me: I heard I had chicken pox as a baby, even before I left the hospital.
friend A: That's really good, you didn't have to even suffer through it, or at least have any memories.
friend B: My mom made me play with the neighbor's kids when they got it, so that I would get it too. I mean, they used to have 'chicken pox parties' in my neighborhood, where everyone's kids would be sure to get it.
That was then, this is now. In today's America we have the Varicella vaccine on the recommended immunization schedule, so that most kids are vaccinated by the time they're in grade school, and the entire itchy experience is bypassed.
This is with good reason, because chickenpox tends to be more severe if people get it later on in life. Although, even after immunity to chickenpox develops, the virus itself is never cleared, and can manifest as shingles sometime later. I'm sure you personally know someone who's had either or both types of disease. Shingles can be extremely painful, and can cause blindness if it occurs on the face.
But fear not! I hear there now is a shingles vaccine.
Moral of the story: Some vaccines you can do perfectly fine without, but do get protected from chickenpox. Spare yourself (and people around you, as it is extremely contagious) any distress it could cause. It may seem like the disease is subsiding. That would probably be because everyone is just immune. But for the people who are not immune, it still can be a potentially deadly disease.
So a few questions:
1. When does shingles generally develop?
2. How is a shingles vaccine different from the chickenpox (varicella) vaccine?
3. Since shingles develops later in life, would it be logical to "push back" the chickenpox vaccine to early teens or only recommend it to individuals who haven't gotten chickenpox before adulthood? In other words, is there a reason that the chickenpox vaccine is given at such a young age?
1. This tends to vary, but it usually presents in people who have compromised immune systems from sickness or medications, or are older than 50.
2. The shingles vaccine is for people who are 60 or older, whereas chicken pox vaccine is given to infants as young as only 12 months. Shingles vaccine was licensed in 2006 and added to CDC recommendations in 2008, to reduce risk of shingles and its associated pain in 60+ patients.
3. That would be an interesting strategy. But I believe severity of chicken pox disease increases with age, and so it's still bad to get it as a teen versus as an infant. The current recommendation is that persons 7-18 of age who previously haven't had the disease need multiple doses.
Vaccinating infants decreases their chances of getting chicken pox at all, or decreases the severity of disease if they do get it. That's good reason to give the vaccine at a young age.
One other thing I would point out is that since chicken pox is so contagious, it would be wise to vaccinate the majority of children just so that public places (schools, daycare centers, pools) don't have to suddenly shut down in the event of an outbreak.