Chickenpox, who should get the pain, Children or Adults?

originally posted by: SteamyJeans

When I was a kid, parents were sending there kids over for sleepovers with “chicken kids” for the sole purpose of their child getting it, fighting through it, and being done with it.

When I was 4, my 7 year old
Brother returned home from Argentina with chickenpox.
Mom assured us it was no problem, we all get it once.
We all got it.
And we all lived to tell the tale.
a reply to: JAGStorm

Same here, they called them "Chicken-Pox Parties". It was a way of allowing your child to get it when young, when it is least able to do real damage, than later as an adult. I was sent to one as a kid, whereas my wife was not. Today, she worries about getting shingles, since it is much worse to deal with than chicken pox.

Frankly, I think building a child's immunities early does give them a better advantage to fight off diseases as they get older and are exposed to more and more as they will inevitably travel.

originally posted by: JAGStorm


Edit to add - I think shingles are much worse, and I've had both chickenpox and shingles!

They have boosters now for shingles....

a reply to: Xabi87

Congratulations. Im glad your kiddies are on the mend. most kids can shake it off. But then there are those who dont.
I cant imagine the guilt if I lost a child to a disease because I didnt have them vaccinated. Though with our current school system you kind of cant not vaccinate anyway.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
Years ago I was talking about chickenpox and I was so glad that my kids didn't get that dreaded diseases
anymore. My friend from the UK chimed in and was shocked. I found out that the UK does not
vaccinate for the Chickenpox. Their kids still get it like we used to.

I was shocked. What, they have National healthcare. It didn't make sense. Aren't they pro-vaccination?

www.nhs.uk... svTq2itwZ23IloIZ_98WVT4sbPqIurVAgC8w7lmc

Then I read this, and now it all makes sense:

Being exposed to chickenpox as an adult – for example, through contact with infected children – boosts your immunity to shingles.

Chew on that. So who is right? The US or the UK. I'm a proud American and patriot, but I think the UK has this one!
It makes so much sense! So either kids get chickenpox, or adults get shingles. (I'm talking about the majority, not the one off cases.)

Edit to add - I think shingles are much worse, and I've had both chickenpox and shingles!

I caught chicken pox (or chicken pops as the kids used to say in the 80's) when I was in the 1st grade. None of my kids have gotten it (knock on wood).

I may not understand your OP, but are you saying that it's better for adults to get shingles than it is for kids to get chicken pox?

a reply to: Sillyolme

Like i said, rate of death for measles INCLUDING the complication encephalitis is .5 deaths per 100,000 cases.

the rate of death for chicken pox (INCLUDING the complications pneumonia, encephalitis & sepsis) is 1 death per 100 thousand cases.

for reference the death rate of influenza in the US is 14.8 per 100,000 cases.

your fear is based on ignorance plain and simple. chickenpox is 2x as deadly as measles lol

originally posted by: UpIsNowDown
a reply to: JAGStorm

all i can say is i fall into a strange catergory, i had the Pox as a child and also again as an adult in my 30's, while i can not directly recall how bad it was in childhood, it hospitalised me as an adult, I was in for about a week and needed another to recover

Doctors said it was rare but not unheard of to catch it twice, guess i am just unlucky, i was also born ginger

but now i am bald

You must be Irish or Scottish (not considered unlucky at all)... Catching that twice is a bad deal...

originally posted by: NarcolepticBuddha
a reply to: JAGStorm

I had super shingles while on chemo. Worst pain I ever felt in 3 years of cancer treatments and surgeries...was the shingles.

F the shingles, at least you beat cancer. Many people aren't here to say that today.

I may not understand your OP, but are you saying that it's better for adults to get shingles than it is for kids to get chicken pox?

a reply to: LSU2018

no, you are at an increased risk of getting shingles now if your kids don't get the chicken pox naturally. which would exposing you to the virus, therefore boosting YOUR immune system against it.. because you had chicken pox as a kid so the virus lives in your nerves forever and will re-emerge as shingles once your immune system "forgets about it". chicken pox in children will serve as a reminder for the parents' immune system. you don't get that reminder via vaccine, which is why them are pushing the new shingles vaccine. because they are pushing the pox vaccine.

originally posted by: Sillyolme


Congratulations. Im glad your kiddies are on the mend. most kids can shake it off. But then there are those who dont.
I cant imagine the guilt if I lost a child to a disease because I didnt have them vaccinated. Though with our current school system you kind of cant not vaccinate anyway.

Come live near Oregon where we had about 70 cases of the measles due to stupid people not vaccinating their kids. The problem is those who do not vaccinate put others who cant get vaccinated due to age, medical conditions etc at risk.

Children die from these diseases.

a reply to: Sillyolme

children die from lots of things all the time. that's life. you know what else is a part of life, getting sick... it happens to everyone a lot.

a reply to: LSU2018

I may not understand your OP, but are you saying that it's better for adults to get shingles than it is for kids to get chicken pox?

No, if I had to pick I'd say that it is better for kids to get chickenpox. It appears the UK national health system believes the same thing.

a reply to: LSU2018

I may not understand your OP, but are you saying that it's better for adults to get shingles than it is for kids to get chicken pox?

No, if I had to pick I'd say that it is better for kids to get chickenpox. It appears the UK national health system believe the same thing.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: SteamyJeans

Children die from these diseases. I bet the one parent who exposed their child to get it over with whos child died regrets the decision.
Sadly I knew a young boy who died from Reyes syndrome after having the chicken pox. He was his parents only child and he was nine years old.
Why let children get sick any more than they will ordinarily in their young lives.

I would never in a million years send my kids out to get the pox intentionally but if they were to get them then I'd rather it be when they're young. As a kid, you just itch all over, I don't recall a painful feeling with mine.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Come live near Oregon where we had about 70 cases of the measles due to stupid people not vaccinating their kids.

OH NO, the measles... so like a not-so-bad-chicken-pox, how did you even manage to escape that plague. lol

put others at risk or what? getting sick? so the next time you transmit a cold or flu can you be sue for damages?

you don't have a human right not to get sick.

a reply to: Sillyolme

We do vaccinate our kids, just for different diseases i suppose. My kids have had quite a few vaccinations, i know meningitis is one of them but i'm not sure of all the others, their mother would know though. They are due some more as hey get older too, i know they will get one for TB as i did when they are about 12 years old.

originally posted by: smkymcnugget420
a reply to: Sillyolme

Like i said, rate of death for measles INCLUDING the complication encephalitis is .5 deaths per 100,000 cases.

the rate of death for chicken pox (INCLUDING the complications pneumonia, encephalitis & sepsis) is 1 death per 100 thousand cases.

for reference the death rate of influenza in the US is 14.8 per 100,000 cases.

your fear is based on ignorance plain and simple. chickenpox is 2x as deadly as measles lol

Your numbers are incorrect. Deaths from Chicken Pox is 1 per 60,000, for Measles it is 1 to 2 per 1000 Below is a cool chart that shows both lethality and contagious level for many diseases. 1 in 4 cases of measles are actually hospitalized.

Measles is worse right? I know they have had their MMR jab.

a reply to: Xabi87

Oh I remember. I have their vaccination records in a fireproof lock box we keep for insurance papers and birth certificates and the like. But the babies are all grown and flown the coop. My last went to boot camp for the navy on Sunday.

a reply to: LSU2018

No of course not. Not now days but it is true that they used to do that. And I bet there were more than a few moms who regretted it. My older two had the disease. My youngest had the vaccine and got a mild case anyway.

a reply to: smkymcnugget420

oh well then its ok.
wipes a tear from her cheek.