# The Pox **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790 "2008-01-24T05:48:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/1 "2008-01-24T05:48:43Z")
I had a late onset battle with chicken pox as an adult at the age of 21, it was by far the sickest I have ever been. Fever, festering pox, cold chills, muscle aches that paralyzed me, delirium. It tried to kill me for a week, and it felt like it. I luckily survived and the scabs and itching were a minor inconvenience relative to that one week of delirious cold sweats and racking pain. My question is, what are my chances of being sterile? ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/2 "2008-01-24T06:13:18Z")
Is this about the Movie, [Pox](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844915/)? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/3 "2008-01-24T06:22:57Z")
Moderator: Could you please move this to General Questions? I posted in the wrong forum. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/4 "2008-01-24T06:24:28Z")
Ok, Forum jokes aside (I reported this as Wrong Forum)… I can’t find anything related to sterility associated with Chicken Pox (varicella). If you are already pregnant, there can be complications with the fetus, but in general the complications of chicken pox are limited to either secondary skin infections (due to scratching) or if the virus is spread throughout the body (disseminated) you can rarely have varicella pneumonia (lung infection) or encephalitis (brain infection) or glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation). But again, I can’t find anything about sterility being affected by varicella zoster virus. Can you point to what made you worried about this complication? Also, if you’ve already recovered, it’s even less likely you’ll have any of the above complications, but you are at risk for developing Shingles later in life. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/5 "2008-01-24T06:46:49Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] Ok, Forum jokes aside (I reported this as Wrong Forum)… I can’t find anything related to sterility associated with Chicken Pox (varicella). If you are already pregnant, there can be complications with the fetus, but in general the complications of chicken pox are limited to either secondary skin infections (due to scratching) or if the virus is spread throughout the body (disseminated) you can rarely have varicella pneumonia (lung infection) or encephalitis (brain infection) or glomerulonephritis (kidney inflammation). But again, I can’t find anything about sterility being affected by varicella zoster virus. Can you point to what made you worried about this complication? Also, if you’ve already recovered, it’s even less likely you’ll have any of the above complications, but you are at risk for developing Shingles later in life. [/QUOTE] I heard this blurb the other day on the TV program, Malcolm in the Middle. The just of it was that the father was telling one of the boys that he was lucky that he wasn’t sterile because of late onset chicken pox, inferring that a certain percentage of males that suffer the pox in late adolescence and adulthood were left sterile from the disease. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/6 "2008-01-24T07:03:40Z")
I’m not familiar with that medical journal ‘Malcolm in the Middle’. Maybe we should just leave this thread in Cafe Society 😛 Just kidding, but seriously I can’t find anything online that mentions sterility as a complication of adult varicella. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/7 "2008-01-24T07:53:12Z")
I think either you, or they, confused varicella with the mumps. > **[Mumps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumps)** > > Mumps is a viral disease caused by the mumps virus. Initial symptoms of mumps are non-specific and include fever, headache, malaise, muscle pain, and loss of appetite. These symptoms are usually followed by painful swelling of the parotid glands, called parotitis, which is the most common symptom of a mumps infection. Symptoms typically occur 16 to 18 days after exposure to the virus and resolve within two weeks. About one third of infections are asymptomatic. > Complications are rare but inclu... ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/8 "2008-01-24T09:43:52Z")
If you have the Pox on your Cox, there’s a chance that your genitals could be rendered useless. Barring that, I’ve never heard of any association between the two. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/9 "2008-01-24T14:15:47Z")
[QUOTE=devilsknew] I heard this blurb the other day on the TV program, Malcolm in the Middle. The just of it was that the father was telling one of the boys that he was lucky that he wasn’t sterile because of late onset chicken pox, inferring that a certain percentage of males that suffer the pox in late adolescence and adulthood were left sterile from the disease. [/QUOTE] Are you referring to Hal? The dad who hasn’t shown up for work on a Friday for a decade? Who after receiving a small cash windfall, rented a steamroller to smash things? Who wears a tie and short sleeve shirt to work every day? I think that was the joke - Hal is a complete idiot, who would easily confuse chicken pox with the mumps. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/10 "2008-01-24T16:10:16Z")
