After strongly recommending for the last several years that parents take advantage of a new chicken-pox vaccine, Iowa law will soon require it. A bill that’s cleared the legislature puts the Varicella chicken pox vaccine on the list of inoculations parents must get for their young kids before they start school. State public health department spokesman Kevin Teale says a lot of people think of chicken pox as a “rite of passage,” a kids’ ailment they don’t take seriously, but he says it’s a serious disease, and adults can catch it, too. Teale says another reason to take the “childhood disease” seriously is the longterm effect. Years and even decades after they’ve had it, the dormant virus can flare up in people and cause the painful condition known as shingles. He says the shingles that kept talk show host David Letterman off the air are a side effect of having chicken pox as a child. Teale says if parents have religious or other objections to inoculating children, they should talk with their family doctor about filling out waiver forms.
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