late 30s - YIKES!!!

But to speak to DrPhil's original post - that's pretty darn irresponsible to knowingly ship infectious material. Had something happened to the packaging, couldn't some unsuspecting person have been exposed? I realize that chicken pox isn't exactly anthrax, but still.

No. That's my final answer.

That's my concern. What is wrong with people?????

Did they get two shots? I supposedly had the chickenpox as a child but didn't test positive for antibodies when I started med school so I had to get the vaccine. Yes, you can still get infected, though it should be less severe. If I ever exposed to someone with chickenpox or shingles, I have to be tested to see if I have antibodies against the virus. If not, I can't go to the hospital for five days until they are sure I haven't contracted the disease. Not everyone who gets vaccines actually develops antibodies to make them immune. My husband has had tons of MMR vaccines because he never develops antibodies against Rubella.

/\ It's possible. I had a mild case of chickenpox as a child (around 7) and had another outbreak later at 22 years old, which took me over a month to recover from.

Y'all make sure you get your shingles vaccines at 60! I've known a lot of older folks who didn't and have regretted every second of that.

AOII Angel, these children are between 11 and 21 and only 1 shot was recommended at the time. Interestingly, all contracted the virus within a year of their shots.

I plan on getting mine, but it's only effective in 50% of older adults.

I didn't know the vaccine had a history of not working--my niece and nephew are 15 and 11 respectively, had to be vaccinated before starting kindergarten, and neither of them have had it.

This doesn't bother me that much, since having chicken pox as an adult or teenager can be agony and missing a week (or more!) of your life at that age is far more disruptive than it is while you're in school. I'm not sure I'd do it with my (non-existent) children, though.

My mother deliberately kept us away from chicken pox and kids who might have it; whereas most parents didn't encourage their kid to get it, they saw it as a fact of life. Her reasoning had nothing to do with our health--she simply didn't like how chickenpox blisters looked. She and 4 of her siblings were sick at the same time and she always talked about how disgusting they looked.

Well, my sister got it when she was 21, and I was 15. My sister was out of school and work for 2 weeks--when she was in college! I was 15, and ended up being extremely sick (like, hospital level) and also out of school for about 3 weeks. There were labs that I couldn't make up and classes that I missed outright since 3 weeks wasn't considered a long enough time to have a home tutor, my grades suffered. I went from being #1 in my class to being completely out of the top 10%. For the most part, I was able to make it up in subsequent semesters, however, but it really sucked there for a bit. To boot, I had AP and IB exams that year and I spent a lot of time trying to make it up.

I'd imagine that if we had it younger, then we either would have had less severe cases. Also, missing that much school in grade school isn't that devastating. The funny thing is, we didn't really have the dreaded facial blisters. :rolleyes:

I've had chicken pox twice in my life: age 5 and age 19. I remember both episodes but the one at age 19 was awful, and occurred during university EXAMS, no less. :rolleyes:

I've had to get the MMR numerous times because I never develop antibodies against Rubeola. I hope I never work in a hospital again because I'm tired of getting that darn shot.

My kids were both vaccinated against chicken pox and neither have gotten it. It was optional when I got them vaccinated but their dad hasn't had chicken pox so I thought it was important.

WTF?!?!? :mad: I mean, ... these folks, ... seriously, ... I mean, ... I feel like, ... ya know what?

http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/mad/mad0050.gif

... and that's all I got to SAY about it.

What did she say when the post office asked if she was shipping hazardous materials? :rolleyes:

I can't believe people are this stupid.....oh wait yes I can.

I got chickenpox as a child. My parents were of the belief that I "had" to get it (prevaccine). They sent me down the street to a kid who had it, I got it. My grandmother took care of me. I have a scar on my forehead where I picked off a chicken pox. My younger brother got it from me.

I don't really remember it too well. I remember the constant itching and being covered in calamine lotion. I remember wanted to scratch everywhere. It was horrible.

I had a super mild case at age 2. Two or three pox, that's it.

My mom tried unsuccessfully to get me reinfected over the years.

I got myself reinfected at age 21. End of semester, near finals, and one of four girls in my dorm infected. The university quarantined us - put us on one wing with a dedicated shower and toilet (affectionately labeled with a sign reading "chicken pox potty"). We couldn't go to classes or into the dining hall (they would bring us takeout boxes). It was awful and I have scars from those sores although it was still a very mild case.

I got shingles when I was 31. Horrible horrible flare of them. Lots of pain (some of which still persists). It hurt to touch that side of my body.

I'm about to turn 40. I now get zoster flares whenever I'm under extreme stress (same arm/torso side where my shingles flared).

