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."

The point is that the vaccine could eliminate chicken pox altogether, so in the future no one would get shingles. There's nothing to do for those of us who have had chicken pox except cross our fingers.

When chicken pox recurs as shingles, it's not pretty.

Shingles is one of the three things my father managed to get in the year before he died. I have no doubt it was a motivating factor in his decision to take himself off the respirator.

In NC, the default is to give Hep. B to newborns in the hospital. You have to specifically decline it. I was told this is so they can be sure that at-risk children (i.e. children of addicts, etc.) receive it, but they can't have a policy just for at-risk of addicts, so they give it to everyone.

My understanding is the current chickenpox vaccine only confers temporary immunity, like less than 10 years. This seems to be the case for things like MMR, too, but there is still enough chckenpox around that you have a decent chance of getting it once the vaccine wears off, in early adulthood. I wonder if they will eventually go to college-age boosters of it, like they do with some other things (um, MMR, and tetanus, maybe?)

Aside from the delay of the Hep. B, my kids have had the normal vaccination schedule, and no ill effects more than a day of sleepiness/low fever/fussa.

I had chicken pox as a kid (still have the scars), and I developed shingles a few years ago. Not the worst pain I've ever been in, but it was not pretty by a long shot.