Chicken Pox: Understanding the Common Childhood Disease

Chicken Pox is the lay term for the Varicela-Zoster virus, it is also known as Human Herpes Virus 3, one of eight Herpes viruses that effect humans. Chicken Pox is rarely fatal and most fatal cases are among pregnant women who get Varicella Pneumonia. Varicella-Zoster has a two week incubation period and is contagious 2 days before the symptoms appear, making perfect conditions for rapid spreading of the disease. Once you have had the Chicken Pox, you have a permanent immunity but may get shingles later in life. Chicken Pox during pregnancy however can have serious effects on the unborn child especially during the first 28 weeks, making it an important disease to get as a child, not when you are of reproductive age. Newborns are also at risk of developing Pneumonia from Chicken Pox.

Chicken Pox was described by Giovanni Filippo in the 1500's and was first believed to be a milder form of Smallpox. In the 1700's English Physician identified Chicken Pox as being seperate from Smallpox.

In 1974 the first Varicella vaccine was developed by Michiaki Takahashi. The danger of the Varicella vaccine is, unlike having Chicken Pox as a child, the vaccine does not give permanent immunity which puts girls at risk of getting Chicken Pox at Child bearing age which puts both the mother and the unborn or newly born child at risk. In children, outside of being uncomfortable, this disease is a relatively innocuous disease as most people survive it without complications. To be vaccinated for it is to put off the potential contraction to adulthood. My children have had Chicken Pox so they no longer have to worry about it, nor do they need to receive booster vaccines for the rest of their lives.

If your child has Chicken Pox, To reduce the fever use acetometaphen, (Tylenol), but they should not be given aspirin. The blisters and sores should be kept clean to prevent a secondary infection and scratching should be discouraged. Proper nutrition and hygene is normally all the treatment required along with a loving hand to comfort the child. With the toxic chemicals and foreign products that are included in vaccines and the fact that they only put off the disease instead of providing immunity, it is in my opinion best to let the child get the Chicken Pox and have a natural immunity without the potential dangers that come with vaccines.

Resources:

http://www.askbaby.com/chicken-pox.htm

http://chickenpox.emedtv.com/chickenpox/history-of-chickenpox.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenpox

Disclaimer: This article, "What are Chicken Pox", is not intended to give medical advice. It is a call to educate yourself about disease and vaccines so that in making a decision where your child is concerned, you should take an active role in learning all you can from medical experts on both sides of the fence, then make an educated decision. we did not make an informed decision until one son got Leukemia and another developed Autism immediately after receiving his MMR vaccine. This has sent us on a quest to inform ourselves and others to seriously question what kind of toxic soups are being injected with the vaccines. Odds are if your child is injured by a vaccine, you have little or no recompense against the industry.