Does Anyone Get Chicken Pox Anymore?

[beaners]

Okay, so if you think everyone should vax for chicken pox, consider this a JAWM, even though that's really not my question.

 

Has anyone here had a child catch "wild" chicken pox, meaning from actual exposure NOT the vaccine, in the last several years?  My children aren't currently vaxed for it, although we plan to if they haven't caught it before puberty.  It has been a long time since I've even heard of anyone with a case.  We are just getting over a bout of something respiratory after a cross-country trip, and I really had my fingers crossed that we'd have some spots too. No luck.

 

I have had shingles before, but no outbreaks since my children were born.  I'm pretty sure they haven't been exposed by me in that way, although it's possible they will be in the future.

 

So, does anyone have children who have caught chicken pox recently? Or is it rare enough that very few people are exposed?

[texasmama]

My dd had a natural case of chicken pox about 10 years ago. None of my other kids have had it.

[JumpyTheFrog]

My kids caught it a few years ago when they were 3 and 10 months. The baby's case was very mild but hopefully to give him full immunity. (Several people in my family, including my mom, her brother, a cousin, and I all had it more than once.) At the time, we attended a weekly event full of non or selectively vaccinating families.

[unsinkable]

DS and DD got blood draws to check for chicken pox antibodies. To my surprise, DS was positive but DD was negative. So DD got the vax.

[4everHis]

My #3 and #4 had it 'naturally' about 8yrs. ago but I had to find someone with chicken pox and expose them. Now I need #5 to get them. . . hope someone comes down with them soon, he's 7.

[freesia]

My older three had it naturally in 2006. My youngest has not had it. I'm not hopeful and will vaccinate her at around 6 or 7 if she hasn't had it.

[twoxcell]

I haven't heard of anyone in several years.

[LucyStoner]

No, I have not.  

[redsquirrel]

My kids got it 4 or 5 years ago. We know where we got it though, it wasn't a mystery.

[Twigs]

Here's an interesting factoid I came across today

 

The shoot was met with several problems including inclement weather, wildfires, a chickenpox outbreak, …

 

From Wikipedia The Lone Ranger (2013 film)

[beaners]

Hmmm.  I tried searching for news results. I find a few results when I search for outbreaks within the last year, but it sounds like it's rare enough to merit news attention when it happens.

[poppy]

Yes, I know a 7 year old boy who caught it this summer at camp. He was not vaccinated.  They had to notify the county health department and I'm sure the camp sent letters out to all the parents.

[beaners]

Yes, I know a 7 year old boy who caught it this summer at camp. He was not vaccinated.  They had to notify the county health department and I'm sure the camp sent letters out to all the parents.

 

So if he caught it at camp, that assumes that someone else at camp had it also. Do you happen to know the source that the child caught it from? Was it someone recently vaccinated, someone else with wild chicken pox, or someone with shingles?

 

This is the first recent anecdotal case I've heard of.

[Matryoshka]

My kids all had it, but it was about 9yrs ago.

[MyThreeSons]

I purposely exposed my boys to chicken pox when I heard a family at church had it, but that must have been at least 12 years ago. The two younger boys picked up the CP very nicely after I'd exposed them.

 

Oldest ds caught them from his cousins, who started to break out just hours after we had visited. Their mom was mortified, as ds was only six months old, and she had no idea they had been exposed. Ds had a very mild case, probably because I was still nursing him, and his pediatrician told me he'd probably get them again, but he hasn't.

[poppy]

So if he caught it at camp, that assumes that someone else at camp had it also. Do you happen to know the source that the child caught it from? Was it someone recently vaccinated, someone else with wild chicken pox, or someone with shingles?

 

This is the first recent anecdotal case I've heard of.

 

No one knows.  He is the one who reported it to the camp, so, presumably he didn't catch it from someone there who was symptomatic.

[Julie Smith]

Eldest caught it before the recommended age to vax for it. I think he was 2 at the time. Youngest was about 1 at the time and got a few spots. It was either not the pox, or such a lite case he never developed imunity and had to get the vax when he was old enough. 

[8circles]

2 of my kids caught wild cp about 3 yrs ago.

[Dory]

My kids all had it two years ago. Most the kids in the primary school caught it that school year.

[Calendula]

I purposely exposed my kids (twice) this winter when we had a large outbreak in this area  - all three had it and now we're done! My sister's kids caught it from an unknown source a few years ago.

[Joker]

I haven't known any kids in the last 10 years that had chicken pox. My youngest is, right now, fully vaccinated. My oldest had a serious reaction to the first vaccine and could not have the second. So, I hope others are fully vaccinated so she doesn't get it.

