same is true of actual infection. that's why it's recommended that kids get a varicella vaccination at 12 m/o and again before kindergarten. In MO that's become mandated for kindergarten entrance. It's also recommended that adults get a shingles vaccination (same virus) with a booster or two at regular intervals. Some viruses our immune systems don't remember well so you can get the disease as a young child and still lose your immunity with time.

In an Ideal World if you could vaccinate everyone the world over you could wipe many of these diseases from the face of the earth. No more vaccinations would be needed. For many diseases the human host is the only so called reservoir. This is why Small Pox is no longer with us. The Flu virus is another problem that could be theoretically eradicated.

Were all aware of Afghanistan, Iraq, & Libyan Conflicts & the Middle east uprisings , but there's usually a hundred other conflicts going on at any one time some where in the world.

This makes it very hard to coordinate Vaccine programs. But if it could be done it would save Trillions of dollars in medical expense world wide in a matter of a few years. Not to mention the suffering & lives lost.

Exactly right Kallie.

"We present data to confirm that exposure to varicella boosts immunity to herpes-zoster. We show that exposure to varicella is greater in adults living with children and that this exposure is highly protective against zoster."

"Mass varicella vaccination is expected to cause a major epidemic of herpes-zoster, affecting more than 50% of those aged 10-44 years at the introduction of vaccination."

-Brisson M, et al. Vaccine. 2002 Jun 7;20(19-20):2500-7.

that's why adults should be getting their boosters. We shouldn't try to solve adult problems by not treating children. There's little sense in that.

As for rotavirus you couldn't be more wrong. Rotavirus KILLS hundreds and hospitalizes thousands of inants every year due to the severe diarrhe it causes. Older children and adults are much more able to keep up with fluid requirements when they get the disease than infants.

1 in a 1000 or so for seizures isn't a low chance of severe side effects. Say 20 million children get it in 5 years. That is 20 thousand children crippled for the rest of their lives. For something, which kills 168 people a year, I don't see how 1 thousand deaths prevented from poor immune systems compares to the 20k children, which could have serious non recoverable condition for 60 years. When you compare odds of getting the chicken pox and facing death from it, which has a lower odds, verus getting seizures from the vaccine. This Vaccine needs to be reworked.

In my book, Chicken pox vaccine is over prescribed.

haven't seen nearly that rate in my office. and seizures don't mean life long disability. most kids who get a seizure at some point with fever never have another one and never have life long problems. your risk with the natural disease is just as high or higher.

Reason and Logic,

The reported prevalence of severe side effects is actually only 2 out of 100,000.

Before the vaccine, there were something like 10,000 hospitalizations due to chicken pox and 100 deaths, with only half being older than adolescence.

except chicken pox comes back as shingles which isnt harmless. My father in law almost died when instead of normal shingles he got encephalitis.

Chicken pox is not harmless.

Praise your prerogative,

I choose not to vaccinate any day. I had chicken pox as a child and I am glad I did. At least I am protected for life......no need for a pseudoscience booster. No shingle on this roof and no side effects from a vaccine.

read the previous posts you ignoramus (madison). Obviously the vaccine is not a permanent solution, it's a bad idea from an industry that is loaded with them.

you're resistance to vaccinations is the pseudoscience.

How much older do I have to be before I get shingles?

Why haven't I contracted chicken pox since I had it then?

Where is the data on those questions? I am 47 and I have not contracted anything that I was supposed to be vaccinated for.

Data please. Why have I been healthy without vaccines since the polio vaccine I had as a child put me in a coma for 3 days and it is because of that vaccine. The threat from every vaccine possibly causing side effects or the thing that you are supposed to get vaccinated against?

I will take my changes and do what I have done for so many years.....ignore indoctrination.

You havent gotten chicken pox again since you cant have an initial infection of a virus , the same virus, twice. But the virus is in you dormant. It hides in nerves. Shingles shows up most commonly in the retirement years.

Webmd, wikipedia, etc are your friends or ask your family doctor. They can all explain this to you.

it doesn't happen to everyone. you don't automatically have a recurrence just because you've had the disease.

you should still get vaccinated to help boost your immunity to the virus.

Kerry-

Shingles can come in any period of intense stress or other instances of weakened immune systems.

Also, you couldn't have had the chickenpox vaccine, as you had the illness as a kid.

