Children Vaccines

[Haggis@wk]

Genius Parents Are Organizing ‘Pox Parties’ on Facebook.

“CBS 5 KPHO in Phoenix reported on the extremely gross, not to mention dangerous, shipping of infected lollipops, Q-tips and rags enclosed in nothing more than a zip lock baggie and an envelope. Which means that these irrational mothers, who despite gobs of research that says vaccines are not associated with Autism (which is often the reason parents give for not vaccinating, though some kids might be allergic), are endangering anyone who might come in contact with the infectious contraband.”

Disclosure here. I recall my mother deliberately exposing me to Chicken Pox (I think) when I was young but she didn’t have decades of evidence plus there was no vaccine in the 50’s and getting over it in childhood was considered safer. How about you Shapley?? Did your mother deliberately expose you as a kid???

Related: Confirmed Whooping Cough Cases In Bozeman Nearly Double In 24 Hour Span.

[DavidS]

Did your mother deliberately expose you as a kid???

On the contrary: When my sister got the measles as a child I was sent away to my grandma's for two weeks to keep me from catching it...but it didn't help, and I also came down with measles after my sister recovered.
Oh, and I never caught chicken pox, although I am sure I was exposed to it several times, including when my daughter had it.

[Giant Communist Robot]

My mother deliberately exposed me to chicken pox, but I never came down with it. This was back in the 1950's.

[Shapley]

How about you Shapley?? Did your mother deliberately expose you as a kid???

I don't think so, but it wasn't needed. There were three of us born within a three year span, and we all shared a room. Once one of us caught it, we all did. No intentional exposure was needed. As I understand it, Chicken Pox becomes contagious hours or days before the actual pox appears, so it is, or was, usually unintentionally transmitted at school or on the playground by children who have it but do not yet show the symptoms.

My youngest brother, who was seven years behind me, did not catch them until he was an adult. There would have been ample opportunities to expose him when he was young, but my parents did not. That leads me to believe that they would not have intentionally exposed the rest of us, either.

As I understand it, Chicken Pox in children are relatively benign - they cause few complications when caught young. When they are contracted in adulthood, they can lead to more serious issues, sterility being one of the most commonly reported. This was the reason given for the intentional exposure.

[dai bread]

Towards the end of my Private Pianist's final school year, the school choir was performing in a fairly major concert and she was the accompanist. She was really looking forward to it, and it would have looked good on her CV.

She got chicken pox. No concert, nothing for the CV. She was laid up for a week. It might have been more.

Her mother had deliberately kept her away from chicken pox when she was young. Luckily, there wasn't any scarring. She was a pretty woman.

[Shapley]

My stepson, because of the generally isolated life he led, did not contract them as a child. My son contracted them when he was in grade school, and my stepson contracted them a short while later. He was in his twenties at the time. He had to be hospitalized, in an isolation ward.

[Schmeelkie]

someone I know reposted this on FB...
I understand the intentional exposure when there is no vaccine, but as the vaccine is so much safer and you don't actually get the disease - why the heck would do the exposure? Especially for the more dangerous diseases? My son is 8 now and still hates getting his flu shot, and poor Bella starts crying before we even get in the room, but I'd much rather have an hour's worth of unhappy kid, than a week's worth of debilitating illness! With Bella's reactive asthma (and I'm thinking exercise-induced now too...), and the fact that husband CAN'T get the flu shot, I'm diligent that the kids and I get shots every year. The chances of side-effects from vaccines are so much smaller than the chance of morbidity/mortality from the actual disease, that it makes sense to go with the vaccines. It's just logical.