Hello doctor, My twin daughters, age is 17years. One of them got the first blister of chicken pox and totally she got 30-40 blisters a few on back, hands, scalp, chest and 4-5 blisters on forehead. Now since yesterday, they have formed a scab. Second twin got the first blister on the chest five days later, and the second blister after that, a total of two blisters and till now no scab is formed. They both got vaccination when they were small. My question is whether the second twin who got only two blisters, has she got enough antibodies of chicken pox so that she is safe not to get it again in the near future?
Hello. You need to understand that chicken pox (varicella) vaccine does not guarantee that one would never get chicken pox. It tries to give control over it and if it fails, chicken pox occurs. Most of the times the severity is low, as the person already has pre-formed antibodies against it. As far as scab formation is concerned, they would surely appear if it is chicken pox. This is because any chicken pox infection heals by scab formation. The formation of scab may vary form person to person and in many people, they may appear late. Now, as far as your particular query is concerned, the scab formation or lesions are not markers of developing antibodies or immunity. It is usually seen that a person who develops chicken pox once does not get it again. But we have seen people and it is now well accepted, that a person who has got chicken pox once may get it again in the life time. I hope this helps.