Chickenpox. Ahem. We didn’t have a vaccine for that when I was a child. We just caught it and were miserable for a few weeks.
I’m sorry to tell you that’s not what happened.
You had chickenpox for a few weeks whilst the shingles bedded down nice and cosy in your nerves ready to strike again when your immune system is down. It’s not over and it’ll be worse when it comes back.
There’s a chicken pox vaccine that prevents you from catching it yes. The shingles vaccine reduces the risk of the shingles you already have breaking through into active infection for about 10 years and then isn’t effective a second time. (Currently) there’s no not-having-shingles once you’ve got it.
I’m sorry to tell you that’s not what happened.
You had chickenpox for a few weeks whilst the shingles bedded down nice and cosy in your nerves ready to strike again when your immune system is down. It’s not over and it’ll be worse when it comes back.
We have vaccines for shingles now. We just didn’t have it when I was a kid.
Parents use to have chicken pox parties.
There’s a chicken pox vaccine that prevents you from catching it yes. The shingles vaccine reduces the risk of the shingles you already have breaking through into active infection for about 10 years and then isn’t effective a second time. (Currently) there’s no not-having-shingles once you’ve got it.