Chicken pox are mostly a childhood illness. Can you get chicken pox twice?

Remember the itching and rashes that developed from chicken pox as a child? What if you are exposed again to the chicken pox virus is there a chance for it to develop again? Can you get chicken pox twice?

The answer is most likely not. Here is why.

The chicken pox are caused by a viral infection in the body that causes many symptoms. It mostly hits children but could develop in adults if they were not exposed as a child. The symptoms include itchy, rashes that spread from the trunk of the body to the scalp, hands, legs, arms, and feet. These rashes are red dots, that are extremely itchy. Within the first 2-3 days they can spread throughout the body. After day 4 these scabs begin to flake over, and within 7 to 21 days the scabs will begin to fall off. Scarring is very rare in these cases but could happen if the scabs are irritated too much by scratching and such. Other symptoms include headaches, abdominal pain for a day or two and loss of appetite.

Chicken pox is very contagious and spread very easily amongst children. The reason a person does not get chicken pox twice in most cases is that after day 5 of the chicken pox the body has developed antibodies. Once the body develops antibodies to fight the chicken pox that antibody stays within the body and will fight any time the body comes into contact with the chicken pox virus. It has been heard of that if a mild case of chicken pox was received as a child then it could occur again but that is rare.

If someone has not been exposed to the chicken pox virus as a child there are vaccines that are out there that can fight it. This vaccine can be given to both children and adults that haven't had chicken pox. In some cases those that have received the vaccine have gotten a very mild case of chicken pox but that is rare and not the norm. Usually once the vaccine is administered the antibodies form within the body within a few days.