[Coco_Clark]

It still goes around our elementary schools about every other year, but then again we live in a popular no-vac state (Washington). My kids both got it last summer wild, one had gotten his first vac but not the booster and the other hadn't gotten it yet.

[Amy in NH]

My eldest son had it two years ago, when he was 16.  He had a mild case when he was an infant, and so had never been vaxed for it.  My other kids had the vax and didn't catch it.

[DB in NJ]

My youngest had an outrageously bad case of chicken pox just this past October. It was AWFUL! The board of health did call me. The woman who called was SO relieved that we homeschool. She was thrilled!

 

He was not vaccinated.

[Parrothead]

There was a local outbreak a couple years ago. My friend tried to get her youngest exposed but it didn't take.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Yep. My kids caught it the winter before last. A couple were uncomfortable, but all in all it wasn't too bad. A few had been vax'd a few had not.

[VeganCupcake]

A little girl down our street caught it somewhere last summer. I don't think they know where she got it and she had been vaccinated. She had been at our house for a playdate a few days before it was diagnosed, but my kids didn't get it. (One of mine was vaccinated, one was not.)

 

My friend the family practice PA says she sees very very few cases--a handful in her 8 years of practice.

[Erin]

We had an outbreak in my kids' school last year.  Some kids who weren't vaxxed got it.  Several immigrant kids who hadn't gotten the vax because they moved to the States when they were older, were the first.  But a couple of kids who HAD been vaxxed, including Buck, got a very mild case of it.  

[Bug's Mom]

Dd had it 9 years ago. She broke out a day into our vacation. I contacted friends at home, but none of the kids we knew got/had it. No clue where she picked it up.

[Guest]

We do vax for it, but it went around our church about two years ago. Not fun.

[kroe1]

Our Dd, and almost her entire 1st grade class, caught it about 6 years ago.  All the children had been vaxed at about the same time at the same place.  Luckily, all had very mild cases with no more than 10 or 15 pox.

 

OT:  Many who think exposing their kiddos to the chicken pox to provide life long immunity are in for a rude awakening.  Because people are not re-exposed very much, the body will not keep producing the antibodies for more than about 10 years or so.  The same goes for the immunization kiddos.  Periodic re-exposure is what gives lifelong immunity.

 

 

[Melissa in Australia]

All my children have had chickenpox. none of them were vaccinated for it and they all have scars. They had a huge amount of pox, even inside their mouth etc. one was sure he could feel the poxes  on his insides, one had a pox under his eyelid, which was particularly painful, and one had pox inside his nose.

 

 My children only had the free vaccinations.

[mom@shiloh]

I didn't vaccinate my oldest five children and they all had it.  My youngest five children were adopted from China where they were all vaccinated before we brought them home.  ALL five had chickenpox after we got them home, four of them just a few months ago.  They had much lighter cases then the ones who were vaccinated  in the US but they all definitely had it.  I'm not sure where they were exposed.  We did have friends whose children had chicken pox but it was about two months before my children got it.  

[Caroline]

My oldest had it, but that was 15 years ago. His university required him to get the vaccination anyway. I suspect it is because no one gets exposed anymore, so the immunity decreases over time.

[retiredHSmom]

My 3 kids all got it 5 years ago at 13, 10 and 7.  They got it from a family in our homeschool group.  

[kewb]

Both my kids were vaccinated around 2 years old.  My oldest came down with chicken pox when he was in 2nd grade. That was about 8 years ago.  Now that I am thinking about it, it has been awhile since I have met anyone whose kids have had chicken pox.

[wintermom]

My ds caught what I thought was a very mild case of Chicken Pox, and he'd had the vaccine. This was about 6 years ago when he was about 4.

[Heather in Neverland]

My oldest is 15yo and he has never had chickenpox. He was vaccinated. I work at an elementary school and we have not had a single case in 4 years.

[wintermom]

I have heard that the vaccine is only good for a certain number of years, and if the child hasn't had the actual chicken pox he can still get it later in life.

[AngieW in Texas]

I tried valiantly to get it for myself and all three of my kids.

 

I assumed that I had had it before until the little girl I was babysitting got chicken pox while she was with me. I was 3 months pregnant at the time and when the OB tested me, I had no immunity at all.  My mother confirmed that I had never had it, although I do remember it going around school in 2nd and 4th grades.

 

Neither my dd nor I got it from the all-day exposure with my dd and the other toddler sharing cups and toys that they were chewing on all day long during the time-period when it was most contagious.

