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Chicken Pox Parties
Filed under: In The News
Despite the fact that the mainstream medical community denies a link between vaccinations and autism, more and more parents are choosing not to have their children inoculated against childhood diseases. And while every state allows some avenue of exemption from the vaccinations usually required to enter school, there are none that I am aware of that allow parents to pick and choose which vaccinations they will skip. You either opt out completely or you vaccinate according to your state's requirements. But for some parents in New York, choosing to vaccinate their children is not an all-or-nothing proposition. While they are willing to risk the perceived dangers of receiving shots for certain diseases, they are not willing to do so for chicken pox. "Measles, mumps, whooping cough...I'm worried about those diseases, so my daughter has had those vaccines. Chicken pox is a joke," says one mom.
This creates a problem in that the state of New York requires children entering school to either have had the varicella vaccine, which protects against chicken pox and shingles, or to have had the actual virus. The solution for these parents is obvious: make sure their kids get chicken pox before their first day of school. To that end, they are gathering at Chicken pox parties attended by at least one infected child who can spread the virus to the others.
Parents are scouting out like-minded parents with young children and getting together when one of them gets Chicken pox. One mother, after being told by her pediatrician that the only reason the Chicken pox vaccine exists is to prevent parents from missing work, even posted an ad on Craigslist and a mommy message board looking for Chicken pox infected playmates for her two-year-old.
So, why do we vaccinate our children against an illness that many of us sailed through as children ourselves? According to Dr. Anne Gershon, professor of pediatrics at Columbia University and president of the Infectious Disease Society of America, one good reason is that the vaccine lessens the chance that the Chicken pox virus will later return as shingles. Plus, she says, deliberately exposing your child to the virus is not a risk-free alternative to the vaccine. "Chicken pox parties are a terrible mistake," she says. "Imagine how you would feel if you took your kid to one and they came down with encephalitis or group A strep. Most of the time chicken pox is a mild disease, but you can die from the complications."
Clearly we are a long way from any consensus on this whole vaccination issue. But until doctors can agree on whether or not the Chicken pox virus is preferable to the vaccine, it seems that parents have no choice but to make that decision for themselves.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
1-13-2009 @ 8:32PM
Amy said...There are many more reasons to choose not to vaccinate your child than a possible autism link. Vaccines can cause many adverse reactions, not just neurological disorders like autism. They are loaded with toxic preservatives. They disturb our natural immune system. And some, like chicken pox, are simply unneccesary.
Also, it is possible in many states to selectively vaccinate. My daughter has only had DTaP, and we chose to start it later than recommended.
Please research different perspectives and get your facts straight on controversial subjects before posting about them.
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3-27-2009 @ 6:32PM
chicken pox is no game said...My eleven month old daughter almost died from chicken pox. It caused a nerve in her brain to become inflamed and she had a stroke. Praise God she lived! She got it from someone who knew they had shingles and brought it to church, ironicly the one place you should feel safe, because she figured it was
"no big deal". Her thoughtlessness almost took the life of my innocent child. I pray your thoughtlessness doesn't take the life of your innocent child. And lets get real about the cop-outs. The benefits far outweigh the risks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1-13-2009 @ 6:14PM
Jenni said...You say "parents have no choice but to make that decision for themselves" like it's a bad thing. Parents should be able to make that choice in all things regarding their children.
I'm also for the CP parties. I would take mine to them. Unless there was a high risk reason not to, there is no problem. It was called 3rd grade when I was growing up...for my brother it was called kindergarten, and, if I'm not mistaken, 1st grade for my sister.
Yes, there can be complications, but the chances and levels of those complications aren't enough for me to not naturally expose my child to the disease.
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1-13-2009 @ 7:25PM
Katty said...To each his own I say, but I would never feel comfortable with exposing my children on purpose to any illness even one that we all remember as being "not so bad". I would never let them play with a kid with a cold, let alone chicken pox.
