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| Yes | 54% | 56 votes | Total: 103 votes | |
| No | 46% | 47 votes |
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Add to FavoritesYes I definitely think that chicken pox vaccine is necessary. I think that any vaccine that is developed to help prevent diseases is good and you should take advantage of any help that you can get. Whether it is mandatory or not is yet another question. There are some people that think they are indispensable and will not get various diseases because they are tough or something. These are the same people who won't pay for health insurance and then have a major illness or accident and run up huge medical bill and leave the hospitals and doctors in the lurch cause they can't pay the bills. This brings on lawsuits and anytime a lawyer gets involved, somebody is going to get screwed. In these cases it is the rest of us because people like that make insurance for the rest of us more expensive. Medical insurance is going to be one of my major expenses as I look to retire.
I don't remember much about when I had chicken pox as a kid but I know I had them. Some times they leave horrible scars on some kids just like acne only in some cases worse. As I remember my case was not too bad. Shingles that occur in older adults is caused be the same virus as chicken pox and is a horrible disease that if you never had chicken pox, you would never have shingles. I consider myself pretty tough and think that I can handle most anything. I had shingles las t spring and even though we caught it early, it was one of the very worst experiences of my 65 years. I have never even thought of suicide or anything remotely like it but I believe if I had to live with shingles very long, I would. The pain is very intense and throbbing ever few seconds and just debilitating. They now have a vaccine for shingles too but if they had a chicken pox vaccine , you really wouldn't need a shingles vaccine. Once you get chicken pox, that virus never leaves your body and lays there dormant. In some cases it never bothers again and in some cases , usually in people over 50, it manifests itself again as shingles. My grandmother on my fathers side had them for over a year and just made her life miserable. Dad had them to but like mine his was not for long.
IF chicken pox vaccine is available , I say take it. Chicken pox is not fun and shingles that are caused by the same virus are miserable.
Learn more about this author, Bill Whitney.
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No
Chicken pox is the Methuselah of human childhood illness, referenced in medical literature as early as the 1500's. In older times, parents often chose to intentionally expose their kids to another infected child, since they learned quickly that the disease was less dangerous to young kids than adults and older children. Modern parents can now decide to immunize their children against chicken pox, but many question if this is the best option.
Chicken Pox Virus
Chicken Pox, known as varicella zoster, is a mild disease in children, rarely fatal or serious. The disease causes red itchy sores and a moderate fever. Very few children die because of chicken pox or resulting complications. Chicken pox is highly contagious, spread through droplets in the air.
Doctor's Advice
Some parents choose vaccination simply because the doctor says they should. Many doctors argue that vaccinations are safe and have reduced US infection rates by more than half. Another reason parents decide to vaccinate is financial. Because kids can infect others until the sores scab over, a parent can lose a week out of work while the child heals. In addition, the cost of a hospital stay from complications can financially cripple uninsured parents.
However, a lack of data about this fairly new vaccine feeds a controversy. While the vaccine is considered safe, the immunity might not be permanent. Because the vaccine has only been in use for about ten years, doctors do not know how long the vaccine's immunity will last. So far, recipients of the vaccine conitinue to be immune to the virus. Should further study show the immunity is permanent, there will be less room for controversy. Until then, it is better to let your child acquire immunity naturally.
Danger for Adults
Non-immune adults are much more likely to die of chicken pox than young children. The disease is highly contagious for up to 24 days before the infamous red spots show up. At this point, the disease resembles a common cold. Adults who have lost their vaccine-acquired immunity are unlikely to suspect the sick child might cause them to catch a potentially life-threatening disease.
While it is true that the vaccine has caused a sharp decline in infections, which should
result in fewer adult infections, it will be little consolation to the adult who gets sick because his immunity has worn off. In addition, most parents would rather be sure when it comes to protecting their children's health in the long-term. When asked if they would encourage chicken pox in their children to provide a nearly certain lifetime of immunity, many parents answer with an emphatic "yes".
Chicken Pox Parties
To help their children acquire a natural lifetime immunity to the disease, many parents are going back to the well-tried method of intentionally exposing their healthy kids to chicken pox infected children. They attend "chicken pox parties", hosted by sick children's parents.Healthy children are invited to play video games and share lollipops while parents gather and talk. The parents hope that the child will pick up the infection at an age when the disease is less likely to cause any serious harm.
Many doctors have no problem with chicken pox parties, considering them an extension of the tried and true method of handling this common childhood disease. It makes sense to strengthen the child's immune system by exposing him to the disease, rather than artificially shielding him with a vaccine that might or might not provide the same lifetime immunity.
Stick with What Works
Whether you decide to vaccinate your child or allow them to pick up immunity naturally may turn out to be a non-issue. As with all medical decisions, it is important to talk to your doctor and other parents for advice before making your choice. Until we know if the chicken pox vaccine provides permanent immunity, we should stick with what we know works.
Learn more about this author, Jessica Bosari.
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