# Damn you to hell, Varicella Zoster! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708 "2017-09-19T08:28:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/41 "2017-09-22T16:15:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > :dubious:Cold sober, but have been fighting anti-vax a long time. > > ETA: And really, was that not an obvious woosh? I played all the tricks! :dubious: My apologies. There must be another poster whose name starts with a D who is in the habit of drunk posting after 10:00 central. Either that, or\* I’ve\* been hitting the sauce at work. I really hope it’s the former. I like being employed. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/42 "2017-09-22T16:25:40Z")
> [@mistymage](#): > > I wish insurance companies would cover boosters in adults. It’s been 45 years since I had chicken pox. I did _not_ catch them again when my oldest and my middle sons caught them despite the oldest having had a mild case as a toddler (before the vax) and the middle having had one dose. The youngest boy got lucky because by the time he came along they had changed it to 2 doses. He thought his brothers were lucky because they got to stay home sick for 2 weeks during the last month of school. The high school barely had any kids those weeks because CP swept through it. > > I’m too young to get the shingles vax (recommended for over 60 but you can get it at age 50… if your insurance will cover it). I have no idea when the last time I got a tetanus shot (my doc-in-a-box wink winked at me to “cut yourself while gardening or your insurance won’t cover it”) I have been doing a flu jab because I had the flu once and I felt like death warmed over. Your exposure to your kid with the chicken pox might well have acted as a “natural booster”. It used to be that many vaccines were thought to be good for life but in actuality what happened was the vaccinated person was naturally exposed to the wild infection via contact with infectious other people and that acted to reinforce the vaccine. As vaccination became more common and naturally occurring infections less so vaccines started to wear off with time because the immune system was no longer getting reminders. Unfortunately, insurance companies haven’t caught up to the need for adult boosters. Last time I got a tetanus booster I paid for it out of pocket. Even though I was severely underemployed at the time and, to be blunt, poor. And had no health insurance at the time. I feel that strongly about vaccinations and boosters. Paying out of pocket is an option. Unfortunately, I do not get flu vaccinations because I am allergic to the damn vaccine and don’t care for a fast trip with flashing lights to the hospital. I am dependent on herd immunity and washing my hands a lot. So thank you for getting _your_ vaccine and keeping up the herb immunity. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/43 "2017-09-22T23:33:58Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > My apologies. There must be another poster whose name starts with a D who is in the habit of drunk posting after 10:00 central. Either that, or\* I’ve\* been hitting the sauce at work. I really hope it’s the former. I like being employed. Except for it being a D, not a d, that would usually be me, but not that time. Maybe in a few hours. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2017, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/44 "2017-09-22T23:37:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > So thank you for getting _your_ vaccine and keeping up the herb immunity. Happy to, except my insurance doesn’t cover flu vaccine for older guys with asthma. I think we’re supposed to die. I pay for it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/45 "2017-09-24T21:19:58Z")
An update: The open sores have dried up, all of the other patches are fading, and I’ve not noticed any new ones. So apparently the hydrocortisone cream is working, or it was going to clear up anyway. I may never know exactly what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/46 "2017-09-25T14:43:47Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > An update: The open sores have dried up, all of the other patches are fading, and I’ve not noticed any new ones. So apparently the hydrocortisone cream is working, or it was going to clear up anyway. > > I may never know exactly what it was. I recently went down a similar road with mystery blisters, except mine were on the gums. And even though the doctors kept telling me it was probably autoimmune- this diagnosis was based on blood test anomalies as well as the physical symptoms, it wasn’t. And it turns out there really aren’t a lot of autoimmune diseases that cause blistering, and these that do are both very rare and very serious and present very differently that what I had. My point is in retrospect I kind of felt “it’s probably autoimmune” turned out to mean “We have no idea”. In my case I had a hidden pocket of infection deep in the gum under a tooth and the blistering was caused by infectious material working its way up between the skin layers. And the blood test anomalies were just that and are fairly common in older people. I didn’t get a correct diagnosis until the infection got bad enough for it to be obvious. I’m glad to hear it cleared up and I hope it doesn’t recur. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708/47 "2017-09-26T16:41:00Z")
I hope your gums have cleared up! I have my one week follow up with my doc in an hour. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-you-to-hell-varicella-zoster/796708.md?page=2)