Meanwhile, back in the olden days...

[maxwellissmart]

I had to get a tetanus shot the other day and they gave me the big mambo-jambo-combo thing that has three or four different vaccines in it now, since some of them are making a comeback. I can barely remember a world without AIDS, and while no one is denying it's an incredibly dreadful disease, there's plenty of others to go around as well that fortunately we have some vaccines against today.

 

For some of the older members of the board—what was it like growing up with diseases that we don't worry about now? I don't even have a smallpox vaccination scar because they quit giving it, and I don't know anyone who has had polio in their family. I did, however, catch the tail end of chicken pox before they came out with a vaccine against it. Can you remember when breakthroughs were made and you could finally breathe a sigh of relief?

[tyro]

I like this question a LOT, Max. I wish I had some meaningful info to contribute.

T

[josephga]

I haven't had the smallpox vaccination either I was born in 68 I think the stopped here around 64. I did have the measles as a child and I remember my brother had the mumps as a child. He didn't expect to be able to father a child due to the mumps falling on him. But he ended up having one child

[+ WilliamM]

Polio, Tuberculosis, Whopping Cough

 

Max, To give you some term of reference, I was born in 1943. As a child, polio was a constant danger...especially in hot summer weather like right now. I remember a grade school class mate whose mom had tuberculosis. He and his sister lived for a year with relatives until she recovered.

 

I had a bad case of whooping cough in the 6th grade (1954-55).

 

It was a very, very big deal when Jonas Salk's anti-polio vaccine was announced in 1955. I do not remember what I was doing specifically that day (probably in school), but it's a day I shall never forget.

[unsub2O17]

I was born in '46, so, yes, I remember them all. There were all kinds of rules about swimming in the summer because of the polio danger, and every hospital corridor had an "iron lung" standing at the ready. Salk was a huge hero (and the sugar cube vaccine was even better). Everyone got chicken pox. It was a given, but you got to stay home from school because it was so contagious. Mumps were really scary because they hurt so much, and, yes, there was the risk of sterility. Measles could be the 3 day or the 7 day, and they could make you go blind so you had to stay in a darkened room! Everyone got a smallpox shot and had larger or smaller scars from the shot. In fact, I felt left out because, even though I got the effect from the vaccine, I never got the scar. Shoot.

[+ Charlie]

My smallpox vaccination scar was quite noticeable when I was a child, but when I looked for it right now, I couldn't find it anymore. I remember the summer panics about polio, and the huge publicity when the first vaccine was developed by Dr. Salk. I had a very mild case of chicken pox, and German measles when I was fairly young. I wish they had had hepatitis vaccines before I became sexually active; I contracted both types A and B before doctors even realized that there was more than one kind (one was supposed to be immune after one had it, so the doctors were very surprised when I got it a second time--only years later did a blood test reveal that I had antibodies to both types). I have a friend now who was one of the last children to contract polio; she spent two years in an iron lung, and the rest of her life in a wheelchair. I remember the TV ads in the 1950s for Sister Kenny and her campaign to provide iron lungs for patients with polio, which sent a chill down my spine whenever I saw one.

[rvwnsd]

Being born in 1964, I missed the smallpox vaccine. I did receive the polio, measles, and mumps vaccines and can recall hearing about kids who had polio. I wish they had a chickenpox vaccine when I was a kid. Having them at 14-almost-15 in May in Chicago was no fun. I always remember when I had it because I could see smoke from the crash of American flight 191 at O'Hare from my living room window. I still have some of the scars.

[orbital sander]

I was lucky to get many vaccines, including smallpox, while I was in the USAF in the mid-1980s. I could hardly move for several days from my yellow fever and typhoid shots.

[gp0560]

My smallpox vaccination scar was quite noticeable when I was a child, but when I looked for it right now, I couldn't find it anymore. I remember the summer panics about polio. ... I remember the TV ads in the 1950s for Sister Kenny and her campaign to provide iron lungs for patients with polio, which sent a chill down my spine whenever I saw one.

 

My own vaccination is on my left leg, up in the groin area. Does anyone else have it there? Must have been a fad that my folks picked up on. I think the idea was to prevent an unsightly scar on the upper arm.

 

Sister Kenny? Isn't she the one who also wrapped the patient's legs in very hot towels?

 

I remember the summer polio panics, too. My parents wouldn't even let us run through the lawn sprinklers.

