Before the introduction of the vaccine, about 100,000 people were hospitalized and 100 people in the United States died each year of chickenpox, most of them previously healthy children.
100 a year? That's really not many, is it? I mean, yeah I don't want it to be my kid either, but they take bigger risks every day. They don't vaccinate because the virus is possibly fatal, they vaccinate for some other reason, like the virus was responsible for too many missed school days or something like that.
I'm okay with hep B just because some people who are exposed develop chronic hepatitis. And when the time comes, I'm okay with Gardasil too.
The hepatitus B vaccine is given because the CDC is trying to eliminate it as a disease.
When do they give the Hep B, though, is what I was wondering--like, is it a little-kid one, or an older-kid one, or what? Doesn't seem like you'd really need to do it as a small child.
I do worry about the sheer numbers of vaccines we're giving very, very tiny babies. The schedule is packed with all kinds of stuff, and if we were not going to daycare, I think I'd have chosen selective vaccination instead of the full course.
When do they give the Hep B, though, is what I was wondering--like, is it a little-kid one, or an older-kid one, or what? Doesn't seem like you'd really need to do it as a small child.
Right away. I think they could probably delay it, but it's one of the ones you get before you're even on solids.
I knew a woman who had shingles inflame nerves, and she spent the last five years of her life in excruciating pain. Having seen Miss Ruby with it, I'd say anything you can do to eliminate chicken pox is a good thing.
I was taken to a chicken pox party when I was around ten but I was very disappointed there was no cake or games.
I haven't had shingles yet, but I didn't get chicken pox till I was 18 and had a severe case of it. Several days of fever around 102, missed two weeks of school, still carry visible scars on my face, neck, and chest, etc. Was I ever in real danger? No, not at all. Would it have been worth a vaccine to avoid? Hell, yes.
I'm not sure shingles is entirely avoidable, though -- my mom and a friend both had them, and they'd both had chicken pox as kids.
I have heard, Susan, that chicken pox is much worse the older you get -- a friend got it when we were in high school and she was a mess for a couple of weeks.
I knew quite a few kids with bad scarring. I remember my mother putting gloves on my hands and coating me with calamine lotion. My brain could only hold one thought, which was "I must scratch."
