How many DUers have had measles and/or chicken pox?

[laundry_queen]

206. I had chicken pox. So did my kids

The vaccine came out when they were school age and wasn't approved in our area for quite some time. When it was approved, it was optional, not part of the regular immunization schedule. During the time between when I was deciding if I was going to go get the optional vaccine and when they put it as part of the schedule, my kids caught the chicken pox. My oldest was first. She had it very mild - 20 pox total. Then my younger 2 got sick at the same time - they had a very high fever and were miserable for a day or 2, then were fine. A week later when the pox came out, they were totally covered. They had it much worse than my older child. Although, I must say, my older daughter was much more vocal about her discomfort than my younger 2. My older daughter was directly exposed to chicken pox 3 times before that (we are talking toddlers sharing sippy cups in the most contagious state) and she didn't get it. When she did get it, I had (and still don't know) no idea where it came from. But it wasn't a big deal other than the high fever, which was a bit scary but my kids tend to run really high fevers for no reason sometimes so I was used to dealing with it.

I don't remember having the chicken pox. I was not quite 4. My mom said I had it pretty bad but my 9 month old brother barely had any.

My youngest is vaccinated. She was born a couple of years after the other 3 had chicken pox and the vaccine was put into the schedule.

I really wish they'd come up with vaccines for norovirus and hand, foot and mouth disease. I've known kids to die from norovirus and be hospitalized for hand, foot and mouth disease. It's not just vaccine preventable illnesses that send kids to hospitals.