<p>I got a call from Georgetown saying that I needed to verify my varicella infection/vaccination. Problem is, she said I had to get a certain procedure done, but I couldn’t quite hear what it was. Does anyone know what it is to see whether or not you’ve contracted varicella (in the past, this was when I was a wee little boy)…? Thanks.</p>
<p>chicken pox – have you had it or been immunized? They can do a blood test to see if you’ve had it, though sometimes it’s easier to just get the vaccine.</p>
<p>Varicella is a herpes virus. Among children it causes chicken pox - an itchy but usually mild rash. When it recurs later in life it comes back as the shingles - very painful. They probably want you to get a lab test to measure whether you have already been exposed, through vaccination or infection, to varicella.</p>
<p>My son had to do that also. Although I had documented his case of chicken pox in 1993 and hence he did not get the vaccine (hence it does not show up on his immunization record), he was required to have a blood test to prove he had been exposed, just as coureur says. </p>
<p>tlaktan, if you’ve had chicken pox, you’re likely OK but will have to get the blood test to prove it. If you haven’t had chicken pox or aren’t sure, your best bet would be to get the immunization.</p>
<p>Varicella = chicken pox. They made a vaccine for it several years ago. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/varicella/default.htm#what[/url]”>http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/varicella/default.htm#what</a></p>
<p>I’m just going to go ahead and get the immunization. I really don’t have time to wait for the blood tests…</p>
<p>Call your doctor and ask him/her to look at your records to see if you had the vaccine.</p>
<p>The chicken pox vaccine was in trials about 15 years ago (my 16 D was offered to be part of it – we turned it down). So if you had the vaccine, it would have been in the past 14 years or so, since it has been made available to the public. If you had chicken pox, your mom probably took pictures of you. 
Take those pictures to your doctor, and he will sign the form saying you have immunity. Less painful than a shot, and no side effects.</p>
<p>Rest of story -D got very mild case of pox in kindergarten. Enough for immunity, though.</p>
<p>My youngest got the vaccine and then 5 years later had a pretty good case of chicken pox! Now I have to either verify that she had the disease or get her a booster. Frankly I am finding this focus on chicken pox a bit of a pain. For number 2 I had to get a doctor 3 states, 4 moves, and 12 years ago to state she had it. What a bother.</p>
<p>Nobody knows if I had the chicken pox so I got the vaccine recently…looks like I should get another one- takes two to be really effective, supposedly. The vaccine made me dizzy and feverish, I was kind of afraid I would get chicken pox from it =/</p>