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Fast Fact
Chicken pox is caused by the Varicella-zoster virus. It is usually a mild infection, and not life-threatening. Although children with this virus may be miserable for several days, and miss a week of school or day-care (stranding parents at home), they will likely recover from the 250-500 itchy blisters with nothing more to show for it than a few small scars.
Each year about 200,000 of the millions of people around the world who contract chickenpox become seriously ill with complications such as pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). About 2,000 of these people die.
Those who are at higher risk for complications include those with an already weak immune system, those with eczema or other skin conditions, adolescents, and adults.
Adults who get chicken pox usually have a much more severe, prolonged case than children. Pneumonia is common.
The rate of hospitalization for chickenpox is almost 900% higher in adults than in children. Adults are more than 20 times more likely to die from this disease.
Pregnant women face the additional fear of serious, even fatal, damage to the baby developing within.
In the past, multiple re-exposures helped to keep people's immunity high. Since the vaccine is now standard in the United States, the frequency of the natural disease should decline. Those who have had chickenpox as children will not be re-exposed as often, if at all. Their immunity may wane over time, making shingles and adult chickenpox even more common than they are now.
To date, those who have received the vaccine have a much lower incidence of shingles than those who actually had chickenpox over the same time period. Those who receive the vaccine also have a dramatically decreased risk of scarring.
Studies so far have found the chickenpox vaccine to be highly effective in preventing moderate and severe chickenpox in children (Redbook: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, 2006).
For each individual, the vaccine seems quite safe. Reported adverse effects are generally mild -- soreness, swelling, rash (at the injection site), fever, tiredness, or fussiness are the most common. The vaccine is not recommended for immunocompromised people, or for pregnant women.
The American Academy Pediatrics currently recommends two doses of the chickenpox vaccine. Typically, the first dose of the vaccine is given at 12 to 15 months of age and the second at 4 to 6 years of age (at school entry). Older children who have not received two doses of the vaccine can receive their catch up shots 28 weeks apart.
This switch is pretty easy, but how in the world did catsup end up on the top 10 list? Tomatoes contain an important nutrient called lycopene, one of nature's most potent antioxidants, known to help prevent and heal cell damage. Foods rich in lycopene can lower cancer and heart disease risk. Tomatoes are, by far, the #1 source of lycopene in the American diet, providing an estimated 80% of the lycopene consumed30. What's the major source of tomatoes?
In 2006, the average American ate 94 pounds of tomatoes, and of this more than 73 pounds came in the form of processed tomato products: tomato juice, tomato paste, catsup, etc31. And in kids, tomato products (especially catsup) make up an even higher percentage of the diet. In fact, catsup makes up so much of kids' overall vegetable intake that the government even tried to count it as a vegetable in the school lunch program during the Reagan years.
Recently, scientists at the USDA Western Regional Research Center decided to analyze catsup levels to see if catsup is an okay source of lycopene (yes) and other antioxidants (yes). They looked at national brands, store brands, little catsup packets, and the catsup on fast food burgers. The scientists were surprised to learn that organic catsups were, on average, 57% higher in lycopene. And they had double the antioxidant power of conventional catsups32. One organic brand contained 183 mcg/g of lycopene - more than three times the amount in a conventional brand, and about five times as much as in a fresh tomato33. In general, a deeper red natural color goes along with higher lycopene levels. And organic catsup tastes great!
Just switching from conventional to organic catsup could significantly increase the nutrients in America's diet and decrease conventional tomato farming methods. How simple! And you might want to think about switching to organic marinara and pizza sauce at the same time.
Many children go through a phase of wanting to sleep in their parent’s bed. If you don't choose to have a "family bed", click here for tips to get them back into their own beds.
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