[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fishman', 'S')team, I've not read anywhere that the incidence of shingles is going up with the vaccination of kids.

[Ibon]

Hey VM, I feel your pain. I went through this 10 years ago. I often share this story not only because of the pain but because of the incompetence of the medical treatment. It is a worthy story to share here as well.

I woke up at 4AM one morning with an intense pain in my lower abdomen. I tried to walk it off. Didn't work. My wife drove me to the emergency room. I had one red pimple on my belly at that time.

The hospital gave me an Xray and a Cscan that morning and sent me to a gastrointerologist later that day. That doctor then sent me to a urologist. I then saw my family doctor in the late afternoon. That was 4 physicians who saw me and by the end of the day there was no definitive diagnosis. All I got were pain killers.

The next day the pain was worse, diffuse around my belly and back. A second pimple erupted. I then recalled my cousin's story of getting shingles a couple of years before. I went on line and saw pictures of shingles and read the symptoms. I called my family doctor and told him I think I have shingles. I went in and he confirmed it and I was then on anti virals for a week before I got better.

So I self diagnosed the shingles and got a bill from the hospital for $ 4300 dollars for the emergency visit and Cscan and xray etc. I refused to pay it and I didn't pay a single of the doctors visits except my family doctor. I let them send me letters for years. Eventually the letters stopped. That was 10 years ago.

Defensive medicine and reading digital printouts instead of listening to your patient and using common sense is the reason for the incompetence. You go to the hospital or doctor with abdominal pain and they put you through all these tests fearing law suits if they miss something and then the doctors read print outs instead of touching, listening, observing the obvious organic symptoms that in my case where present from the very first visit.

[Fishman]

Steam, I stand partially corrected. You are correct in that infected children exposure to older folks helps lower their risk. theoretically boosters would solve this problem

[PrestonSturges]

I was going to mention acyclovir....

[Pretorian]

So how much exposure is needed to maintain the immunity? Do I have to rent a sick kid once a decade or so?