Pox get vaccinated against it. For that matter why should healthy children. Isn't it better for them to get the actual disease and the more robust immunity that comes with it than to constantly have to get boosters. From both a public and private health standpoint.

Chicken Pox can be a serious illness. Yes, most children get them and are sick and itchy for a few days then recover. However there are rare occurances of serious problems from chicken pox. Wouldn't you prefer you get a shot once every few years and never have the illness? How awful would it be to say you don't need the shot then have a serious problem because you didn't want to deal with a pesky needle?

What if you are a dual working family household? Can you afford to take a week off to take care of a child who can't go to school or day care when you could have given them a shot instead? What if your child never catches chicken pox when they are young? It is much worse as an adult who has chicken pox then a child.

I don't know about an adult who has already caught chicken pox, getting the vaccine. I do know they can get shingles though and I have seen people with shingles, it isn't pleasant. And that person with shingles can give someone who never had the chick pox the chicken pox!

A person who is sick with chicken pox can be transmitting the disease for 14-21 days before showing any symptoms. People can be walking around with a suppressed immune system, low white cell counts or other problems and a child with the chicken pox can make that person really sick. Spread the love, not the germs.

signed

someone with low white blood cells, who never got the chicken pox as a child and was very happy to be vaccinated after her uncle had shingles

According to the CDC, only adults who have never had chickenpox or lack evidence of having had chicken pox should be vaccinated.

especially the varicella virus. Why would you subject a child or anyone for that matter to a disease that is preventable? No it is not better for a person to get a natural immunity....The vaccination is an altered live virus...so immunity is similar to a natural immunity. Part of the reasons that so many " diseases" or "childhood diseases" are again on the rise is the lack of inoculations of children and adults upon immigrating to the country, religious exceptions and in some cases pure laziness of making time to do so.

Chicken Pox is a high contagious disease, that is more than just some pox marks and temperature, it is the varicella virus, which can causes a whole host of other diseases, besides an itch.

This part of the post is from

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After the varicella virus infects the skin, it is not completely eliminated from the body as most viruses are. Instead the virus travels up the nerves to important nerve branching points called ganglia deep in the body where it stays in an inactive, or latent.

Certain triggers may cause the virus to travel back down the nerve to the skin causing painful, burning blisters. This condition is known as shingles, or herpes zoster (although it is not caused by the herpes virus), or varicella zoster, or just zoster. Shingles occur in about 20% of people who have had chicken pox.

Bacterial Infection
The most common complication of chickenpox is secondary bacterial infection of the chickenpox lesions. The bacteria most likely to cause infection are Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. The bacteria most commonly cause infections such as impetigo, furunculosis, cellulitis, erysipelas, and lymphadenitis. These infections are superficial, but there is a risk of the bacteria invading the bloodstream and causing bacteremia. People who develop bacteremia are at risk of developing bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, sepsis, shock, and death. Chickenpox lesions that are secondarily infected should be treated with antibiotics.

Neurologic Complications
The second most common complication of chickenpox involves the neurological system. One of these disorders is called acute cerebellar ataxia which causes progressive irritability, difficulty walking, difficulty with vision, and speech disturbances that persist for days or weeks but normally clear completely over time. Another neurologic complication is varicella meningoencephalitis which causes sudden but transient delirium, seizures, headache, sensitivity to light, and neck pain. These symptoms usually resolve after 24 to 72 hours.

Respiratory Complications
The leading cause of varicella-related morbidity and mortality in adults, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems is varicella pneumonia. Approximately 1 in 400 adults who develop chickenpox are hospitalized for varicella pneumonia. Varicella pneumonia is caused by the spread of the virus in the bloodstream to the lungs. Risk factors for developing this complication include:

• Contracting chickenpox at an older age
• A rash that involves a larger number of lesions
• A compromised immune system
• Pregnancy (especially in the third trimester)
• Smoking
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Liver Complications
A common complication of chickenpox is a transient hepatitis, or inflammation of the liver. This does not usually cause symptoms and resolves on its own. However, Reye's syndrome is a life-threatening condition that causes liver failure in association with aspirin administration for a viral illness. The incidence of Reye's syndrome has dramatically decreased as parents have learned not to give their children aspirin for a fever.

Why should an adult who has had measles & rubella, but not mumps, get an MMR? Can one still get a separate mumps vaccination?

