Would you send your kid to a chicken pox party?
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- January
- 14
In the last few days, I’ve twice come across this idea of throwing “chicken pox parties,” in order to expose children to the disease so that they don’t have to get the varicella vaccination, thought by some to be linked to autism.
The plan is to throw a party—where one child is infected—and have a bunch of kids run around together, cough on each other, share lollipops and spoons. In other words, engage in all sorts of germ-swapping antics.
I don’t know what’s more disturbing, throwing the party or going to one. I think it’s quite cruel to intentionally expose your child to an illness. I mean a cold, maybe, but we’re talking painful, itchy sores all over your body, fever and sore throat. Serious complications, like Reye Syndrome—while rare—can also happen.
Imagine having to live with sending your child to a chicken pox party and that child later developing lifelong problems or possibly dying from the experience. That probably wouldn’t happen but it’s not the type of gamble I’m willing to take on my daughter. I’d rather her exposure come the old-fashioned way.
I understand the very real concerns parents have about vaccinations and autism. I’m still not convinced there isn’t a link. Believe me, I’ve drilled Zyla’s pediatrician about every inoculation she’s gotten and did not allow them to administer one a mere 12 hours after she was born. There was a time I considered not giving her any but living amongst a family of doctors ultimately showed me the benefits far outweigh the risks.
Even so, there’s got to be a better way than throwing chicken pox parties, which, by the way, is gaining popularity. Check out this New York Post story that ran Sunday that includes an anonymous Cold Spring mom, who posted an ad on Craigslist in search of a pox party and eventually drove three hours to one such fete. Her 2-year-old daughter still hasn’t gotten the infection even after she made her sleep in pajamas mailed to her by another child who had it. Ugh!!!
Photo of child receiving chicken pox vaccine courtesy of TJN.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, January 14th, 2009 at 5:31 pm by Marcela Rojas.
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I agree that the party idea is pretty creepy. My generation all survived the chicken pox. My kids were vaccinated so they could go to school, and I didn’t think much of it. When my oldest son was 12, he got his booster shots and got very, very ill (high fever, projectile vomiting). The doctor told me that they don’t even know how long this booster is good for. So, basically, who knows what is going to happen to our children when they are exposede as adults? I’m considering not having my youngest get the booster and just letting nature take its course. It’s scary to think about either way – who wants their kids to be sick?
This is not a new phenomenon. I remember as a kid in the 70’s mothers getting together with their kids if one had come down with chicken pox, although I doubt any of them would have driven three hours to do so.
I was one of three children in my second grade class who never came down with chicken pox (you’ve never knows a more boring week of school with just two other children and Mrs. Mandell). My siblings all got it, too, so just being around other people with the virus is no guarantee you’ll get it although your chances do go up dramatically.
I vaccinated both my children on the advice of my pediatrician and my mother in law (who is a nurse). We luckily did not have any adverse reactions. I needed to tested before having the shots administered to make sure I had immunity (I did) otherwise I would have had to be vaccinated as well.
While the idea of a chicken pox party is very tempting I don’t think I will ever be able to bring my daughter to one. Bringing her someplace where I know the odds of her getting sick are high is pretty scary.
Unfortunately I feel the same way about bringing her for the vaccine. I work with many children whose lives have been impacted by vaccines in many ways. I am frightened for each vaccine I give her. I have chosen to space them out and she is now pretty far behind.
This generation will have a false sense of security because the chicken pox vaccine is not a permanent immunity as Marianne said above.
I got my two older kids vaccinated but quickly found out that the shots didn’t equal a chicken pox-free family. The baby somehow managed to get a full blown case at 6 months! We still have no idea how exactly…I remember our pediatrician in Yonkers calling in his colleagues to “take a look at this!”
I had a bad case of chicken pox as a child and can’t imagine anyone wishing that on their child. I got it from my brother who had a very mild case and my mom did not deliberately plan it as I was probably exposed before he had his first pox mark. BTW it is my understanding that you risk getting shingles as an adult if you have had chicken pox and that is supposed to be even more nasty. I had my son innoculated. I think sometimes doctors give too many shots at once. My sons doctor limits it to two at a time (one for each arm) but I have heard of four shots at once and think that is part of the problem.
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I am trying to find chicken pox right now for my son, who is 7 months old. I want to expose him while he is still nursing because of the added protection of breast milk. Also, when they are young, they cant scratch and scratching makes terrible scars (i have them all over my forehead and body!) I plan on exposing him again at 3 years (while, hopefully, I’m still breastfeeding) and a third time when he’s 5 or 6. This is because I had chicken pox when I was 5, REALLY BAD! I was vomiting, fever, pox EVERYWHERE, including throat and ears, etc. I then got it TWO MORE TIMES, each time less and less spots.
I am not vaccinating my son for anything!!! The side effects from vaccines, including everything from the immediate reactions (such as anaphylaxis, encephilitis, autism, death! etc) to later onset ADHD, autoimmune disorders, allergies, digestive problems, type 1 diabetes, the list goes on.
Did you know that the diptheria vaccination usually provides immunity for around 10 years, and about 50% of Americans are therefor not “immune” to diptheria? AND YET, THERE IS NO DIPTHERIA RUNNING RAMPANT IN THE US!! Could it be that vaccinations are NOT the reason?
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH!!! DONT TRUST THE SAME PEOPLE THAT TOLD US DDT WAS SAFE TO USE ON VEGETABLES!! THE PEOPLE WHO TOLD US THALIDOMIDE WAS SAFE FOR PREGNANT WOMEN!! Follow the money trail….
http://www.insidevaccines.com/ is a great site. there are more sites and books and blogs on vaccine safety than you could read in a life time!
To Christina:
Are you from the lohud region? If you find a chicken pox party, let me know and perhaps we could write about it if you are interested. Thanks. Marcela
I live in Canada, in a rural area. We have a bunch of mums in my town looking for pox, but they are getting harder to find. If I DO find them, we are ALL going together in a caravan to get exposed. That way, if my baby doesn’t get them at the party, I can re-expose him to the pox we brought back with us on the other children. I have ads up on http://www.mothering.com/discussions/ as do other people of various areas looking for pox. Never thought of trying Craig’s list.. That’s a good idea! I would love to do a story about the Canadian pox party, if you’d still want it, but I’d understand if you don’t lol.
It’s not disturbing to me at all – its what families did in the old days – and guess what?! Kids survived it.
CP is NOT that big of a deal and the only reason the vax exists is to (supposedly)keep kids from taking their parents away from job commitments and thereby losing time and $$ from missing work.
The vax itself is only 40% effective. Sorry that’s not a gamble I want to make for only partial immunity that dies off in a couple years. The other big risk is simply putting off the illness until later life, which at that point it poses many risks – including rendering a child infertile. Its def. a good idea to catch it early.
I had CP at 12 and was miserable…but I lived through it and I have total immunity now. I want the same for my kids.
Vaccinations is one area where the American people have collectively been duped and lied to. I don’t know one parent who honestly did the research on them (by that I mean looking at sources other than the CDC and FDA) and came away still vaccinating their kids. Not. One.