The cost of the no vaxer's

[sage]

Shingles vaccine is CDC-recommended for those over 60 years old. (There may be special circumstances).

Make sure to check with your insurance company (if you are in the US and fortunate enough to have coverage) on their coverage policies. Sorry to be anecdotal here: my folks both tried to get the shingles vax, they had a hell of a time doing it. Their doctor wouldn't order it, as it's an expensive, refrigerated multi-dose vial that once opened has to be used in a rather rapid manner and he had been stuck "holding the bag" on more than half a vial more than once. No chain pharmacy would order it, but a local "mom and pop" one would, and they would do the injection, but my parents insurance wouldn't cover the vax unless administered at the office of an MD, who wouldn't allow my folks to transport it to his office... yeah, total fustercluck. :roll:

[sage]

Here is the research I believe LadyBlue was referring to.

http://www.gaia-health.com/articles451/000485-pertussis-more-virulent.shtml

Erm, sorry, no. Any website that touts the effectiveness of homeopathy gets an automatic "F" in my book.

[valsa]

Plus the youth thing helped. my wife really suffered with them and the pain lasted for months afterwards.

I was 10 years old when I got them and I ended up spending days in bed, curled up in the fetal position, crying from the pain. Youth didn't help me at all.

[AmyP]

Erm, sorry, no. Any website that touts the effectiveness of homeopathy gets an automatic "F" in my book.

This article totally misrepresents how herd immunity works in the case of vaccination!! Gah. I would love for someone whose infectious disease background is a little more recent than mine to take this one on. I can see all the ridiculousness, but I am just to tired to type it all out. Someone..... anyone......Please???

[Dhani_C]

Kind off topic, but in my genealogical research I have run across people who were labeled as "idiot" or "insane" in U.S. Census records. (actual terms on the records not me name calling), so I wonder if those labeled as such were autistic or somewhere on the autism spectrum. :think: My nephew was recently diagnosed as mildly autistic. :think:

It's very possible. Depending on where they fell on the spectrum their behavior could have resembled some of the markers that doctors look for in autism today. People back then just didn't have a clue what the person was dealing with so they probably just labeled them crazy along with anyone else who was different (down syndrome, FAS, ect.).

[Dhani_C]

I had chicken pox when I was 2, they didn't vax against those when I was little. I had shingles when I was 16, shortly after my parents seperated. My doctor back then said they most likely broke out due to stress. It really wasn't bad at all, antibiotics for a week and I was fine.

That said, I'd definitely make sure my kids got their shots.

You don't take antibiotics for shingles, you take anti-viral pills. Chicken pox is caused by a virus (herpes derivative) which then lies dormant in your nerve cells and can crop up again during your lifetime as shingles. My mom is currently still recovering from shingles and it's been about 2 months. If you took antibiotics and were fine after a week, then it could not have been shingles.

[Dhani_C]

All of this chicken pox talk reminds me of the 19 kids and counting episode when the kids got chicken pox and the oh so brilliant JB said they would never get shingles. My word, I wanted to smack him in the face when he spouted that ignorance. :evil:

[SpeshulTaterTot]

You don't take antibiotics for shingles, you take anti-viral pills. Chicken pox is caused by a virus (herpes derivative) which then lies dormant in your nerve cells and can crop up again during your lifetime as shingles. My mom is currently still recovering from shingles and it's been about 2 months. If you took antibiotics and were fine after a week, then it could not have been shingles.

It was most definitely shingles, I was better after about a week, but maybe it wasn't antibiotics. It was 18 years ago, I don't remember exactly what I got, I just assumed it was antibiotics.

[GeoBQn]

I remember that the Duggar kids got exposed to the chicken pox while they were filming their cameos for Courageous, and after that they were filmed at the Chik-Fil-A factory. The footage of them at the factory was never aired, and there was speculation that it was either because they were showing symptoms during the filming, or that viewers would put two and two together and figure out they were contagious while at the factory. Either way, they didn't want to alert viewers to the fact that the kids were spreading chicken pox in a factory that produces food.

[SpeshulTaterTot]

Plus the youth thing helped. my wife really suffered with them and the pain lasted for months afterwards.

Maybe it was the youth thing that made it go so fast. My mom always said I seemed sick for all of one day with the chicken pox, while the adult I infected with them was severely ill. The shingles were itchy and uncomfortable, I remember feeling slightly flu-ish for a couple of days, and that was it.