Plus, my brother ended up hospitalized from chicken pox, he was so little when he got it a(from a neighbor child, he was only 18 months old) and the fever spiked so high that he had several small seizures.
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1-13-2009 @ 9:35PM
LS said...Vaccinating your children IS "exposing your children on purpose to an illness"... that's how the immune system works. It is attacked by a "bad germ" - the illness, and then creates antibodies to fight it. And then it keeps that information around in case that bad germ comes back.
I was one of the first in my grade - 2nd, I believe - to get The Pox. Every kid in the neighborhood was at my house at one point or another, and every one of them got it too. That's what vaccinating is!!
I don't mind my son being exposed to other kids with colds (except for the "ick factor") and have noticed that he is almost never sick because of it. I absolutely would take him to a Pox Party if he hadn't already been (by law) vaccinated. In fact, I would rather have done that.
1-14-2009 @ 1:44PM
Jamie said...LS: Whatever your belief on this topic, taking your child to a CP party is not the same as getting a regulated low dose of the chicken pox. Don't confuse the two.
My children were vaccinated and are very healthy. They never end up in the emergency room and they hardly ever get on antibiotics. Since I can't take the same child and try it both ways (vaccinate or not) I will have to assume that we fall into the large percentage that does not get affected poorly by being vaccinated.
Good luck to you all and I hope your babies stay healthy.
1-14-2009 @ 1:54PM
Katty said...I am perfectly aware of what vaccinations are, so spare me the rhetoric. Takng my kids to a party hoping that they come down with an illness that will make them miserable for a while is certainly something different than a 1 second pinch that may avoid something uncomfortable for them, or God forbid something worse.
Second of all, if you want to let your kids play with sick kids, go right ahead, its my job to protect my kids from illness and my kids never miss school and are perfectly healthy.
1-14-2009 @ 9:03AM
Kirstie said...Haven't parents been doing this for years? I remember being pretty popular when I got the chicken pox in the first grade ..
The thing with the chicken pox vaccine is that they are finding that it loses potency over the years, and by the time you're an adult you've lost the immunity. The chicken pox as an adult is a LOT nastier then when you're a kid, generally.
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1-14-2009 @ 9:11AM
Kirstie said...Oh .. just wanted to clarify that in general, I fully support vaccination. I received everything when you're told to get it - the chicken pox vaccine just hadn't come out until I was 7 or 8, if I recall correctly, and I got the chicken pox, as I mentioned, in first grade.
1-14-2009 @ 1:12PM
Melissa said...Yes, getting chicken pox when you're older IS nasty! I got it in 2nd grade, and I gave it to my 16 yr old sister....she was miserable, and she was sick longer than I was! The tihng is, she had already had chicken pox, just a very mild case of it. That's another thing with the pox parties: if they only catch a mild case of it, the parents are risking them catching it later on in life. Of course, if the vaccine wears off, then I guess the child is put at risk, too....Oh, hell, I don't know! I'm so confused now! LOL....
1-13-2009 @ 10:47PM
Kat B. said...I second Amy's comment. There are several statements in this article that could have used more research. For one, there are other alternatives rather than "opt out completely or vaccinate according to your state's requirements". Of the parents (and physicians) that I've chatted with, their concern is more about the current schedule of vaccinations that the CDC recommends. It is very aggressive, giving multiple vaccines, combination vaccines, vaccines with a high level of aluminum, etc., and most of these are given between birth & 6mos old. Many parents have found alternative schedules and - if they have a wise doctor - are able to follow the more cautious schedule. Another idea I've been hearing more buzz about is an increase in home-schooling. As far as the chicken pox parties, most of the complications from diseases arise when they go untreated. I do not see a problem with chicken pox parties, and, quite frankly, one of my best friends just went through a case of the shingles, and she's doing fine. It's an uncomfortable illness, and one should always keep a careful eye for complications, but the majority of chicken pox cases run their course and the child then receives full immunity (you might also want to look into the effectiveness of vaccines).