I wouldn't wish the chicken pox or shingles willingly on anyone. Those parents are crazy!!!

I am totally calling my doctor tomorrow to make sure that my vaccinations worked. Hello, blood test.

I had both Katie and CeCe vaccinated and CeCe ended up getting chicken pox not once but TWICE! They were, thankfully, mild but quite the surprise.

Wow, this is all very enlightening! I had no idea that you could get it twice, or that the shingles vaccines are only 50/50. Huh.

Ding ding ding! They now recommend two shots. I had my two. As my husband the pediatrician says, though, it is hard to say how bad their cases would have been without their vaccines. Every child is different. They could have had much more severe cases if they had not been vaccinated. Chicken pox can lead to pneumonia and death. Usually, vaccinated individuals who contract the disease have milder cases with shorter durations.

Does your doctor prescribe anything for this? Antiherpetic drugs like Acyclovir can be helpful for this postherpetic neuralgia problem. Im sorry you have to deal with this. It's what I fear about the chicken pox.

I had the chicken pox when I was in third grade or so, over my birthday so I stayed home and played with my new Barbies. I have a few scars but nothing disfiguring. My eldest sister never had it and I'm not sure if she got the shot before she started to plan to get pregnant. I'm slightly concerned about shingles and though the shot is recommended for older people, I get random health problems that my body poorly responds to which could be an unexpected shingles experience in the making.

I have quite a few vaccinations that don't show up on a titre but I had the full amount as a child and have kept up on all my vaccinations as an adult. Since my field work is in Alaska there is no messing around with MMR and TB, so one time I had a short window before flying out and had to get proof of my MMR. Getting a copy from the doctor I had before I left home as an adult would have been a massive hassle, so my doctor did a titre. I was lacking one of the three, not mumps but one of the measles, and it had to be specially ordered instead of just giving me another whole MMR shot (which probably wouldn't have hurt me...).

I had another titre done for the hepatitis series that came back with no immunity and I did that whole series again. I've also had a positive tb test and that was with tines, not Mantoux, probably a false positive, so I'm going to be a bossy pants and demand the TB blood test to avoid a yearly chest x-ray since I'm not keen on exposing my bodacious tatas to any more radiation than necessary. My titres also denied that I had shots for pneumonia, bacterial meningitis, and sometimes DPT. Since I'm "high risk" for tetanus I got one before the 10 year period, and within six months the titre was in denial. This is when the doctor decided it is possible I'm a non-converter and don't show antibodies, like your husband experiences.

Some people also supposedly don't have detectable titres but will actually respond when exposed to the antigen. I had to have an extra Hep B, too. I converted after that. They don't check you later to see if you keep immunity. I've been told that lots of people test neg for chicken pox who aren't really negative...the antibodies are just really low. Oh well...I got the shots.

:( It never occurred to me that immunizations might not confer immunity. The college made the whole staff have the Hep B series about 15 years ago and I'd be aggravated to learn that it didn't "take".

As far as M and M and R, my sibs and I had intense cases (well, chicken pox too) and were exposed time and again before the immunizations came out. Suurrely we're immune, my doctor father probably brought home everything!

Yep...he probably did. That's why we have to be tested, vaccinated and retested. Hep B is a big offender. If you wonder, ask your doc to run a titer. If it comes back negative, most people only need a booster. Very few people require a whole new series...or never develop immunity. The immune system is a complicated thing.

I still don't think I ever had chicken pox!!!

I always got bitten by mosquitoes (because I'm so sweet) and scratched the bites, so my body was covered in scabs when I was in early elementary school. Some nosey kindergarten volunteer moms decided that I had chicken pox when they saw me and said I should go to the doctor. The doctor seemed kind of crazy, diagnosing me with chicken pox twice. I wasn't even itchy! I was just excited to get stay home from school.

This is hilarious. :)

Yep. I take an antiherpetic although I only take it when I'm under (or about to be under) a lot of stress or know I'm going through a period when I'm run down. It makes me sick to my stomach so even though I should take it all the time, I just can't handle it otherwise.

I also have RA and the shingles seems to come along with arthritic flares so my rheumatologist monitors my inflammation markers every six weeks when I go in for my infusions.

I swear it is! :)

If you don't get it at 60 can you never get it later on?

I think carnation's point was that you should get it as soon as is recommended rather than putting it off and getting a surprise case of the shingles.

You most definitely can get it after 60-our neighbor got a nasty case of it that lasted for a few months. At the time, he was in his mid 70's.

I think that 60 is the earliest age that they will let you get the vaccine, if I understand correctly.