Why Chicken Pox is on the Rise

I live in Michigan, USA. And it has been reported that chicken pox occurrences is on the rise. I wanted to know why, so I did some research. It is interesting what I found out.

First a few facts about chicken pox. Chicken pox is considered to be a childhood disease, but actually can occur at any age. Like most childhood diseases, it is much more difficult for adults to weather than it is for the child. It is a very ugly rash that covers the entire body, very uncomfortable for the patient, very itchy. The patient also has flu- like symptoms, body aches, fever, and fatigue.

Chicken pox is caused by varicella-zoster virus. The disease is extremely contagious and it is passed from person to person by contact or respiratory contamination. Symptoms usually go away without treatment and complications of death are very rare and most people do recover.

The very difficult problem with chicken pox is that an infected person is most contagious one or two days before any symptoms of fever or rash appear. Of course, the person feels fine and is out and about in the world contaminating everyone they come into contact.

The best defense against this disease is the chicken pox vaccination The Vaccine offers protection in two ways. The person getting the vaccination is of course protected, but also the community at large is protected. Also this vaccination is very effective. 8-9 out of 10 people are completely protected from chicken pox.

So why are chicken pox occurrences on the rise? Well the quick answer is because of the number of children that are not getting vaccinated due to mother's fear of vaccines and the perceived danger to their children. There are some very strong lobbyists out there that are convinced and convincing that this danger is real. So naturally mothers will protect their children. As a result children are growing up without this protection and the snowball keeps rolling.

Another reason that has been discerned is the previously recommended one dose of the vaccine is not enough to protect the child. The CDC now recommends a second dose. First dose when the child is one year old and then repeated when they are four to five years old.

The CDC also recommends that people 13 years of age and older who have never had chickenpox or received the chickenpox vaccine get two doses of the vaccine at least 28 days apart.

Here is the Public Health Fact Sheet from Oakland County Michigan Health Division Regarding Chickenpox.