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1-16-2009 @ 12:30PM
lsweetgirlsam said...I choose to not get my daughter vaccinated for the flu shot and what ever other vaccines she does not need in order to go to school. Some may feel like it doesn't make any sense but they have added so many new vaccines that were not needed when i was a child and it wasn't that long ago. She has the chicken pox vaccine because that was the one time I didn't take her to the doctor myself. Word to the wise always take your child yourself and if your sick the day of an appointment just reschedule.
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1-14-2009 @ 8:23AM
Don said...Vaccines are safe! Are they completely without risk no, yet the risks out weighs the benefits.
@4 what preservatives are you talking about? If it's thimerosal, you can rest easy because it has been removed from just about all vaccines about 4 years ago, yet there still a steady increase in the rate of autism.
As for research here you are. I can only link three per post so let me know if you would like more.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/111/3/674
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/123/1/e164
I like this one especially, theirs over 30 articles written by doctors that will respond to your questions in the comments sections, all regarding the anti-vaccination moment.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?cat=36
I grow tired of the constant attempt to subvert the medical consensus that vaccines are safe and effective. If this continues it is possible for polio, Haemophilus influenza b, the mumps, pertussis and a whole lot of vaccine preventable disease to become an epidemic.
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1-14-2009 @ 9:09AM
maya said...Thank you DON!! I am so sick and tired of these crunchy parents who think that the doctors with the medical degrees know less than we do!! Vaccines are SAFE!!! Parents that do not vaccinate their children are ignorant and negligent. It infuriates me that my 3 little girls are forced to go to school with children who are not vaccinated! Those children's parents are liars and law breakers who lie and claim religious beliefs for their excuse to not vaccinate. I think that loophole should be closed indefinitely becaue it is obviously being abused! Not to mention that I think that children who are not vaccinated should be forced to go to a seperate school where they are with all the other kids whose parents follishly chose to not vaccinate! I think that it is ridiculous for these parents, not to mention cruel, to let their children that they are SUPPOSED to love and protect, be open to getting these dangerous diseases.
If you parents know so much, why do you even take your child to the doctor? Why even have a doctor? EVERY doctor will say that vaccinations are extremely important. So how can you take your doctors opinion on one thing, but not another? When your child has an infection and needs antibiotics, do you give them to him/her? Or do you ignore that doctors advice too???
And just for the record, I was 7 years old and my older brother was 10. It was just the 2 of us kids. My brother and I got the chicken pox, but my brother got them really bad. they were under his fingernails and all over. He was in so much pain and discomfort. Well when he went to sleep, my brother never woke up. The pox spread to his throat and his throat closed and he stopped breathing in his sleep. I woke up to my mother's screaming. Chicken pox is USUALLY harmless. Usually. Do you want to take the chance with your child?? My brother was a perfectly healthy boy with no medical conditions whatsoever. Chicken pox killed him and do not be so ignorant to think that it cannot happen to your child too.
WAKE UP PARENTS AND TAKE THE DOCTORS ADVICE!!!! THEY DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL FOR ALL THOSE YEARS FOR NOTHING!!!!! WAKE UP AND LOVE YOUR KIDS!!!
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1-16-2009 @ 4:55PM
Jon said...If you love vaccines so much, vaccinate your children. And as far as your emoting about how much you hate having to send your children to school with unvaccinated children, your kids are vaccinated, what the heck do you care?!? Leave your personal fallacies out of my life. I'll vaccinate or not as I please. FTS!
1-14-2009 @ 8:59PM
Sandyone said...Doctors know all? Oy, that is some seriously dangerous thinking.
Since much of my research has been in the arena of pregnancy and childbirth, I'll just give you a few terms to google:
Thalidomide
X-rays of the baby while pregnant
Shaving the pubic area
Routine episiotomy
Flat on the back delivery position
These are all practices that well-educated doctors knew were best for their patients. Some had tragic results, others were just plain dumb.
