I had a message from a lady who has tried to get the shingles shot but they say she not old enough. I thought about it and I have determined what I would do If I could go back and correct my mistakes(one of thousands).
I think you have to temper the need for the shot with your medical history. If you had chicken pox, you have the virus in you. If you had kids and they had chicken pox you have gained some immunity from caring for them, If you have other relatives or friends who have had chicken pox and you helped care for them you have gained some immunity from that caring for them and being exposed to the active virus. Every time you get exposed to the virus and DONT get the pox you gain immunity. I guess what I am saying is if you cant get the shot now, getting exposed to the active chicken pox on a regular basis makes you less likely to develop shingles because your system has developed the immunity to deal with it and keep the virus within you from developing into shingles. If I
had known this 30 years ago (I am 70) I would have been doing exactly that, taking care of sick kids every chance I could to keep from getting this outbreak. I have been going through over a year of this and It would have been well worth the time spent babysitting sick kids to avoid it. This is an old school form of immunization but still works... when I was a kid ... under 10 if one of the local kids got measles or chicken pox and I had not gotten it yet, my mom would send me to play with the kid so i would get the measles or chicken pox when I was young and able to fight off the virus. While some of you will faint at the thought if that, if you have no other way of helping your child you do what you have to.
I hope you never get this crap but check with your doctor and see what they say about this action before you do it.
HMFICDICK