March 30, 2006
Mumps
Apparently the mumps are going around campus. What the hell? There are immunizations for the mumps, you know. It's the MMR shot, and it takes care of measles and rubella, too. Back in my day, everybody got them. In fact, when I worked in a hospital not so long ago, I had to have a booster before I started.
Before I went to college The First Time, I had to get some booster shots before they'd let me in. I believe the MMR was one of them. Now apparently people can make a choice not to get immunizations. It's their choice to be locked up for a week until they stop being contagious, I guess, but unfortunately people don't know they're contagious for about two days. So they run around infecting all the other people who haven't had the shot.
Funny how that works.
UPDATE:
My bad. Looks like people are getting it even if they had the MMR. Yikes.
I did not have chicken pox when I was a kid, but I did get the vaccination about ten years ago, as did my older daughter. In the fall of 2004, not one but BOTH of us came down with chicken pox. Hers was not too bad. Mine was awful. Suffice it to say that getting the chicken pox at 43 was not a high point in my life.
I had the mumps when I was 6. It was awful then, and I hope it doesn't make a return visit.
Posted by: Rev. Mike at March 31, 2006 04:03 PM