# Why is it more dangerous to get chicken pox as an adult? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659 "2010-01-04T19:19:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/21 "2010-01-07T19:58:07Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Are you certain that the 2nd illness was chickenpox? I ask because it is _distinctly_ unusual for an otherwise healthy person to experience repeat chickenpox infection. I might have had chicken pox twice, once as an infant and once again at 17. Let me 'splain: When I was under a year old, my brother (then 6) and sister (then 5) both got chicken pox, contracted at swimming lessons. My mother’s told me that with three kids, she didn’t have the time nor the resources to separate us and keep me quarantined, so she assumed that I’d contracted it as well. She doesn’t remember me getting itchy or being feverish, but I was an infant (and generally squally anyway) and surrounded by my poxed brother and sister. Afterwards, growing up I was exposed to chicken pox a number of times at dance lessons or sleepovers or church or whatnot, but never came down with it. As I got older and older, Mom (and I) just assumed then that I’d had it when I was tiny. Until I finally came down with a definite case of chicken pox in high school. That said, it was really mild - I had some spots that itched a little, but nothing major. A slight fever, but again, really minor. Basically, it was a week-long vacation from school, as I didn’t feel bad at all. Which is contrary to how science says I should have felt. Since then, I’ve been working under the assumption that I did have it as a baby, but not enough for total immunity. I don’t know if that’s how things really work or not though. And I have had shingles too. It’s not fair. I might go get vaccinated just in case! ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/22 "2010-01-07T20:01:10Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I wonder if there is any other animal that gets chicken pox? Chickens? Isn’t that why it’s called that? Like cowpox, which afflicts cows (and milkmaids)? ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/23 "2010-01-07T20:33:48Z")
Mea culpa. This thread motivated me to check to see if what I was taught and believed was actually still the case in the post-Chicken Pox vaccine era. The bottom line is that second infections with chicken pox are not as rare as I thought. For example, in a post chicken pox vaccine era study of over 300,000 people in the Los Angeles area in 1999, there were 587 cases of chicken pox of which 13 percent (78 people) were presumed to be second infections (diagnostic criteria for ‘second infections’ in link). [Cite](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/109/6/1068). So, **Death Ray** and **Snickers** , you’re not quite as special as you thought (or I thought!). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/24 "2010-01-08T08:55:43Z")
I see people who seem to have a second chicken pox infection pretty commonly. Of course, one takes their word the first time was really chicken pox and not a similar viral syndrome. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/25 "2010-01-09T04:27:59Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Was it a case of polio being much less dangerous for infants than older children and adults, or was it a case that infant mortality was so high that the polio deaths were mixed in with all the other reasons a baby might not make it to 2 years old, so _if_ you lived that long you probably were safe from polio? It could still be that the polio epidemic was noticed because better sanitation meant less infant death earlier. Here’s my understanding (which I can’t remember how I acquired, so I’m totally open to correction): Previous to indoor plumbing, most people were exposed to human waste when cleaning out chamber pots. They then exposed their infants and toddlers when feeding and cleaning them. At the time, polio was a constant in population, but it was at relatively low levels - most people had it, but the bacteria count they carried was low. Therefore, infants were exposed to a low enough level, and had immune protection from their mothers’ breastmilk, that they were able to build up their own immunity over time without being overwhelmed by the bacterial challenge. That changed when indoor plumbing became common. People who’d grown up with outhouses had immunity. Brand new babies didn’t. Consequently, when someone got sick, it was with a high bacterial load, and they were extremely infectious. That’s when the little kids started dying. If you survived polio at that time, you had lifelong immunity. If you never caught it, it was probably because you were never exposed. Therefore, if you caught it as an adult, it was probably from another very sick individual. So, again, a high bacterial count combined with very little acquired immunity means a high death rate. My dad grew up in the 30s, and he remembers the terror that gripped the towns he lived in when polio showed up. Kids died. Adults died. The survivors were often crippled, and there were no dependable treatments. The vaccination was a godsend. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/26 "2010-01-09T04:29:01Z")
Viral. Viral challenge. D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/27 "2010-01-09T09:01:30Z")
Completely just mentioning for the sake of it, I know someone whose arm was crippled by polio. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/28 "2010-01-09T09:29:20Z")
> [@Oregon\_sunshine](#): > > I had that crazy shit as a 4-year-old, and according to mom I “almost died”. I don’t remember much except for being _very_ itchy, sleeping a lot and feeling like crap, and later having scars here and there from it. Mom told me later my temperature was 106 :eek: > > I guess this is really no relation to this thread… _whistle_ :smack: Hah - got you beat. Mom & dad gave me aspirin when I had it…I developed [Reye’s Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reye%27s_syndrome) and ended up in the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/29 "2010-12-19T05:56:01Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/564690/6): > > Wow glad I came across this thread. > > \ > > My brother bought me this ebook too, which helped: > > [Web address removed by moderator] I sat thru a 12 minute presentation at that link to find out that some dude, who is NOT a doctor, is peddling a $19.95 book that gives secret medical advice not known to doctors and claims to cure diseases faster than reputable medical science. Yeah, sure. :rolleyes: You, Sir or M’am, are buying snake oil. ETA: Apparently, from your home page, you are the dude who is peddling the book. Reported. You didn’t “come across” this thread; you found it in a search and came to sell your book. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/30 "2010-12-19T06:11:09Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I sat thru a 12 minute presentation at that link to find out that some dude, who is NOT a doctor, is peddling a $19.95 book that gives secret medical advice not known to doctors and claims to cure diseases faster than reputable medical science. I’ve killed the spam post and taken the link out of the quote box in your post. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/31 "2010-12-19T17:07:42Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Are you certain that the 2nd illness was chickenpox? I ask because it is _distinctly_ unusual for an otherwise healthy person to experience repeat chickenpox infection. My sister has had chicken-pox twice as well. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659/32 "2010-12-19T20:03:00Z")
My son was just about to get the vaccination when he came down with chicken pox. The pediatrician said it appeared to be a very mild case. When he healed they decided to forgo the vaccine. A few years later we moved and went to another school district. They noticed he hadn’t been vaccinated. We went to a new pediatrician and he decided to run an antibody titer. Sure enough, the antibody level was subnominal and he had to get the shot. But, now that he’s ten, he needed to get it as a two-shot dose. He was not a happy camper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-more-dangerous-to-get-chicken-pox-as-an-adult/523659.md?page=1)