And please, guys, give me a break with the antibiotics. This was in 1995, I was SIXTEEN, I took what the doctor gave me and after all these years, I just assumed it was antibiotics. Apparently, I was wrong and I got some other medication.

[Dhani_C]

I remember that the Duggar kids got exposed to the chicken pox while they were filming their cameos for Courageous, and after that they were filmed at the Chik-Fil-A factory. The footage of them at the factory was never aired, and there was speculation that it was either because they were showing symptoms during the filming, or that viewers would put two and two together and figure out they were contagious while at the factory. Either way, they didn't want to alert viewers to the fact that the kids were spreading chicken pox in a factory that produces food.

Not surprised. How irresponsible. The chicken pox vaccine didn't exist when I was a little kid (it came out after I had already gotten them) and there is no way that my future children will not be getting it. My grandmother died as a result of the virus because it came out of its dormant state when she was around 80 years old (my aunt, her daughter, had just been sent back to the hospital after her kidney transplant so she was stressed) and caused her to come down with encephalitis which ultimately killed her. Though she was older, this could happen to anyone who has ever had the virus. I certainly don't want my kids to be at risk.

[BelieveinScience]

I remember that the Duggar kids got exposed to the chicken pox while they were filming their cameos for Courageous, and after that they were filmed at the Chik-Fil-A factory. The footage of them at the factory was never aired, and there was speculation that it was either because they were showing symptoms during the filming, or that viewers would put two and two together and figure out they were contagious while at the factory. Either way, they didn't want to alert viewers to the fact that the kids were spreading chicken pox in a factory that produces food.

So much for JOY and putting "others first."

[valsa]

Maybe it was the youth thing that made it go so fast. My mom always said I seemed sick for all of one day with the chicken pox, while the adult I infected with them was severely ill. The shingles were itchy and uncomfortable, I remember feeling slightly flu-ish for a couple of days, and that was it.

Chicken pox is usually far more severe in adults than in children. I still question whether you actually had shingles. Perhaps you had chicken pox for a second time? I had a very, very mild case the first time I had CP and ended up getting them a second time because I didn't develop full immunity. If you were only sick for one day with chicken pox when you got them, maybe the same thing happened to you.

[NurseNell]

I had chicken pox when I was 2, they didn't vax against those when I was little. I had shingles when I was 16, shortly after my parents seperated. My doctor back then said they most likely broke out due to stress. It really wasn't bad at all, antibiotics for a week and I was fine.

That said, I'd definitely make sure my kids got their shots.

Why did they treat your shingles with antibiotics? It's not caused by a bacteria. There are a few antiviral medicines to reduce the pain and duration of shingles, they have to be started within a day or two of the onset. The amount of pain depends somewhat on what nerve root is inflamed. Shingles of the optic nerve is close to the worse pain a person can have. I had shingles of the left thoracic nerve, very painful.

I had a medically fragile student who had the second worse case of shingles I'd ever seen, and to this day he has very significant scarring. My friend who had optic nerve shingles suffered for 3 months, wanted to die, and couldn't wear contacts for 2 or 3 years.

About pertussis, there is currently an outbreak at my 8 y.o. granddaughter's school. Every child with it has been current with their immunizations. The health department there said approx 20% of kids immunized don't, in fact, have sufficient immunity. I was surprised, we had always been taught that about 5 % of immunized kids don't develop adequate immunity.

[NurseNell]

Maybe it was the youth thing that made it go so fast. My mom always said I seemed sick for all of one day with the chicken pox, while the adult I infected with them was severely ill. The shingles were itchy and uncomfortable, I remember feeling slightly flu-ish for a couple of days, and that was it.

And please, guys, give me a break with the antibiotics. This was in 1995, I was SIXTEEN, I took what the doctor gave me and after all these years, I just assumed it was antibiotics. Apparently, I was wrong and I got some other medication.

I've never heard shingles described as itchy. They are painful. What part of your body were they on? Shingles occur along a nerve pathway, one nerve and one side of the body. The thoracic nerve seems to be the most common but any nerve can be involved.

[SpeshulTaterTot]

I didn't self diagnose shingles and find it very interesting how some of you are questioning the doctor who did diagnose it.

Like I said, I don't remember exactly what medicine I got, I just assumed it was the one thing it couldn't possibly have been. My doctor back then said it was shingles, and since she was a good doctor, I'll just stick to believing her.

