The Imperfect Community

[DietCokeHead]

Would you take your unvaxed kids to one in order to purposely get them infected with the CP?

I have a friend that brought her 3 young children to one a couple of days ago. I told her that I hoped her kids got mild cases since she was pretty much forcing it on them and she said that actually, if the got them too mildly, they wouldnt get immunity so they needed at least moderate cases of CP.

What do you think about this? I remember having CP and it was horrible!! I had the sores everywhere.

[Jessica]

I think it's extremely cruel and sad. If you're not going to vax against it (and I haven't really heard a good argument for not vaxing against it), then you should take your chances instead of making your children sick and hurting them.

[Scout]

I have read some pretty compelling evidence that the vaccine does not protect teens and older adults because it wears off, and also that the incidence of shingles in elderly people who have been vaccinated are extremely hig compared to those who have not received the vaccine. My kids have gotten the vaccine, but my ped assured me that there is going to be a booster soon.

I don't know, I can see a parent making a risk/benefits assessment and deciding that the perceived potential risks of vaccinating outweigh the relatively small benefit of skipping a non-life-threatening childhood illness. I know lots of people who do this, but FWIW I have seen them come back and say things like "I am kind of surprised she's this sick." I think we tend to forget what childhood illnesses were like because most of us had them young. I can remember how miserable I was with the mumps, but I don't remember the CP.

[Anthromomma]

Scheduling for your kids to be sick just seems kind of weird and mean to me. I can understand the parent rationale here, especially since the prevalence of the CP vaccine makes it a lot less likely that an unvaxed kid would catch CP normally. Still, it is definitely not a choice that I would make myself.

This is not a new thing though-- I had the chicken pox in kindergarten (caught from a cousin) and my mom got something like a dozen phone calls from other parents who wanted their kids to come over and 'play.' My mom was horrified, but apparently it was pretty common in my hometown at the time.

[Petulant Pixie]

Well, if you aren't going to vax for it, then you need to make sure your kids get immunity to it somehow, and the cases are generally milder in children than in adults, and smaller kids have an easier time being sick than school age kids (who would have to catch up on missed school work, etc.). So, I *can* see the rationale behind it, and I don't really see it as being mean.

Alex had the vaccine and caught the chicken pox when he was 4, so we know his immunity is good. Katie caught the chicken pox from Alex when she was 11 months old, before she could get the vaccine. Liz had the vaccine at her 15 month check up, but if she doesn't get the actually disease, then I'll get her a titer when she's a teen to make sure she's immune and if not, she'll need a booster.

[mammaX3_MOD]

My sister, brother and I had the CP when we were kids. Then my sis got her son the vax and he still got them, TWICE! And she caught it both times from her son, too, for a total of 3 times for her! Go figure!
P.S. I just wouldn't feel right purposly letting my kiddos get sick.

[honeybee]

I'd take my kids to a pox party and be happy to do it. Owen has not had the vax and I will hold off for a couple years still hoping for him to get CP.

Everyone needs to be informed and make their own risk analysis for their kids. I feel that getting CP and aquiring natural immunity is better for them than getting a vax that is not without its own risks (a friend of mine had her 18mo son vaxed for CP and he ended up with huge open lesions all over his body that lasted 3 weeks, he was in terrible unbearable pain and there was nothing that could treat him from that -- much more cruel than pox, imo) and it does not offer lasting immunity.

[snuffles]

I would most definitely take my boys to a CP party. Is it cruel? Absolutely not! Would I TELL my kids the purpose of the party, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Let them be kids and just be happy to have a party when it's not anyone's birthday.

When my son was old enough to get the CP vaccine, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of giving it to him. However, the doctor's used their "scare tactics" (my son was born with 2 holes in his heart) and told me he probably wouldn't be able to handle the CP (because of his heart) on his own without the vaccine. As a new mom their tactics worked on me. In less than 2 weeks, my son had a full blown case of CP, covered head to toe. He has now had CP every fall since he got the vaccine (Yes, I've taken him into the dr's and had him tested for it MANY times now!) and for whatever reason we seem to be able to pass it to eachother (Yes, I've ALSO gone in to be tested AND I already had it when I was seven, and a moderate case at that time too!) When I was pregnant with my other son, I actually got the CP in the first and last trimesters of my pregnancy, and when I didn't have it, my son did! Since the vaccine was introduced into our lives, it has been a yearly occurence. Now that my youngest is at the age for the vaccine, I REFUSE to give it to him! He's either immune because I had it when I was pregnant or will get it from his brother. (And I'm not sure how many of you know this but CP can be devastating to a fetus! If you get chicken pox during the first half of pregnancy, there's a slight risk that your baby will get something called congenital varicella syndrome. This condition is characterized by birth defects, including skin scarring, malformed limbs, an abnormally small head, vision or hearing problems, and motor or mental developmental disabilities. A baby with congenital varicella syndrome may also suffer poor growth in utero.)

Chickenpox is a childhood "right-of-passage" that in many cases is non-lethal. Sure, it sucks, but it's a natural part of childhood. So would I take my son to a CP party? You bet your calamine lotion I would! And in fact, I think it's being hosted at my house this year!

[Jessica]