[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.

[maryz]

It strikes me as something close to the way people used to protect themselves of smallpox.

I believe they used to try to contract cowpox (a much milder disease) which resulted in immunity to smallpox. Since there were no smallpox vaccinations at the time, the choice was apparently between cowpox and smallpox.

I read a while back about a doctor in England who theorized that overuse of vaccinations against childhood diseases is the cause of increased asthma in children -- their immune systems don't develop properly.