[SarahW]

One advantage of controlled exposure to chickenpox: The severity of the illness can be greatly reduced with a prescription for acyclovir - and if you can tell your ped that your childs fever is probably the result of varicella exposure, you can get the RX and have it on hand to reduce the number of pock-marks.

[mewzilla]

I'd take getting the infection early on in childhood over a vaccine that may or may not be problematic. Af far as I can see the vaccination is mostly for convenience sake anyway, which is a not the best way to determine what's right for a child's health.

[widowithfoursons]

Being exposed to it as a child is a lot better than getting it as an adult. I contracted it when I was 36 (from my son), and was desperately ill with pox EVERYWHERE, and high fever. Thought I was going to croak for sure.

[BibChr]

When my daughter got CP, we had her play a lot with my oldest son, so he'd catch it — and we sent her off to Grandma's so I wouldn't!

Net result: he and I came down with it on the same day!

For Matthew (about 5) and Rachael (about 8), it was a fairly mild deal, no lasting scars that I know of.

For me, I was about as sick as I've ever been, absolutely miserable, feverish, mildly delusional (yes, more than usual), and pain-wracked — and it was the first day of a week in the mountains for Valerie and me! The local doc recommended sweating, and Aspirin. I took Aspirin, and went out to our car wearing a coat and rolling up the windows in 100-plus summer heat, because I felt so terribly guilty for wrecking my wife's vacation. She (a totally great sport about it) came out and dragged me back inside, and we watched the '92 GOP convention, then eventually went home early where prescription painkiller gave me my first moments of comfort. (We went back a few weeks later and had some fun!)

I'd say get the vaccination or get it over in childhood. You don't want to be adult, and have CP.

Dan

[Lee'sGhost]

Uh, Og not use new fangled bow and arrow to kill bear and wolves. Might fly off course, kill woman. Og heard story from Uga that Bola's brother's woman die that way. Better to keep using spear to protect family.

Someone said "reduce the severity of the pock marks." God, what freakin morons. I prefer my children to be pock free. Compare the morbidity and mortality of children who are not vaccinated vs. the conjured up morbidity/mortality associated with "perceived" adverse reactions and you STILL come out better getting the vaccine.

[ArrogantBustard]

Before the chickenpox vaccine, 100 people died annually and 5,000 to 9,000 were hospitalized.
Out of how many total infections per year? Why can't the 'reporter' determine this fact, as well?

Doctors say that serious reactionsto the vaccine are rare.
How rare? What was the rate of serious complications per 100,000 vaccinated? Why can't the 'reporter' deterime this fact?

Why can't reporters report? This article is almost useless, except as an example of reportorial incompetence. < /rant >

AB

[Constitution Day]

I just can't read that article without thinking of the South Park "Chicken Pox" episode.

[stevio]

This is a great idea. Sending this home to my wife.

[eastsider]

Everyone in my family had chicken pox as a kid, and we've all had shingles as adults. Most recently, my father (81) is suffering an outbreak of shingles on his face and forehead. They're very painful and last for quite a while.

[Paradox]

Seems to me that by going to one of these parties, you are essentially "vaccinating" your child, but with a more active form of the virus. Same difference, although the vaccine "might" not protect you for life.. well, I'd get a booster shot in adulthood. My sister and I both still have some visible scarring from our childhood CP illness, being dark skinned, we tend to scar badly.

[MadelineZapeezda]

My youngest called them the "Chichie pots" when she caught them from her sister.

[Atticus]

Kids are being vaccinated against Hepatitis B now. There is no vaccine against Hepatitis C, yet the same health experts who are pushing the Hep B vaccine will tell you there is no need to be concerned that your child will contract Hep C at school. It's inconsistent.

[andysandmikesmom]

My older boy got chickenpox when he was 4...it was just a fairly mild case, and he got over it quickly...thing was, I was a day or so away from giving birth to my second child, so the doc thought it a good thing to have my older boy spend extra time at grandmas house, being as that is where he was going to stay when I was in the hospital having my baby, and the doctor just did not want him around me, as I had never had the chickenpox...just a safety precaution...

When my younger boy was in kindergarten, I got a letter from the school saying there had been a chickenpox outbreak, and so for us to be watching our kids...and sure enough my younger boy came down with chickenpox, but it had to have been the mildest case ever...very few pox, but confirmed to be chickenpox by the military doctor...

He got over that case very quickly, as there were probably only about 10-15 pox...

A month later, we got another note from the school, saying there had been a second outbreak of chicken pox..so again we were to watch our kids...this time my younger boy got chicken pox, again, and what a bad case he had...100s of pox, and they were everywhere...in his ears, up his nose, on his penis, all over, poor guy...funny thing is, they barely itched, and he was not sick with a fever or anything...just had to stay home from school,...the military doc said, that obviously his first case was so light, that it did not provide him with full immunity, so when the second outbreak came along he got it again...

I, however, never did get anything...never had chicken pox as a kid, never caught it the three different times, my two boys had it...guess maybe I have a natural immunity to it...

However, I did get the mumps when I was 16, and boy was I miserable...I thought the pain was going to drive me out of my mind, and I just wanted to die...

[SamAdams76]

Well I guess my wife and I are way ahead of the curve. A few years back, during the summer, my kids were invited to a birthday party at a neighbor's house and the mother warned us that one of her kids had the chicken pox. I suggested to my wife that it would be an excellent opportunity for our two sons to go over there and get the chicken pox, so that they could get it over with and not have to miss any school. I remember getting the chicken pox as a third-grader and I missed three weeks of school. Hey, it was great for me at the time. I got to sit at home and watch Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo all day. But it took me a long time to catch up with the rest of the class when I got back.

So we took the kids over there and sure enough, they came down with the chicken pox. Within two weeks, they were back to normal and were able to start the new school year on time. Furthermore, they won't have to worry about "The Shingles" or whatever they call adult chicken pox these days.

So I guess I made my kids catch chickenpox when making kids catch chickenpox wasn't cool!

[carmody]

She urges all parents to take advantage of the vaccine. Most of her patients heed her advice, she said, but a few resist. ..."They think, 'The fewer vaccines the better.' This one seems optional to them."

In fact, when the vaccine first arrived on the scene, our pediatrician offered it to us AS AN OPTION. It was offered especially for WORKING MOMS who couldn't afford to take time off of work to stay home with a quarantined child. Only in the last few years has chicken pox become "dangerous".

[weegee]

"Doctors say that serious reactions are rare." The article cites statistics for people who have complications from the disease (not tying it to percentage of total infected) and they can't dig up numbers on bad effects from the vaccine???

Controlled exposure helps you to prepare for a "bad" situation (you know it's coming).

Do the children who've been exposed get exempted from the vaccination? Who's getting $$$ from these vaccinations?

Is early childhood exposure "bad" because it reduces the number of children that must still submit to the shots?

Medical science is a great thing but there are people that believe everything a doctor does is in the best interest of the patient.