Some interesting tidbits about chicken pox & the vaccine

as cut & pasted from Wikipedia (my side notes are in italics)

Population-based immunization against varicella is not otherwise practiced in the UK. It is feared that there would be a greater number of cases of shingles in adults, until the vaccination was given to the entire population—because adults who have had chickenpox as a child are less likely to have shingles in later life if they have been exposed occasionally to the chickenpox virus (for example by their children). This is because the exposure acts as a booster vaccine.

Research suggests that widespread vaccination against chickenpox, now common in the United States, may lead to a significant increase in shingles among the elderly.

Additional controversy has arisen because cell lines derived from aborted fetal tissue were used in its development, and thus violates the ethics and beliefs of people who oppose the use of aborted fetal tissue in medical research.

Catching "wild" chickenpox as a child has been thought to commonly result in lifelong immunity. Indeed, parents have deliberately ensured this in the past with "pox parties". Historically, exposure of adults to contagious children has boosted their immunity, reducing the risk of shingles. (Hooray! All those snuggles & kisses I have given to Etta lately will have a long-term health benefit for me!)

The CDC and corresponding national organisations are carefully observing the failure rate which may be high compared with other modern vaccines - large outbreaks of chickenpox having occurred at schools which required their children to be vaccinated

and regarding "pox parties":

The first reference to such a practice is an early-eighteenth century letter by Lady Montagu to Sarah Chiswell describing parties held in Istanbul for the purpose of variolation—an effective technique for gaining immunity to smallpox.^[40] Lady Montagu imported variolation to England.

Historically, smallpox parties and other forms of controlled inoculation reduced significantly the death rate due to smallpox (see Variolation). With the introduction of a smallpox vaccine, inoculations of wild smallpox virus fell into disuse.

Similarly, the rubella party was sometimes considered a rite of passage for pubescent females after the link between rubella infections early in pregnancy and severe birth defects was established, but before the development of effective rubella immunizations. (smart ladies! they exposed themselves so they could protect their future babies)

When the exposure involves the United States Postal Service to swap contaminated items, the practice is illegal. (So I will not be mailing any pre-sucked lollipops your way!)

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I am not trying to get on an anti-vaccine soapbox. I have completed a lot of vaccines for my girls. I just don't do them necessarily  in the recommended order and I would rather schedule an additional doctors visit than give my kid two vaccines on the same day. The chicken pox vaccine was a low priority for me. The mortality rate for chicken pox versus something like measles is very different. When briefly discussing it tonight, Matt did point out that I have the girls get the flu shot. And complications from the flu are quite low (so are complications from the flu shot by the way). So some people might question how I make these decisions. All I have to say is, I do think about it and have my reasons. 

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And an update on Etta: she is seeming to be less itchy & irritable and she is falling sleep faster. Hooray! 

Still no symptoms from Addie.