[+ purplekow]

Polio was a concern which was fading when I was a child. It was rare to learn of someone with Polios but one of my classmates was the March of Dimes Poster Child for 1959. She went on to be a physician and despite the braces and crutches in her poster picture, as an adult she walked with a barely perceptible limp.

I exchanged

rubella and chicken pox with my sister so that my mother had one of us at home sick for more than one month. I can remember people purposely exposing their children to the viral xanthems, measles mumps rubella and rubeola, thinking that it would be preferable to have a child have exposure and a likely mild case rather than to leave the child susceptible.

 

There was a rush to get the polio vaccine when it became available and I can recall going to the doctor and getting immunized.

 

My family did not have a good track record with communicable diseases. My grandfather died of Spanish influenza at age 26. My mother's first husband died of rheumatic fever at 24 and my father's first wife died of spinal TB at age 29. My mother's husband was given peniccilin to see if it would help his rheumatic fever. He was placed on it long term, the thinking being that the bacteria was still harbored in the body. At the time, penicillin was so scarce that those patients on penicillin collected their urine and returned it to hospitals when the penicillin was extracted out of the urine and reused.

We have come a long way in a short time Must have been the information brought to earth by those Roswell aliens.

[adriano46]

I was born at a time when every child was immunized against small pox (do noit remember which arm the scar is in, as it has disappeared), had measles, mumps, chicken pox as a child (as did every kid on my block growing up). I became sexually active late in life... (no comment) and so already had the antibodies for Hepatitis A & B injected into me just as I started acting up. I remember visiting hospital as a child (my mother was a nurse) and seeing a patient in an iron lung, a sight I will never forget. I travel overseas a lot and so always have my yellow vaccination card handy and have had immunizations kept up to date for years. When I turned 60 recently, I got the new vaccine against shingles. I have also been exposed to TB, had malaria and many other tropical diseases due to places I worked in the past.

[Samai139]

A very interesting question/thread and the responses have given rise to self-examination. So here goes:

Since I was born in 1940 I like everyone my age and a little older received a smallpox vaccination. It was on my upper left arm and until this thread, I was unaware of its disappearance--not sure it if is age or repeated sun tan or what.

When I was a child there were no immunizations against mumps, chickenpox or measels--or if they were available, my parents either didn't know about them or perhaps couldn't afford them or thought those diseases were just part of growing up and hence I had all three and so did my older brother and so did most kids I knew. No big deal except a small scar on my face almost exactly between my eyebrows, and it still there after more than 60+years.

Poliomyelitis was a very, very scary disease when I was a child, particularly because I had a first cousin who contracted it and was left with a permanent limp after spending months in hospital and going through extensive physical therapy. I grew up in a small village and a boy a couple of years younger than I got it in the summer of 1950 and I am not proud of my family's reaction and that of most others. Since no one really knew what caused the disease, the family was avoided like the plague that most of us thought they carried--very sad in retrospect. I also remember viewing two or three people in iron lungs---not sure where they were, but it was a public place and I suspect it was supposed to be "educational" but looking back I think it was more like a freak show--again a sad commentary on those days. In the 1940s the March of Dimes was begun during FDR's administration to raise money for research about Polio and to help those who came down with it---I suspect some of those funds may have helped Salk and others in developing vaccines.

I was in college when the polio vaccine was available and took advantage of its protection.

When I joined the Peace Corps in 1962 I was vaccinated against all kinds of things at UCLA medical centre where we did our training---don't remember the entire list, but it definitely included enough to bring about a reaction of such intensity that I passed out cold on Draker Avenue and had to be admitted to the Med centre for two days. During my three years in Nigeria I regularly received gamma globulin injections from the Peace Corps MD to prevent things I cannot recall.. I also took tablets to prevent malaria---Aralen was the drug of choice during those years and it caused many people to have strange, strange hallucinations and dreams---never caused me any problems but I still contracted a mild form of malaria anyway.

I later spent 15 years in Sierra Leone and regularly took tablets to prevent malaria and carried the required yellow international medical history booklet which listed those injections which Sierra Leone required for entry---by the time I left in 1983 it had been whittled down to Yellow Fever, an injection whose protection lasts 10 years, and leaves my arm sore and stiff for days; a recent injection against influenza, a recent tetanus shot and an injection to prevent hepatitis.

