Things I’ve learned this week about Chickenpox.
The spots (or rash, or blisters or vesicles, or whatever the heck you want to call them) appear with astonishing speed. Every hour, you can see more of them. By the time the first spots have appeared, the victim has been contagious for 24-72 hours or so.
Like a number of viral illnesses, it’s more severe for adults than for children.
If you’ve had it before, that isn’t a guarantee that you’re immune – contrary to popular belief. You’ve got maybe 8 or 9 chances in 10 of having acquired immunity to it from a previous infection, but still 1 or 2 chances in 10 of being able to have it again.
Getting a vaccination pushes the odds of your being immune to better than 99%. Way more reliable than relying on having had it before.
Even if you do have immunity, you can still get a bit sick. Some of the symptoms (as with most illnesses) are caused by your body fighting the illness. You can still get those if you are exposed. They can range from mild, to no-fun.
Thankfully, they’re usually brief, unless you have a predilection to shingles. Then it is a whole heap of no fun.
Needless to say, I have been having a whole heap of no fun.
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Ah! The joys of adult chicken pox. I didn’t have childhood chickenpox and was shall we say “39+” when I got my dose of it. It is survival (hehe) even if you might think you’d prefer to be dead. The itching doesn’t last long. Good luck.
*hangs a large QUARANTINE sign on Tateru’s blog*
Thankfully, I’m not the contagious one!
3 full bouts to date, thankfully all when younger, several minor brushes since. pos def the immunity thing is a lie-to-children hahaha
I’ve had shingles since I was an infant, which appears to confer an immunity to the poxy parts.
Tateru, given your history of shingles, you might be interested in talking to your GP about a new vaccine to prevent it returning. You might have to mortgage your house as the set of three shots might add up to around 500 bucks in total. I suspect Australia’s rather anaemic private health insurance system would barely cover the cost of the alcohol swabs, but it is worth making enquiries.
Something new, huh? Do you know the name of it? My shingles have always remained out of reach of the regular antiviral tablets.