Is chickenpox still a thing? (1 Viewer)

[Arathrael]

Chicken pox isn't much of a thing in the US now, < 150,000 cases a year, compared to 4,000,000+ in the early 90s (source: https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/vaccination-program-impact.html).

Idiotically, it is still a thing here in the UK, because we haven't adopted the vaccine generally, you can only get it privately.

The reason for this is when they did modelling to decide whether to roll it out for everyone or not, their modelling indicated a possible increase in shingles in adults. Reason being, adults had their immunity to shingles boosted by being exposed to children with chickenpox. So, essentially, they decided to keep letting children get chickenpox, so adults would be less likely to get shingles.

Which is dumb, because it might not even be true (countries vaccinating against chickenpox aren't seeing a significant increase in shingles cases), and there's a shingles vaccine.

So apparently we might now get chickenpox vaccines for kids here too, after they recently reconsidered. So that'd be good.

But also, yes, you should get your shingles vaccine.

 

[LonghornSaint]

Yes you can,but it's only available to those who are immunocompromised. My nephew is 38 and had
shingles twice . He got the shingles vaccination. He said both times were miserable and wouldn't wish
it on his worst enemy.

Yes, I overlooked that angle. I wasted no time getting it having watched my boss go through prolonged agony.

 

[faceman]

Yes, I overlooked that angle. I wasted no time getting it having watched my boss go through prolonged agony.

I should have added. my nephew doesn't suffer from an autoimmune disorder. He was allowed to get the vaccine
due to having shingles. I'll have to check with him,but I'm sure his doctor told him to get it,and signed the
paperwork if he needed too.

 

[sfidc3]

I got chickenpox late at age 15, it sucked.....my dad is one of the rare few who actually got chickenpox twice....

 

[St. Widge]

I had chicken pox during Mardi Gras in kindergarten. That sucked. I'm already double-vaxxed against Shingles.

I had it during Mardi Gras in Kindergarten too. I had to miss the Kindergarten parade that the Kindergartners got to ride in. It was the most traumatic experience of my young life at the time.

But, my dad felt bad for me and bought me a Six Million Dollar Man action figure to make me feel better so it was totally worth it.

 

[kansast]

Got chicken pox while I was in like the 7th grade. Was home from school because of a fever. I noticed spots showing up. Pulled out the encyclopedias and diagnosed myself with Small Pox . My two boys now in their 30’s both had chickenpox. Believe it was shortly after that they came out with the vaccine. I got the shingles vaccine this last year. Heard enough horror stories about that.

 

[Sailorsaint]

Got chicken pox while I was in like the 7th grade. Was home from school because of a fever. I noticed spots showing up. Pulled out the encyclopedias and diagnosed myself with Small Pox . My two boys now in their 30’s both had chickenpox. Believe it was shortly after that they came out with the vaccine. I got the shingles vaccine this last year. Heard enough horror stories about that.

Encyclopedia Britannica, the first Google.