I was born in the 1950s. I had measles & rubella (as well as chicken pox) as a child, but never got mumps. My younger brother did have mumps in 1973, but I was pregnant at the time so of course I stayed away from him so I wouldn't catch them! My oldest child (born in 1974) was on of the first kids in our area to get the mumps vaccine when it was developed -- but they wouldn't vaccinate me because I was an adult. At that time the mumps vaccine was given separately from the measles/rubella one.

My younger kids (born in the 1980's) all had their MMR's, although all my kids caught chicken pox before the vaccine was developed. The pediatrician couldn't vaccinate me for mumps because I'm an adult (plus, she doesn't have it separate from the MMR.) My internist couldn't do it because she doesn't carry vaccines like that at all!

I've been trying on & off to get the mumps vaccine for the past 34 years. I live in dread of catching the disease as an adult -- my mom had them in her 30's and suffered greatly, much worse than getting them as a child! I can only take comfort in knowing that since most kids are immunized against mumps these days, & most adults have already had them, I'm unlikely to be exposed.

It probably wouldn't hurt you to get the MMR if that is all there is to keep from getting the Mumps. It is probably the best to speak to your doctor and have someone with a medical degree look it up. Also since you had Meases and Rubella in the 50's or 60's it might also be a good idea to check your titer levels and make sure you are still immune. (you probably are but it would be a good backup)

I understand the principles of vaccination so I know it is an altered virus. It is still not as affective as having the actual disease. Therefore from a public health standpoint I still think it is wiser to let kids get the CP than to rely on people getting boosters regularly. I know that this is inconvenient but I'm not talking about convenience I am talking about public health.

I do not understand how, after the HUGE increase in Autism and ADHD/ADD and other disorders caused primarily by heavy metal toxicity, ie: VACCINE DAMAGE, that anybody would still have the cojones to promote vaccination.

Babies do not have a functioning immune system in the first place, that is what breastfeeding is for.

The AMA, CDC, ACA et al, are completely controlled by the pharmaceutical industry, so anything that comes out of any MD's mouth is automatically suspect.

Why is it that every time I check out postings from these idiots it appears that they have already spent an abundant amount of time composing their "argument", as if they had been paid to post that complete rubbish!

Not only do I have the supposed "education" to have an opinion on these matters, but I have personal experience with the problems caused by vaccinations which would of course be written off as "anecdotal" evidence.

I have not had any vaccinations since 1995 (required for University) and have not seen a dentist since 1993, and have had perfect health and never so much as a cavity in my entire life!

Do not let these losers tell you you need anything! Take care of yourself!

There has still been no absolute proof that vaccines cause Autism, ADD or ADHD. And in fact there may be at first glance a huge increase in diagnoses of them but in fact autism and ADD were only recently named and in the past were just considered some type of mental disorder that was not necessarily given a name.

You may not have been vaccinated since 1995 but you need to remember without vaccines we could still have smallpox or polio and breastfeeding won't cure that. You also (I'm assuming) live in either America or Canada and probably wealthy enough to live in a nice area, you know to wash your hands and brush your teeth. Although if you decide to go to Africa, or do volunteer work in a slum in a rundown part of the city you had better make sure you get all the vaccines you need, like Hepititus, Tetanus or Menegitis (excuse my spelling)

So please don't get all high and mighty and call me a loser, my children will be vaccinated.

I know why parents of autistic kids think that the vaccines are responsible. But even now that they have begun removing thimerisol(sp?) from most vaccines, diagnoses are still on the rise. Logic would dictate that it has a lot more to do with the child's make up than a poison that only affects 1 out 150 children. (Much less, if you account for the kids who present before or not on schedule with vaccination.)

My point is, NO they haven't proved anything either way on autism/vaccines. And as unfortunate as it is to have autism in any family, (speaking from experience), it would be far worse for, say, polio to make a come back.

I would rather protect my kids from diseases that will maim or kill them, than not, on the off chance that they have a bad reaction. Not to mention, the other children whose parents chose not to protect them would also be at risk. As horrifying and debilitating as it is, autism isn't contaigious.

Don't get me wrong. If you have a family history of autism, or general bad reactions to vaccinations, it might be in your best interest not to vaccinate. But for the public in general, it's a pretty good idea for you--and for those with whom you come in contact that may have a legitimate reason not to.