Like Adriano I was exposed to all kinds of tropical diseases in Sierra Leone including the dreaded Lassa Fever---several of my students died from it before it even had a name.

I realise this response is LONG so I'll end with my experience of shingles. Since I had chickenpox as a child, I was subject to shingles as an adult and came down with a case in 1995 before the immunization became available. So if you are eligible to be protected from Shingles you might want to seriously consider getting it.

[+ not2rowdy]

A very interesting question....So here goes:....smallpox vaccination....

....no immunizations against mumps, chickenpox or measels...hence I had all three...

Poliomyelitis was a very, very scary disease....

I regularly received gamma globulin injections....

....tablets to prevent malaria...

.... the required yellow international medical history booklet....whittled down to Yellow Fever...

 

 

...so I'll end with my experience of shingles.... So if you are eligible to be protected from Shingles you might want to seriously consider getting it.

 

I also recall the dreaded bicillin shot in the ass that all newly reporting military trainees received. Then there was the addition of cholera, plague. Some by needle injection and others by the pneumatic thru-the-skin air injector. The gamma goblin was used if there was a hepatitis outbreak (usually food handling related).

 

IRT shingles. I had a bout around 10 years ago. Very nasty experience that you DO NOT want to go through.

[maxwellissmart]

I also recall the dreaded bicillin shot in the ass that all newly reporting military trainees received. Then there was the addition of cholera, plague. Some by needle injection and others by the pneumatic thru-the-skin air injector. The gamma goblin was used if there was a hepatitis outbreak (usually food handling related).

 

IRT shingles. I had a bout around 10 years ago. Very nasty experience that you DO NOT want to go through.

 

A relatively young (20s) friend of mine got them about 2 years ago—he started describing the symptoms and I remembered another friend's experience. I was like: you need to go to the doctor RIGHT NOW. Sure enough...

 

BTW—thank you to everyone who has posted. It's always interesting to hear stories like this, and how people dealt with problems that others don't have to worry about today. Some of these recounts give me the shudders—especially polio and smallpox.

[+ Charlie]

This thread suddenly reminded me about the swine flu panic, when people were urged to get the vaccine. My brother-in-law did, and got Guillaume-Barre Syndrome from the vaccine, which permanently impaired his hearing. I, too, had shingles several years ago, and it was probably the most painful illness I have ever had, but I am reluctant to get the new vaccine to prevent a possible recurrence.

[rguer]

The shingles vaccine has a much lower incidence of side effects than the flu vaccine. And in general, live vaccines have more side effects than inactivated or antigen-only vaccines, and the older vaccines have more side effects than newer ones.

[Phil_musc]

Interesting thread - I can't find my smallpox vaccine scar - thank god, now I can get that tattoo and it won't look weird.

 

Seriously, as a child I remember having measles, german measles, chicken pox, not sure about mumps or whooping cough (I think I did have mumps). These were considered a part of growing up and were not big deal. Once you had them, you were immune. I honestly don't remember restrictions about swimming and polio except for what my gym teacher told us in class (and we almost didn't believe him - well I believed him because he could have told me anything and I would have believed it - he was just that hot). I'm skeptical of modern efforts to keep us safe from bacteria by using hand sanitizers. Come on, folks, why mess up thousands of years of developed immunities?

[Boner]

I, too, had shingles several years ago, and it was probably the most painful illness I have ever had, but I am reluctant to get the new vaccine to prevent a possible recurrence.

 

I nursed my mom through a number of medical issues for 3 months, when she then had an unsought of the shingles. I will never forget the pain, blisters and embarrassment she went through with these as they are absolutely hell-ish to go through.

 

She never had the chicken-pox, so that was some comfort that she would never get the shingles, but not so. When your immune-system is low, as is often the case with the elderly, most anything can occur. Your life and health becomes like a house of cards.

 

From what I understand, the expensive shingles vaccine is not a guarantee you will never develop them.

[Samai139]

In regard to the Shingles vaccine: I think I remember being told that if you have had a bout with Shingles the new vaccine is NOT for you---it either will do nothing to protect you or worse. Maybe someone with more medical knowledge can add some definitive information, especially for those who have had the "curse" of the disease.

Boner: is it possible your mom wasn't aware that she had had chicken pox as a very young child? Don't know her age, but in the first few decades of the 20th century and even later, chickenpox wasn't a disease that parents would have noted as being of any significance. If she never had chickenpox, did her medical caregivers offer any suggestion on how she contracted Shingles/ Granted her immune system may have been compromised but where the (whatever it is called) of chickenpox come from? or from whom? Scary stuff at any rate.