The itching, isolation, fever, and boredom? Seriously? Maybe we should invent a vaccine for poison ivy, that causes itching. Fever? How many fevers does a kid get in their lifetime? Isolation? hmmm...anyone that's had the pox or doesn't mind getting it, can come visit your kid. And what child doesn't claim to be bored at some point? It's good to be bored- find something creative to do. You're a moron. I'd rather my kid be itchy and bored and have a low-grade fever for a couple days over the chance of becoming permanently damaged for the rest of his/her life. WAH.

S.K.- So you would rather chance your kid dying from the chicken pox or being hospitalized (10,000 per year before vaccine) or giving the disease to a person with a weakened immune system or have a rare complication of the disease or even die than risk a very rare complication that does not permanently damage most children?

You have to have had actual chicken pox to get shingles. Those who are vaccinated for chicken pox will NEVER get shingles.

If they get the booster.....and who know how long the boster is effective. I am for the vacinne, but there are gaps related to it as well.

Garth, not to offend you, but it's this antivaccine attitude that is leading to lots of needless death and disability and upswings in preventable diseases.

I've heard some good ones before but "overvaccinated?" Come on. Vaccines save lives.

If I could get compensation for the damage they did to me when I was put in a coma fo three days and subsequent ADD as a child and all the way to the present I would but it happened before the compensation act and being able to show the dangers of vaccines is more justice then their monetary compensation.

Vaccine effectiveness can wane over time making a person at risk again. Some members of the public cannot be vaccinated. Not vaccinating your child is child endangerment.

You don't vaccinate your child, move to a private isle and stay there. Dont play roulette with other peoples children.

Vaccinating is child endangerment. Indoctrination is an abomination. Skewed opinions should be kept in the person who spews them. I choose life, freedom and the right to choose.

If you fear the un-vaccinated you need to stay at home in your bubble.

we all have a right to our own opinions, Kerry, but science is massively in favor of vaccination. generally the same attitudes (antiscience) that lead people to not vaccinate are shared with those who don't want to believe in evolution or say there's no such thing as global warming.

The antivax movement is a syndrome of "haves." we have so much in this country yet still feel our lives are out of our control so we go and manufacture new villains to fight. Yes, be educated, yes give informed consent, but please protect yourself and all of society from disease where you can. We can't stop a raging tornado or hurricane, but we can prevent some diseases.

Kerry, one shouldn't have to fear the not vaccinated. But if you chose not to vaccinate, then you should live inside the bubble yourself.

It's interesting to me that yesterday there was an article posted saying that more and more physicians are refusing to see children who are not vaccinated. There are vaccines for these diseases for a reason.

no but now they can get shingles which has a fairly high complication rate. My father in law almost died from shingles presenting as encephalitis. Nice to see you playing roulette with their health so cavalierly ...

My odds are great I do not dwell in theories. No shingles here, never had them. I am glad I had chicken pox as a child. I do not pay attention to the fear mongering.

The chances of your developing shingle will increase as you age and your level of immunity and gereral health wane. It is a very painful condition and can be a longterm chronic condition. Dont start celebrating yet.

S.K.- the measles is not a mild disease and complications are very common. These diseases kill.

The only immunity to chicken pox is from the vaccine. READ how varicella REALLY works. The virus only goes DORMANT for years after the initial infection. It never goes away and often comes back in your "golden" years as shingles.

You can ONLY get shingles if you had chickenpox previously.

Gene,

It rarely comes back as shingles, just as it even more rarely causes death. But most are much more fortunate in that it's a mild inconvenience as a child and a very rare condition as an adult. This vaccine is not without its own problems and therefore not a fair trade.

The dollars spent on this vaccine would have been much better spent researching a way to help those few who have severe reactions to chicken pox as a child or shingles as an adult.

Incident rate of shingles in 65+ age group : 3.9–11.8 per year per 1,000 individuals.

thats not exactly rare.

It is if it is skewed data.

Kerry, that's what I was thinking. I don't remember the last time I heard of anyone with shingles.

And Gene, if you're correct, then wouldn't it make sense to find a way to alleviate the suffering without the problems associated with a vaccine?

Ben, that's because you don't work in a doctor's office or hospital. You see it all the time there.

Of course it makes sense to alleviate suffering without problems, but vaccination is the best we have right now. Until we understand everything there is to know about the way diseases work and how the human immune system responds to them there will be potential downsides to prevention and treatment, that doesn't mean we should sit on our hands and not use what we have. You could take the same attitude towards seatbelts and airbags in cars. Sure, some people might be injured by the safety device, but the number saved far outweighs those who might get hurt.

Kerry, what is this skewed data you speak of?