West Texas measles outbreak doubles to 48 cases

[Hekate]

10. Chicken pox and shingles are the same virus. A case of chicken pox leaves the virus behind in your body...

…just waiting to reactivate as shingles later in life.

The vaccination for chicken pox is a trivial event. If it had been available when my kids were little, I would have made sure they had the shot. As it was, they each caught the disease, just as I and my sibs did before them.

In my old age, I had the 2-dose Shingrix vaccination, to guard against the potential reactivation of the virus into shingles. Those shots kicked my butt — didn’t bother my husband much, but I felt lousy for 4 days each time.

For those who wonder, there are folks here who have experienced shingles and have written about it — including one who said it felt like a blowtorch on the affected area. Others had lesser symptoms. I’d rather not take the chance.