I think I remember a story about John Adams going somewhere with some friends while in college to a place where they'd be exposed to someone with cowpox, in order to get some immunity to smallpox. But, yeah, a quarter of a millennium ago!

No, I think I have more than I can drink tonight, Burrell. Thanks for looking out, though.

Joe Frazier, RIP.

Well I mean, if you are pro pox party I'm not sure what your argument is against the vaccine. I mean, what is the argument against the chicken pox vaccine, that it can sometimes give kids a mild case of chicken pox? Dude, then I hate to tell you what happens when you expose your kid to the actual virus!

My one qualm about the vaccine is that it wears off at some point, and I would hate to set up my adult child to catch chicken pox later on in life just because we forgot to get a booster shot at some point.

Yeah, I probably need a booster shot, although I got the world's lamest adult chicken pox when I got the initial shot--I'm sure it wasn't enough to "take".

I remember a book I read when I was a kid where the protagonist had three brothers and whenever any one of them got a contagious disease , their mother would deliberately expose them to it so they would all get sick at the same time. Mod course,nthis book was set in Utah in the late 1800s

That book was part of The Great Brain series, Vortex. I remember it very well.

eta: wiki link [link]

I was curious how long the immunity lasts so I looked it up. Got this off the CDC website:

The length of protection/immunity from any new vaccine is never known when it is first introduced. However, available information collected from persons vaccinated in Japan in the United States show that protection has lasted for as long as the vaccinated persons have been followed (25 years in Japan and more than 10 years in the U.S.). Follow-up studies are ongoing to determine how long protection will last and to evaluate the need and timing for booster vaccination. If it is determined in the future that a booster dose is necessary, your health-care provider will inform you. Currently, no booster dose is recommended beyond the recently recommended two-dose vaccination series.

Good to know.

That book was part of The Great Brain series, Vortex. I remember it very well.

yes! I would have named it, but I didn't think any one wild know it. silly me, I should have known that you guys would. My niece will be reading them soon!

I understand, Burrell, but tetanus shots need to be re-upped as well (OW) as do several other vaccines. Most college require proof of up-to-date vaccs, and as a DV shelter, teen shelter worker and HS teacher, I not only had to get a TB screen for each new job, but provide proof of current vacs within 30 days of contract signing (I think for rubella/diptheria? can't remember.)

There was a religious opt-out clause but employment could be denied for non-current vax for any other grounds than religious beliefs or a genuine medical issue that prevented a vaccination, like an allergy or a disease that resulted in a comprised immune system.

And while I completely understand person with those limitations wanting to become teachers, it's not the best idea to be an immuno-suppressed person working in the petri dish of direct work with kids.

Man, I caught pinkeye 4x and had lice 3x, and I was a nut about washing my hands and using Purell at work. Not to mention many, many colds; I hate flu shots, but I got one every year after my first, after I had pinkeye twice my first year of teaching, the flu 3x and strep once. PETRI DISH! You'd think I was licking random desks and pens or something, but no.

I mean, what is the argument against the chicken pox vaccine, that it can sometimes give kids a mild case of chicken pox?

Apparently they're upset about the other stuff in the vaccine. Some of them think thimerosol is still used, for instance.

And I should get the shingles vaccine at some point, I think. The world has changed: we have a shingles vaccine!