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General health

Anyone else not had any 'childhood' illnesses?

25 replies

tarantula · 24/03/2005 11:42

Just out of curiosity Am I just a freak or has anyone never had mumps measles chickenpox etc. Ive never had any of them at all. Even when teaching I had almost a whole class off with Chicken Pox but I didnt get it. Just hope I dont get it as dd grows up ~gulp~ Better start praying shes the same as me

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swiperfox · 24/03/2005 11:43

I never got any of them either - I only got chickenpox when I was 16 (not fun!) but never had anything else at all!!

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lockets · 24/03/2005 11:46

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Yorkiegirl · 24/03/2005 11:50

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expatinscotland · 24/03/2005 11:55

Only chicken pox. The US has been using the triple jab since the 1960s. Unlike here, vaccination is mandatory to attend any state-funded school, and most fee-paying schools require them as well. So I never had measles, mumps, rubella, etc.

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psychomum5 · 24/03/2005 12:02

I never had chicken pox until I gave birth to DD3 (literally 1wk after giving birth, and after a vaccination to try n stop it)!!! That I caught from my two elder girls. I never got it from the children I nannied for, even tho I lived in and looked after them while they had it.
Never have had rubella either, but I have had measles and mumps.

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katzguk · 24/03/2005 12:04

it is possible to have chicken pox and not know. you can have just one or two spots and not suspect, so it is possible even if you think you've not had it to have, if that makes sense.

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tarantula · 24/03/2005 12:54

Well at least Im not the only one. Hope I am immuneto chicken pox as really dont fancy getting it.

the downside of being such a healthy child was that I didnt have any time off school at all from the age of 6 till I caught a really bad case of skivalitis when I was about 15 and mammy actually fell for it too (cant think why I didntdo it before that)

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MistressMary · 24/03/2005 13:21

I had chickenpox when I was seven which was a little unpleasant and had Mumps, sat on a sofa watching telly and eating ice cream.
Nothing else.

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Jimjams · 24/03/2005 14:59

I've had measles and rubella - nothing else. No chickenpox, but after exposure when pregnant had immunity checked and was immune anyway. Most adults are. Passed that onto ds2 as well I think as he has been exposed numerous times without catching it!

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suedonim · 24/03/2005 15:55

My brother has only had German Measles. This was well before vax were introduced and with three siblings you'd have thought he would catch something. I remember him sitting on my bed when I had mumps, making me breath on him so he could catch it too and stay off school. Didn't work, though!

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jackeroo · 24/03/2005 16:24

i got chicken pox in my 20s which was a bit of a shock... never had any of the others fortunately...

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Golfergal · 23/04/2019 18:42

I thought I was a freak! Not a single childhood disease and I took care of my daughter when she had chickenpox. I am now 66 years old.

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banskuwansku · 24/04/2019 14:29

I had really mild chickenpox. Some spots and I didn't feel unwell. Same with my sister who got it at the same time. We only knew that it was chickenpox because most of my class were ill of it.

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Nat6999 · 25/04/2019 03:06

I got mumps when I was 20, I'd had everything else as a teenager. My mum didn't have chicken pox until she was 39, she caught them off me & my brother, my brother sailed through them, both me & my mum were very ill & covered from head to toe as well as internal ones.

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Angelinabox · 25/02/2020 13:03

Never had mumps measles chickenpox etc, but my children and grand kids all did worry about shingles though

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Prokupatuscrakedatus · 25/02/2020 18:43

As I am older, I actually had measles (six weeks to fully recover and luckily none of the possible dreadful damages), chicken pox (5 I think) and rubella.

On the other hand I was vaccinated against small pox when they still existed.

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Loudie2 · 29/10/2020 02:09

I’m 63, and I never had mumps, measles, or chickenpox... and when my younger half-sister had measles I was at her side, trying to get them next.

I tried, I really did. I took care of her, fed her, put her fork and spoon in my mouth after hers and I read to her, just stayed right there. It was a chance to stay home from school so I was in.

The doctor told my mom it was maybe because my normal body temp ran a little high (above 99), and maybe the germs just hot killed off before they could take hold? Whatever it was... I never got them, even when I was visiting friends and their little boy was feeling ignored and I had him on my lap reading his favorite book to him... then when he was called in to eat and how to bed, his mom came out to say she hoped we had all had chicken pox because when she had dressed him for bed he was covered, and had a mild fever.

Still, nothing. So whether I was consciously trying or just accidentally exposes, I couldn’t seem to catch a childhood disease. And I’ve been warned that these can be particularly dangerous for adults, more so the older you get.

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Heatherjayne1972 · 29/10/2020 10:39

My sister had chicken pox twice poor thing
My brother had measles even though he ( and the rest of us) was vaccinated
Back then measles jab was done as a baby and the ruebella jab was done at 13
We all had mumps tho

Lucky you op if you dodged them all

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EgbertWilliams · 25/10/2022 21:49

I never had any of them and got the small pox (scratch) vaccine three times and it never took - never got a round, indented scar like used to be common. Natural immunity? Radioactive spider blood? Don't know.

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DeeofDenmark · 25/10/2022 22:17

My dd got chicken pox when it went round school. She has two spots on her leg so if it hadn’t been going round we wouldn’t have known. You have probably had some mild infections.

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Asher33 · 26/10/2022 16:03

No chicken pox here either, despite brother and sister catching it. Just seemed to have bad reactions to a load of skin care. (Including soap)

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AffIt · 26/10/2022 19:51

I'm 43, so was vacc'd for measles and rubella as a child / teenager and had chicken pox and mumps before I was 10.

Was just a bit too old for the initial MMR cohort, but I travel a lot for work and (pre-2020) was advised to get the MMR vaccine, as I was travelling to places in SE Asia in which measles is still endemic.

I was offered a blood test to check for adult immunity, but the vaccine was the lesser of two evils, so I went with that instead.

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GettingStuffed · 26/10/2022 19:55

I've had measles and rubella. None of the others.

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newtb · 26/10/2022 20:03

I've had measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox. Also had shingles twice - once in my eye, other time on my shins.

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Sgtmajormummy · 26/10/2022 20:07

I’m the youngest of 4 and the other three got most of the childhood diseases before I was born, so we think I got antibodies from DM.
I caught the chicken pox from a small nephew when I was 23 (nasty) and that’s it.

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