[Boner]

In regard to the Shingles vaccine: I think I remember being told that if you have had a bout with Shingles the new vaccine is NOT for you---it either will do nothing to protect you or worse.

 

That is my information as well. My Mom's doctor has told her NOT to have it.

[seeker630]

In regard to the Shingles vaccine: I think I remember being told that if you have had a bout with Shingles the new vaccine is NOT for you---it either will do nothing to protect you or worse. Maybe someone with more medical knowledge can add some definitive information, especially for those who have had the "curse" of the disease.

Boner: is it possible your mom wasn't aware that she had had chicken pox as a very young child? Don't know her age, but in the first few decades of the 20th century and even later, chickenpox wasn't a disease that parents would have noted as being of any significance. If she never had chickenpox, did her medical caregivers offer any suggestion on how she contracted Shingles/ Granted her immune system may have been compromised but where the (whatever it is called) of chickenpox come from? or from whom? Scary stuff at any rate.

 

FWIW: CDC says people over 60 (without disqualifying factors) should get it even if they have already had episodes of shingles: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vacc-need-know.htm#get-vaccine.

 

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which belongs to the same familiy as Herpes simplex and causes chickenpox as the primary infection; the disease is also known as Herpes Zoster. Like 'herpes', the varicella virus can lie dormant in the body for decades and then re-activate, but as shingles rather than chickenpox.

[maxwellissmart]

FWIW: CDC says people over 60 (without disqualifying factors) should get it even if they have already had episodes of shingles: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vacc-need-know.htm#get-vaccine.

 

Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which belongs to the same familiy as Herpes simplex and causes chickenpox as the primary infection; the disease is also known as Herpes Zoster. Like 'herpes', the varicella virus can lie dormant in the body for decades and then re-activate, but as shingles rather than chickenpox.

 

A client of mine had it about three weeks ago. He was horrified, and had been stressed out for about 2 weeks over some business dealings. He said it hurt like a mother—we put a big fat band-aid on it and left it alone, fortunately it was on his leg and I could pay attention to other parts. It's just now starting to heal up.

[Boner]

A client of mine had it about three weeks ago. He was horrified, and had been stressed out for about 2 weeks over some business dealings. He said it hurt like a mother—we put a big fat band-aid on it and left it alone, fortunately it was on his leg and I could pay attention to other parts. It's just now starting to heal up.

 

That's interesting that he had taken no precautions before you came over, and that he was actually even personally responding to any sexual tendencies to call you in the first place. Shingles do not equate to sexual desire from my experience. While they are blistering and active, YOU are at as much risk as the one who is suffering thru them, to contract them.

 

Shingles are not a bruise or something you throw a bandage or make-up on to continue enjoying your day. Shingles, from my and my Mom's experience, humble you to the worst pain and discomfort you have ever experienced before they came along. They are not isolated to just a leg, or any other body part which they infect, although, that is possible. They spread. Like wildfire.

 

Inviting anyone over for sex, let alone paying for it, when you're having a shingles outbreak, is one of the most unbelievable situations I could even ever imagine. Your client must have some selfish, uncontrollable, testosterone levels.

[maxwellissmart]

That's interesting that he had taken no precautions before you came over, and that he was actually even personally responding to any sexual tendencies to call you in the first place. Shingles do not equate to sexual desire from my experience. While they are blistering and active, YOU are at as much risk as the one who is suffering thru them, to contract them.

 

Shingles are not a bruise or something you throw a bandage or make-up on to continue enjoying your day. Shingles, from my and my Mom's experience, humble you to the worst pain and discomfort you have ever experienced before they came along. They are not isolated to just a leg, or any other body part which they infect, although, that is possible. They spread. Like wildfire.

 

Inviting anyone over for sex, let alone paying for it, when you're having a shingles outbreak, is one of the most unbelievable situations I could even ever imagine. Your client must have some selfish, uncontrollable, testosterone levels.

 

Shingles aren't contagious, but if they had been somewhere problematic we would have canceled—and we both have before with other illnesses, so I don't think he's irresponsible. I have canceled appointments on several clients when they had something that was obviously not good to be around.

[Boner]

Shingles aren't contagious

 

That's untrue, and irresponsible commentary.