Varicella Blues
Poor Tink got another needle today - this time to protect him from varicella AKA the chicken pox. We went in yesterday to get the needle, and because of a screw-up on the nurse's part, never got scheduled in properly when we made the appointment 3 months ago. I must have had steam coming out of my ears because the nurse called me 10 minutes after I got home to apologize profusely (she wasn't in when we got there) and we made the appointment for today.
Anyway, I was looking up varicella and the varicella vaccine yesterday and it made me wonder, is it a good idea to actually be immunized from it? Everything I read indicated that it's best to get it young because it can really do serious damage the older you get. The vaccine is valid for about 10 years apparently and then you're vulnerable again. I guess they figure that 90% of people get it before the age of 10 anyway? Don't get me wrong, I am very pro-immunization, but 90% of young children that get the chicken pox don't have any serious effects either. I don't know, what do you think? Maybe I'm old school and think that it's good sometimes for the immune system to get exposed to bacteria and viruses that it can build up its own resistance to. What do I know though (I'm not being cheeky, I say that in seriousness)...
Moving on, today is the big protest day (including a protest on Parliament Hill) for students trying to fight rising tuition fees. You can go to this website and check out more about it. The only advice I would give is don't limit your protestees (is that a word?) to students. I wanted to sign up and help out but apparently it's just for students. A 200% increase in tuition costs is simply unacceptable, how is anyone supposed to survive?! I was just corresponding with one of my second cousins in Holland, who informed me that the Dutch government subsidizes post-secondary education for everyone between the ages of 18 and 30! I'm not talking about a loan, it's a certain amount of money every month for 4 years. And you don't have to pay it back! AND, every student has free transportation anywhere in the country. Flash your student card and you're on the bus, train, metro etc. for free. Man those Dutch sure know how to do things right. My sister-in-law and her beau are right to move there for the next 3 years...
Anyway, I was looking up varicella and the varicella vaccine yesterday and it made me wonder, is it a good idea to actually be immunized from it? Everything I read indicated that it's best to get it young because it can really do serious damage the older you get. The vaccine is valid for about 10 years apparently and then you're vulnerable again. I guess they figure that 90% of people get it before the age of 10 anyway? Don't get me wrong, I am very pro-immunization, but 90% of young children that get the chicken pox don't have any serious effects either. I don't know, what do you think? Maybe I'm old school and think that it's good sometimes for the immune system to get exposed to bacteria and viruses that it can build up its own resistance to. What do I know though (I'm not being cheeky, I say that in seriousness)...
Moving on, today is the big protest day (including a protest on Parliament Hill) for students trying to fight rising tuition fees. You can go to this website and check out more about it. The only advice I would give is don't limit your protestees (is that a word?) to students. I wanted to sign up and help out but apparently it's just for students. A 200% increase in tuition costs is simply unacceptable, how is anyone supposed to survive?! I was just corresponding with one of my second cousins in Holland, who informed me that the Dutch government subsidizes post-secondary education for everyone between the ages of 18 and 30! I'm not talking about a loan, it's a certain amount of money every month for 4 years. And you don't have to pay it back! AND, every student has free transportation anywhere in the country. Flash your student card and you're on the bus, train, metro etc. for free. Man those Dutch sure know how to do things right. My sister-in-law and her beau are right to move there for the next 3 years...
posted by Melbine @ 1:01 PM
4 Comments:
At 1:51 PM,
Dread Pirate Jessica said…
Almost every country in Europe has such a better regimen than we do for education - and comparable tax rates! It's a fucking international embarassment that tuition is so expensive and lots of people should be hitting the streets about it, not just students.
As for chicken pox . . . if you actually contract it and then get better, what are the odds of catching it again? That immunity must wear off too? I don't know.
At 5:55 PM,
Melbine said…
Yeah, I knew that it wasn't just The Netherlands with such a fab regimen but I wasn't sure of the specific details of other countries.
It's pretty rare for someone to get chicken pox more than once. In that vein, maybe the vaccination is enough?
At 9:54 AM,
Sugarplum said…
If you get the Chicken Pox and live to be 80 it is supposedly almost certain that you will get shingles. So I think that is what it is about. My grandfather had shingles and it is a terribly painful thing to have where your skin aches and it doesn't go away for months. I would expect the vaccine would protect against shingles. But that's just what my Dad says and he's a smart ass who lies when he doesn't know the answer to something. Cannot be trusted.
At 12:32 PM,
Melbine said…
Those sneaky Dad's...if you can catch shingles early on you can prevent a full-on outbreak. My Oma is a hypochondriac and was on it right away and avoided a lot of issues.
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