got shingles about 4 years ago. It's painful. Got all the shots.

I got it even after I was vaccinated.

Our Aunt/nurse, Moms, etc. would gather all of the kids who would stay at one house, w/ the adults who already were immune to Shingles (they caught already).

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful, blistering skin rash caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (the same virus that causes chickenpox).

I don't know if Shingles does slow dementia down, my Aunt who held one or more chicken pox parties was in pretty bad shape, dementia-wise unfortunately...she was at least in her 80s.

Also, even though they come from the same virus, the conditions chicken pox and shingles are not interchangeable, and you can get a repeat case of shingles. If you haven't had chickenpox and are exposed to it, you won't get shingles, but you could get chickenpox.

Following a chicken pox infection, the herpes zoster virus goes dormant within the CNS, potentially re-activating later in life. I understand that the virus can wreak havoc on the brain itself. So the effect of the vaccine in reducing or slowing down the potential for dementia would seem to come from enhancing immunity against herpes zoster, which might otherwise impact brain cells and contribute to an onset of dementia. Just wondering. At any rate, given a 1 in 3 chance of coming down with shingles, getting the two-course vaccine would seem to be very well-informed preventative choise.

only type of 'sick' party we all participated in, all of the kids in our extended family (cousins and us) would stay at one place when someone came down w/ it. Basically all over and done w/ at one time, and easier on all. I haven't heard the likes of these parties for a while, so more than likely, docs may frown on it, or the vaccines have arrived full force, thus no need.

One thing I do seem to remember, was that adults getting Chickenpox was not a good thing, they seemed to be impacted more adversely w/ the C. Pox, so not a good thing.


Origins and Purpose
Chickenpox parties became popular in the United States during the 1970s and 1980s. The idea was to deliberately expose children to the chickenpox virus at a young age, under the belief that contracting the disease early would lead to milder symptoms and lifelong immunity. Parents would organize playdates where healthy children would interact with an infected child, often sharing items like lollipops to facilitate the spread of the virus.
Wikipedia