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Is it true you can only catch chicken pox once?

Chicken pox is generally harmless if you get it as a child, but it can it be more dangerous to get the disease as an adult.

By Luis Villazon

Asked by: Anonymous

It is possible to have an extremely mild case of chicken pox as a very young child without producing enough antibodies, so leaving you open to subsequent doses. Generally though, one proper dose of chicken pox will set you up with life immunity.

However the varicella zoster virus, which causes chicken pox, is never fully eliminated from the body and can flare up in immuno-compromised adults to cause the quite different disease of herpes zoster (shingles).

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Luis Villazon

Q&A expert

Luis trained as a zoologist, but now works as a science and technology educator. In his spare time he builds 3D-printed robots, in the hope that he will be spared when the revolution inevitably comes.