 

After that, I started a quest to try to get chicken pox for all of us as soon as the dd I was pregnant with became 1yo. We went to at least 10 pox parties. Everybody else managed to get it for at least one of their kids, but not me. Then I got pregnant again and had to wait until that dd was at least 1yo to try again. At that point I was going with all three of my girls to pox parties. We went to another 5 or 6 with no results. Again, every other family who went to these things managed to get it for at least one of their kids, but not me. And I was trying to get it as well.

 

At this point, none of us have had it. It's possible that all of us had asymptomatic cases, but I doubt that.

[SproutMamaK]

My younger two got it about three years ago. Youngest was not yet vaccinated, and I have no idea where he got it from. My middle son was vaxed for it about a year prior, but got it anyway.

[EKS]

The last natural case that I've known about personally was 12 years ago.

[SwallowTail]

Weird, I have had tons of acquaintances have them in the last 2-3 years.  The only reason we have not gotten them is that it has never been a good time when they were going around.

[poppy]

Can someone explain to me why one would WANT their kids to get chicken pox?

I know it is not a serious illness, but having chicken pox makes you vulnerable for shingles later in life. Which is a very serious illness for the elderly.
Right? Or am I missing something?

 

To be clear - I am not attacking non-vaxxers, I'm just not clear on the reasons for deliberately exposing kids who haven't been vaccinated.

[Caroline]

Can someone explain to me why one would WANT their kids to get chicken pox?

I know it is not a serious illness, but having chicken pox makes you vulnerable for shingles later in life. Which is a very serious illness for the elderly.

Right? Or am I missing something?

 

To be clear - I am not attacking non-vaxxers, I'm just not clear on the reasons for deliberately exposing kids who haven't been vaccinated.

Actually, chicken pox in children can be a very serious illness.

[Karen in CO]

My ds had it before the vaccine.  My older dd had the vaccine, on schedule.  My younger dd is only partially vax'ed because of life-threatening reactions to vaccines.  Four years ago, both of my girls caught the "wild" virus.  I'm not terribly impressed with vaccines these days.  

 

But to answer the why would expose a child?  It is a much milder illness for a small child than one past puberty.  I know more than one person that had it "late" and ended up in the hospital.  

[Matryoshka]

Can someone explain to me why one would WANT their kids to get chicken pox?

I know it is not a serious illness, but having chicken pox makes you vulnerable for shingles later in life. Which is a very serious illness for the elderly.

Right? Or am I missing something?

 

Yes, you are missing that cp is a live vax, and also makes you vulnerable for shingles.

 

Also, the immunity from the vax is not as strong, and it's much more dangerous to catch cp as an adult.  Getting cp gives you lifelong immunity without the need for lifelong boosters to prevent possibly getting it as an adult.  Many people aren't going to remember to get all their boosters.  I predict there will be a rise in adult cases of cp over the next couple of decades (similar to how pertussis is now mostly seen in older kids and adults whose vax immunity has worn off, except in that case the disease is deadly in the very young and annoying but not life-threating in older people, so that makes sense).

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

My boys were vaxx'd. Youngest still caught "wild" chicken pox a couple years later. His was a mild case though.

[MrsJewelsRae]

My kids aren't vaxed for chicken pox and though they've been exposed numerous times over the years they've never gotten them. My niece had them, my best friends kids - my kids had played with all of them during their contagious stage before we knew they were getting pox, a boy I used to babysit got them and was at my house every day (he and my ds shared a bed and often exchanged dippy cups) throughout, by the time he got spots there was no point in removing him from my kids as they were already very much exposed. Not a spot on my kids! My dd's and ds' best friends got chicken pox right after having a sleepover with my kids last summer. My kids again didn't get a spot. I had chicken pox when I was 8 and so did dh. I've never had their Torres checked to see if perhaps they're somehow immune. I did breastfeed them 2-3 years each, but not sure if that has lasting effects years after weaning...

[freesia]

My kids aren't vaxed for chicken pox and though they've been exposed numerous times over the years they've never gotten them. My niece had them, my best friends kids - my kids had played with all of them during their contagious stage before we knew they were getting pox, a boy I used to babysit got them and was at my house every day (he and my ds shared a bed and often exchanged dippy cups) throughout, by the time he got spots there was no point in removing him from my kids as they were already very much exposed. Not a spot on my kids! My dd's and ds' best friends got chicken pox right after having a sleepover with my kids last summer. My kids again didn't get a spot. I had chicken pox when I was 8 and so did dh. I've never had their Torres checked to see if perhaps they're somehow immune. I did breastfeed them 2-3 years each, but not sure if that has lasting effects years after weaning...

Probably not. My 3 that caught it easily had all been breastfed for 2 or more years.