Is this woman a dangerous moron?

Tom_Reingold said:
I'm under the impression that chicken pox doesn't cause much suffering. Is the vaccine really necessary? How is it cruel to expose your kids to it? What should I know?

Most children who get chickenpox recover completely. But chickenpox can be serious, even deadly, especially for babies, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, and people with a weakened immune system.

- www.cdc.gov

from Robert Roe:   And being infected with chicken pox in your youth can lead to Shingles when you get decades older.  Shingles is very painful.   The current science is that by having chicken pox vaccine, you will also prevent shingles decades later.  

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RobertRoe said:
from Robert Roe:   And being infected with chicken pox in your youth can lead to Shingles when you get decades older.  Shingles is very painful.   The current science is that by having chicken pox vaccine, you will also prevent shingles decades later.  

There is a shingles vaccine that is recommended at age 50.

yahooyahoo said:

There is a shingles vaccine that is recommended at age 50.

That, unfortunately, is impossible to obtain right now because it's in short supply.

ETA Within an hour of posting that, my doctor's office called to say I should come and get one!

I got it at Stop and Shop a week ago.  Try them and see if they still have any.

Thanks, @NoraChalres. Were you able to get both doses?

You get one now and the second two to six months later.  So they said to come back between mid-May and mid-September.  I'm presuming that by then there will be more available.  I'm figuring on going back in the summer. They did not act like there would be a shortage later in the year.  

It's called the Shingrix vaccine.  I hope they have some left for you.

My dad got shingles and had post-herpetic neuralgia because the nerves became scarred. He was in terrible pain for the last 7 years of his life.  The Kentucky gov who made sure his kids got chickenpox by exposing them to it has made sure that his kids have a chance to get shingles. If you never have chickenpox you will never get shingles.     

@Tom_Reingold, anecdotally, i had a very light case of chicken pox at age 7 or so (way before there was a vaccine).  My 19-year-old sister and her under-6-months baby, who were living with us, caught it from me and were both very, very sick.  Baby had chicken pox everywhere, was perfectly miserable, and so was his mom. 

Recalling a rash (sorry) of chicken pox cases in M/SO in the ?90s, iirc, some of the kids had neurological complications, don't know if the effects were lasting.

Add in the part about shingles, and it seems more than worthwhile to avoid chicken pox now, since we can.

Well, I've learned a few things about chicken pox and shingles. Thank you, folks.

A sad story.

NYT: El Al Airline Warns of Measles After Flight Attendant Falls Into Coma

Apparently the woman had been vaccinated as a child but the requirements in Israel at the time only included a single shot so she may not have been fully protected.  

Klinker, as I think it was said earlier in this thread, childhood measles immunity can wear off in adulthood if you don’t have booster shots as an adult. For some that can be around age 40, or 45, others can put it off for a couple of years. 

One point that wasn’t raised earlier in the discussion was the impact for young men who find themselves with these diseases. My brother unfortunately caught both chicken pox and mumps (not at the same time!) in his early 20s, and with both was warned to be very careful with his symptom management because of the dangers to his fertility. He’s now the father of two wonderful young adults so luckily no lasting damage, but that’s an effect people rarely remember now.