The AAP also recommends that older children and adults with no history of the disease have the inoculation. To keep track of your baby's vaccination schedule, use BabyCenter's immunization scheduler. You may wonder why the AAP recommends the immunization. After all, you had chicken pox when you were a kid and survived. But the disease can be very uncomfortable, and many infants and toddlers can't help scratching themselves.
Scratching leads to infection, and the blisters can leave scars.
The virus is extremely contagious - a child or adult who hasn't had the virus will most likely catch it if exposed. In rare cases, a child can come down with secondary infections associated with chicken pox - pneumonia and encephalitis. Early data indicates that people who get the vaccine are less likely to develop shingles, a latent form of the same varicella virus characterized by painful, localized blisters. Shingles tend to develop later in life when the immune system is weakened by illness, stress, or old age. According to our privacy policy, we do not sell our subscribers' email addresses and each one will remain private and confidential.