IANAD, but I have a cite from the medical literature: Varicella orchitis: report of two cases and review of the literature. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1994 Aug;13(8):748-50. Background - Orchitis is an acute inflammatory reaction of the testis secondary to infection. Most cases are associated with a viral mumps infection; however, other viruses and bacteria can cause orchitis. This can cause fertility problems. My article summary: Orchitis is very very very rare from chickenpox infections but a few case have turned up. Some boys later developed testicular atrophy. During the patients’ illnesses the testes swelled and had tender masses, sometimes just on one side. I imagine this would not go unnoticed. If you had testicular swelling and pain when you were sick you may want to ask a doctor about it. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/11 "2008-01-24T16:22:59Z")
What are the OP’s odds of getting shingles? Higher or lower compared to someone who had chicken pox as a child? Pullet Strangely, has never had chicken pox either ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/12 "2008-01-24T16:27:38Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] What are the OP’s odds of getting shingles? Higher or lower compared to someone who had chicken pox as a child? Pullet Strangely, has never had chicken pox either [/QUOTE] Good question and I hope someone answers. I had chicken pox at 20 and like the OP was sick as a dog. I had blisters under my hair on my scalp. :eek: And I’ve always worried about shingles. (although there is a shingles vaccine available now that you can get when you turn 60) ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/13 "2008-01-24T21:48:24Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] What are the OP’s odds of getting shingles? Higher or lower compared to someone who had chicken pox as a child? [/QUOTE] When I was being treated for shingles my doctor suggested that the odds were higher in such a situation. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/14 "2008-01-24T22:39:21Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] What are the OP’s odds of getting shingles? Higher or lower compared to someone who had chicken pox as a child? Pullet Strangely, has never had chicken pox either [/QUOTE] Don’t be so sure. I, too, thought that I had gone through life without getting chicken pox until I got shingles at age 35. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/15 "2008-01-24T22:41:55Z")
[QUOTE=brossa] Don’t be so sure. I, too, thought that I had gone through life without getting chicken pox until I got shingles at age 35. :mad: [/QUOTE] I also had never thought I had a confirmed case of chicken pox, but when I had my titer checked (a level indicating immunity) prior to medical school it was out the roof. So at some point I had a case that was at least bad enough to stimulate my immune system. ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/16 "2008-01-24T22:50:21Z")
[QUOTE=brossa] Don’t be so sure. I, too, thought that I had gone through life without getting chicken pox until I got shingles at age 35. :mad: [/QUOTE] Believe me, I’m keenly aware of the fact that I can still get chicken pox. Hence, my question above. Perhaps I’ve already been exposed, like **USCDiver** :crosses fingers: ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/17 "2008-01-24T23:47:39Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] What are the OP’s odds of getting shingles? Higher or lower compared to someone who had chicken pox as a child? [/QUOTE] I’m sure one of the resident docs will answer this more completely, but one of my rad tech classmates addressed shingles as her term project. Her summation was, briefly, if you ever had chicken pox, and you live long enough, you’ll get shingles someday. Joy. I see lots of older fellas in the course of my job, and there have always been a significant number of them with shingles. And, I can tell you from experience…_those bastards hurt!_ Not the old guys. The shingles. Also, I worked with a guy who got chicken pox at age 38. He was out of work for a couple of weeks, and when he came back, he looked like hell. Those scabs weren’t just your little bitty chicken pox scabs. These were quarter-sized scabs. Everywhere. He said he even had them in his throat. Joy[sup]2[/sup]. But he said the most annoying were in or near his bunghole. Joy[sup]googol[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/18 "2008-01-25T01:27:53Z")
[QUOTE=Rysdad] Also, I worked with a guy who got chicken pox at age 38. He was out of work for a couple of weeks, and when he came back, he looked like hell. Those scabs weren’t just your little bitty chicken pox scabs. These were quarter-sized scabs. Everywhere. He said he even had them in his throat. Joy[sup]2[/sup]. But he said the most annoying were in or near his bunghole. Joy[sup]googol[/sup] [/QUOTE] I got them as a kid, and remember most notably getting one on the roof of my mouth that I kept tonguing until it eventually fell off and I swalled it. I was grossed out even at the time. I also got one on my head. Yes, that head ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/19 "2008-01-25T01:28:51Z")
Another never-had-chicken-pox-but-got-shingles dude here… Got it at 32. My case of shingles was pretty mild, though it was clearly tracing out the nerve paths under my skin and the doctor diagnosed me with it. Do I have a lessened chance of getting the really painful shingles when I’m older? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790/20 "2008-01-25T01:45:10Z")
::nitpick:: In general useage, ‘_ **The** _ Pox’ is quite a different animal to ‘\*Chicken \* Pox’…the former referring to one suffering from syphillis. Running around telling everyone you have The Pox is probably not a good idea. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pox/434790.md?page=2)