Chickenpox
Chickenpox is a common illness caused by a virus (germ) called varicella zoster.

Chickenpox causes fever, drowsiness, and an itchy skin rash of blister-like lesions all over the body.

Chickenpox is very contagious and spreads from person to person:

• By direct contact with the fluid from a blister of a person infected with chickenpox
• From direct contact with a sore from a person with Shingles
• Through the air from an infected person's coughing or sneezing

It takes about 14 to 21 days to develop symptoms after being exposed to chickenpox. The illness itself is usually mild and lasts 5 to 10 days. People with chickenpox are contagious for 1 - 2 days before the rash appears and until all the blisters are dried up, usually 5 to 10 days after. It is possible to catch chickenpox from someone on a different aisle in the supermarket, who does not even know they have chickenpox.

Almost all children catch chickenpox, but older children and adults can get it. Children with chickenpox need to be kept out of daycare or school for a week or more until all blisters have dried.

Chickenpox occasionally causes serious problems. The blisters can become infected, and some children get encephalitis. Adults who get chickenpox may become very sick, so it's better to have chickenpox when you are a child.

If a woman gets chickenpox just before or after giving birth, her baby can get very sick, and about 1 in 3 of these babies will die if not treated quickly.

Do not give aspirin to anyone sick with chickenpox since the combination might cause Reye Syndrome.

Usually, once you have had chickenpox, you will not catch it again from another person. Second cases of chickenpox can occur, alhtough this appears to be an uncommon event.

Most pox will not leave scars unless they become infected with bacteria from scratching.

Chickenpox Vaccine
Almost no one will develop moderate or severe chickenpox if they have received the chickenpox vaccine. The small number of children who do develop chickenpox after they have received the vaccine have only a mild case. The chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995. The chickenpox vaccine is expected to provide life-long immunity. The chickenpox vaccine is a shot, given in the fatty tissue, that is part of the routine immunization schedule. Anyone who has had chickenpox does not need the vaccine.

Children receive two doses of the traditional chickenpox vaccine. The first should be given when the child is 12 - 15 months old.
Children should receive the second dose when they are 4 - 6 years old.
People ages 13 and older who have not received the vaccine and have not had chickenpox should get two doses, 4 - 8 weeks apart.

The chickenpox vaccine does not require a booster later in life. However, a similar but different vaccine given later in life may reduce the incidence of herpes zoster, called shingles.

Source: cdc.gov (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

I wonder when they first started giving out chickenpox vaccines... I don't think they had them when I was a child. I had to go through having chickenpox. I think I had chickenpox for about a week. I remember them not being too bad for me. I got to miss school and go out to lunch and shopping with my mom and aunt. I didn't scratch or anything at them either so I wasn't left with any scars.

The chickenpox vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995.

Oh, that was 15 years after I was born... no wonder I never had it! I remember when I was a kid it was normal for another kid to have chickenpox and miss a week of school... I can't believe the kids these days don't have to go through that anymore!

I was reading that parents back then would actually have chickenpox parties... so their child "would" for sure get chickenpox. I guess they figured it would be better getting chickenpox as a child instead of later as an adult, since it is much worse for an adult to have chickenpox. But now with the vaccine, no more fun chickenpox parties!! lol

Interesting. I don't remember any chickenpox parties when I was a kid, but that makes sense to me! They wanted their child to catch it so they could go through it and be done with it... and yeah, not have to worry about catching it as an adult.