I've been paying attention. Vaccines are maybe the greatest accomplishment in the history of medicine.

I was a biochemistry/genetics double major at A&M.

I am not afraid of a regular vax or an MRNA vax. MRNA is amazing technology that will cure a lot of mankind's ills.

We had a friend (late 40s) get it a few months ago, right around the eye which is the very scary aspect. They at least recognized it and started treatment right away, but the location had them and the doc very concerned for a bit. But thankfully it responded well. If you get this on your face, you need to run, not walk, to getting treatment. Or if 50+, ya know, just get vaccinated and not worry about petty stuff like blindness

Another shingles victim checking in. Get the vaccine. I had a bad case in 2021 at the age of 45. Thought it was just for the olds. My doc said yes more common but he's seen a case in a 20 yr old.

Worst pain I've ever experienced and I've been though some stuff. Thought I had a herniated disk. Tried to tough it out at work one day and couldn't stand to do my job. Had to cancel the rest of my cases for the week.

Went to the ER, narcotics didn't touch it. Scheduled for an MRI the next day and woke up w a rash on my inner thigh. Went to my primary care doc and sat in the lobby till he could see me. He made the diagnosis quickly and I got started on antivirals. My pain level was off the charts 3-4 more days. Confined to the bed and couldn't move. The rash got worse, developed nasty skin lesions, and had/have long term scarring on my thigh and glute, although it's slowly gotten better over the years.

My doc recommended getting the vaccination 4-5 years afterwards, even after having shingles. I'm going to do it this fall.

Trip down memory lane - I remember my mom taking me to a chicken pox party when I was a kid. Seriously. Thanks for that. I understand the rationale as a child of the 70s but c'mon man.

Shelton98 said:

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I don't think I ever contracted chicken pox as a kid. I'm 50.... should I vax or not?

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If you don't know if you ever had chickenpox, you can have your doctor test varicella IgG antibody, which will show previous infection. If negative, you should get the primary varicella series.

This will prevent chickenpox (which can be a fairly serious disease in adults) and also prevent you from ever getting shingles.

It's pretty unlikely that you were never infected, though. Probably had a mild, unrecognized case.

Thank you.