A chickenpox party? Doctors say it's a bad idea

Mpls (red)Star Tribune /AP ^ | 4/802

[Valin]

The kids who attend parties at Connie Shoemaker's house in Butler, Pa., get something more than ice cream or cake. They get exposed to chickenpox.

Shoemaker and other parents leery of the relatively new chickenpox vaccine are holding "chickenpox parties," inviting healthy children to play with infected ones in hopes the kids catch the disease and gain lifetime immunity.

[SarahW]

One advantage of controlled exposure to chickenpox: The severity of the illness can be greatly reduced with a prescription for acyclovir - and if you can tell your ped that your childs fever is probably the result of varicella exposure, you can get the RX and have it on hand to reduce the number of pock-marks.

[mewzilla]

I'd take getting the infection early on in childhood over a vaccine that may or may not be problematic. Af far as I can see the vaccination is mostly for convenience sake anyway, which is a not the best way to determine what's right for a child's health.

[Black Agnes]

The stickler with vaccines is that they don't last. What's going to happen 15 years from now when kids/adults are told they have to go be revaccinated with a booster or risk getting *adult* chickenpox (far more dangerous...). This mandatory vaccination against non fatal childhood diseases is merely a money making adventure for a few pharma companies, at the expense of the rights of the parents to determind what is right or correct for their child.

[homeschool mama]

** Af far as I can see the vaccination is mostly for convenience sake anyway, which is a not the best way to determine what's right for a child's health. **

Agreed. My neighbor had all three of her kiddos vaccinated. Her reason? She'd be bored at home caring for the kids.

[widowithfoursons]

Being exposed to it as a child is a lot better than getting it as an adult. I contracted it when I was 36 (from my son), and was desperately ill with pox EVERYWHERE, and high fever. Thought I was going to croak for sure.

[BibChr]

When my daughter got CP, we had her play a lot with my oldest son, so he'd catch it — and we sent her off to Grandma's so I wouldn't!

Net result: he and I came down with it on the same day!

For Matthew (about 5) and Rachael (about 8), it was a fairly mild deal, no lasting scars that I know of.

For me, I was about as sick as I've ever been, absolutely miserable, feverish, mildly delusional (yes, more than usual), and pain-wracked — and it was the first day of a week in the mountains for Valerie and me! The local doc recommended sweating, and Aspirin. I took Aspirin, and went out to our car wearing a coat and rolling up the windows in 100-plus summer heat, because I felt so terribly guilty for wrecking my wife's vacation. She (a totally great sport about it) came out and dragged me back inside, and we watched the '92 GOP convention, then eventually went home early where prescription painkiller gave me my first moments of comfort. (We went back a few weeks later and had some fun!)

I'd say get the vaccination or get it over in childhood. You don't want to be adult, and have CP.

Dan

[Lee'sGhost]

Uh, Og not use new fangled bow and arrow to kill bear and wolves. Might fly off course, kill woman. Og heard story from Uga that Bola's brother's woman die that way. Better to keep using spear to protect family.

Someone said "reduce the severity of the pock marks." God, what freakin morons. I prefer my children to be pock free. Compare the morbidity and mortality of children who are not vaccinated vs. the conjured up morbidity/mortality associated with "perceived" adverse reactions and you STILL come out better getting the vaccine.

[ArrogantBustard]

Before the chickenpox vaccine, 100 people died annually and 5,000 to 9,000 were hospitalized.
Out of how many total infections per year? Why can't the 'reporter' determine this fact, as well?

Doctors say that serious reactionsto the vaccine are rare.
How rare? What was the rate of serious complications per 100,000 vaccinated? Why can't the 'reporter' deterime this fact?

Why can't reporters report? This article is almost useless, except as an example of reportorial incompetence. < /rant >

AB

[homeschool mama]

Exactly!

Back in the dark ages (for the over 40 set here on FR) all three of my sisters had chickenpox...I never got it...until I was 36. It wasn't a serious outbreak, thankfully. Got tested afterward and found to be now immune to the virus. My daughter caught it from kiddos in her kindergarten class...we stopped counting pox after 500...using meds for the fever and Sarna for the itching..she slept through the night and did quite well.

[homeschool mama]

I'm so sorry you two had such severe cases of CP. I must have been one of the rare ones to have a mild case.

[Constitution Day]

I just can't read that article without thinking of the South Park "Chicken Pox" episode.

[stevio]

This is a great idea. Sending this home to my wife.

[BibChr]

Thought I was going to croak for sure

In my case, felt like I might, afraid that I wouldn't!

Dan
(c;

[TC Rider]

I just can't read that article without thinking of the South Park "Chicken Pox" episode.

heh heh, I was just thinking about the same thing.

Those boys sure taught their parents a lesson.

[Valin]

A chickenpox party? I don't know if this is sure a good idea. It strikes me as something close to the way people used to protect themselves of smallpox.

[eastsider]

Everyone in my family had chicken pox as a kid, and we've all had shingles as adults. Most recently, my father (81) is suffering an outbreak of shingles on his face and forehead. They're very painful and last for quite a while.

[Paradox]

Seems to me that by going to one of these parties, you are essentially "vaccinating" your child, but with a more active form of the virus. Same difference, although the vaccine "might" not protect you for life.. well, I'd get a booster shot in adulthood. My sister and I both still have some visible scarring from our childhood CP illness, being dark skinned, we tend to scar badly.

[BibChr]

Oh yeah, for a female type, from what I understand, you ARE a rare case! My sister got it as an adult, and she was absolutely miserable.

Dan

[Koblenz]

When I was in a Senior in high school, we took a class trip to Greece. The day after we got there, one of the kids got a fever, and came down with chicken pox. He sort of just lay in the back of the bus while we were bussed all over the country looking at old temples built by a bunch of dead white males.

I had been exposed to pox when I was little, so I didn't catch it. But about five kids in my high school hadn't had it, and when we got back, they all got it. So whatever you do, expose your kid or get your kid vaccinated early.