Please don't tell me how wonderful doctors are until they practice evidence-based medicine.
1-14-2009 @ 11:55PM
Kat B. said...Ahem. Nobody asked for name-calling. To answer several of the recent posts: Parents who research and make alternate decisions regarding their kids' vaccines are not ignorant OR negligent. In fact, many of us do more research and are better informed than most parents. We also love our children just as much as you love yours. That's WHY we educate ourselves and try to make informed decisions. Vaccines are NOT 100% safe. Children have died from reactions to vaccines. Don, the current concern is not thimerosal, since it has been removed from all but one brand of flu vaccine. One of the controversial ingredients is aluminum - which is classified by our medical community as a known toxin, but is in the majority of vaccines, often in relatively high concentrations. There are also animals ingredients and formaldehyde (another known toxin), among others. These substances, taken separately, would never be injected into an adult. However, they are all in the shots that we give to our kids as early as 6 weeks old. As far as trusting your doctor, well, they are human. They make mistakes - sometimes big ones. I personally don't doubt our pediatrician's medical prowess, however, she is not omniscient. I am ultimately responsible for my child and part of that responsibility is to make the most informed decision I can make. Those parents who have not done their own homework should not criticize the ones who have simply because they came to a different conclusion. Maya your statement that the religious "loophole" should be "closed" to parents who claim it is a very dangerous one and stinks of religious intolerance.
1-14-2009 @ 11:02AM
Rhonda said...I had both mumps and chicken pox as a child and let me tell you, I would have taken mumps 10x over chicken pox once. I was seriously ill, to the point that the pediatrician made a house call. My husband had a similar experience. Not sure where people got the idea that chicken pox is some innocuous childhood disease. It's been over 30 years and I still remember it vividly. You can bet my kids had the vaccine when it became available a few years ago.
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1-14-2009 @ 10:45AM
Pavlina said...Pathetic. Children die from the Chicken Pox. I don't understand why any parent would knowingly expose their child to this disease. Getting a vaccine is not the same as contracting a full fledged case of the disease, if you believe that then you need to revisit exactly how vaccines work.
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1-15-2009 @ 7:49AM
Don said...In response to Kat B., I never said anything to infer any kind of intellectual superiority. The only thing I want to advocate is make sure you know where your information is coming from, question what people say especially what you read on the internet. I am all for researching what is best, for your child, my only gripe is that people do not ask to see the evidence behind what a person claims.
As for your concerns of Formaldehyde it is a natural byproduct of digestion of methanol, and it happens whenever you eat almost anything. Formaldehyde is carcinogenic and is considered very dangerous in cases of occupational exposure, for example, when you get a dosage many orders of magnitude greater than the trace amounts produced during natural digestion. Again, a vaccine does this in much smaller amounts than many common foods, so this has been a normal, healthy component of digestion for as long as humans have been eating fruits and vegetables.
Neglecting the fact that most people are exposed in a single day to more formaldehyde from plastics, plywood, furniture and furniture finishes, and a variety of other household products and objects in every house than babies are exposed to from their entire vaccine schedule.
As for the concern for aluminum you can rest at night knowing that your child will consume far more aluminum in a couple of feedings of either breast milk or formula. Their is a difference though the body metabolizes things differently when ingested and injected, I would like to see more research into the effects of aluminum in the blood stream.
Here is one however more would be nice:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902003996.htm
Also to remind you I said in the second sentence in my post vaccines are not with out risk. However the benefits GREATLY out weigh the risks, their are also ways to assure that your child will not have a reaction to a vaccine. For example ask your doctor to perform a egg allergy test, since most flu vaccines are cultured in chicken embryos.
Please do research what I say, but also research what other people say, stop trying to scare people into doing something harmful to their children. Such as scaring them into not getting the proper vaccinations that could possibly lead to their child dying of a completely preventable disease.
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