"CBI" wrote in message ...

So, what is *your* opinion on vaccination against chicken pox in children
elementary-school aged and younger?

Mixed - at this point I think any concerns about poor immunity are pretty
much moot since the natural disease is becomming rare in childhood.
Over-all, I think things favor giving to the kids - mine have both had it
and I recommend it to my patients, although not with quite as much
enthusiasm as the others.

SNIP

I still don't feel my hands are unfairly tied. Like I said - I do think the
markedly diminished rates of natural infection are making the "wait and see
if he gets it" approach less and less likely to be fruitful and more likely
to be harmful.

I agree the approach of "wait and see if the child gets it" is less
likely to be fruitful - I finally had my oldest immunized at age 11 or
12 because she never did come down with chicken pox naturally despite
several exposures. Since I didn't want her getting the disease after
puberty, we went ahead and vaccinated at that point. But I don't know
why it would be more harmful than vaccinating at an earlier age. I'll
probably do the same with my youngest and hold off vaccinating until
close to puberty.