Edited to add that after all this talk about the medication, I remember that this was the very first time I realized how expensive medicine is. The doctor gave me my prescription and told me that it was worth a couple of hundreds. I still don't remember what it was, though.

[AmyP]

I've never heard shingles described as itchy. They are painful. What part of your body were they on? Shingles occur along a nerve pathway, one nerve and one side of the body. The thoracic nerve seems to be the most common but any nerve can be involved.

My mom had itchy shingles. They were on one side of the body, itched like crazy, and she didn't get very sick. My husband had the kind that burn like fire in your nerves and were on both sides of the body. He was in alot of pain, but not especially sick. Both were officially diagnosed.

[Coconut Flan]

Shingles can itch. My daughter had itching as the first symptom. If a person gets put on antivirals within 48 hours, it can certainly shorten the duration. My daughter was over the worst of it in about seven days after getting on meds in about 24 hours of the first symtom. She had shingles on her face around one eye and on the eyelid. It was kind of scary for a couple of days.

[Third]

I didn't get Chicken Pox when everyone else did. The doctor told my mom it's because she nursed me and had CP twice as a kid and passed on the immunity. I recently had my blood checked and I test immune to CP so the doctor won't give me the CP vaccine as an adult. IDK. Either way I was the first person to ever come in and ask to be tested for immunity or what boosters\adult vaccines were available. I've always been told getting CP as an adult is awful. My husband's mother was in the hospital for 3 weeks when she got them. I'd like to avoid that so hopefully I really am immune enough.

I was told [by my kid's Ped] the whooping cough vaccine has a lower effective rate than other vaccines so even a 100% vaccinated group many of them will be under protected or not protected at all.

When my kids' school had a CP outbreak they seemed to be very relaxed about it. I hate it when parents send their kids to school sick - I wish they had some rules to enforce the illness policy.

[NurseNell]

I didn't self diagnose shingles and find it very interesting how all of you are questioning the doctor who did diagnose it.

Like I said, I don't remember exactly what medicine I got, I just assumed it was the one thing all of you say it couldn't possibly have been. My doctor back then said it was shingles, and since she was a good doctor, I'll just stick to believing her.

I believe you when you said it was shingles, especially since it was diagnosed by a M.D. And I certainly can understand a teenager thinking the medicine was an antibiotic. I just wondered what body part had the shingles. Immunosupressed children get shingles more often than healthy kids.

In nursing school we were taught to look for a malignancy in a person who had shingles. Now we know that most people with shingles don't have cancer. But when you have cancer and undergoing treatment shingles can be very dangerous.

And yes, on rare occasions more than one nerve can be involved so it can be on both sides of the body. It is rare but happens.

[SpeshulTaterTot]

I had them on my stomach and back, from my belly button to my spine.

[NurseNell]

When my kids' school had a CP outbreak they seemed to be very relaxed about it. I hate it when parents send their kids to school sick - I wish they had some rules to enforce the illness policy.

In our district kids with chicken pox have to stay home until all lesions are crusted over. It is enforced.

[sassyNoz47]

Im betting it was a antiviral she got..i can't think of the name of it atm.. but i have a script for it i get out breaks of mouth sores and if i take this medication soon enough it cuts the cycle time way down. I remember when I was reading up on the medication it said it was sometimes used for shingles also.

My boys got the cp vax 15 yrs ago when they were 3 and 1, my 5 yr daughter did not get the vax and all were exposed a week after the boys got the vax our dr said since the timing was so close the boys would probably get them when my daughter did but they didn't I was shocked.

They still have never had the cp aftr many exposures, but they also haven't had the booster. I'm so fearful of getting shingles I had bells palsy a few years ago that was a night mare alone.

There is a comercial about shingles the guy said it felt like his skin was on fire and was itchy.

[Wolfie]

Oh no, he's getting vaccinated for it as soon as he goes in for his 2 year old visit. Once I read the eczema+death complication, I was like, uh "you're getting jabbed kid"

It makes me wonder if that's why my case was so bad, except I was diagnosed as psoraisis, not eczema. But my brother has the same thing, and his case was much less severe. (I wasn't hospitalized, but I was back and forth to the doctor, and nearly was put in the hospital.)

[B5SnowDog]

Im betting it was a antiviral she got..i can't think of the name of it atm.. but i have a script for it i get out breaks of mouth sores and if i take this medication soon enough it cuts the cycle time way down.

Valtrex?