Recently, a social phenomenon known as a "pox party" has started to gain traction in the general public in the U.S. A "pox party" is a party held by parents for the purpose of infecting their children with childhood diseases, including chickenpox. Similar ideas were associated with other diseases, e.g. measles or smallpox, but are now discouraged by doctors and health services due to the risk of serious injury or death from acquiring the disease. What logic drives these "pox parties?" The reasoning behind such parties is that party guests exposed to the varicella virus will contract the disease and develop strong and persistent immunity at an early age, before getting really sick later, particularly from chickenpox or rubella. This is, of course, irrational and lunatic.
It is reported that some parents, not living nearby to a set of neighbors holding a "pox party," in trying to avoid giving their kids the chickenpox vaccine, were offering payment to people to send them lollipops licked by kids infected with chickenpox. A Nashville, TN TV station reported a story about a woman selling lollipops licked by her children, who were infected with chickenpox. People would spend $50 to get their hands on these lollipops, and they would be mailed them, infected with VZV and bacteria. In effect, these rogue parents had created a new vector for the chickenpox virus. Mailing these infected lollipops is illegal since it violates federal law governing use of the U.S. Postal Service to transmit infectious substances. Frighteningly, what many people think is a "trivial" illness in fact exposes them to serious organisms including MRSA and flesh-eating strep, in addition to the Varicella virus.
In 1974, in a stunning medical advance, a chickenpox vaccine for was developed by Michiaki Takahashi. The Varicella vaccine is an attenuated live virus that protects against the VZV viral disease. Adopted first in 1988 in Japan, it has been available in the U.S. since 1995 to inoculate against chickenpox. Protection from one dose is not lifelong, and a second dose is necessary five years after the initial immunization, which is currently part of the routine immunization schedule in the US. Chickenpox vaccine is marketed under the name "Varivax" in the U.S. by Merck.
The vaccine is suited for all children under 13 and for everyone 13 or older who has never been exposed to chickenpox. Two doses are always recommended. Normally, a first dose is administered at 12 to 15 months and a second dose at age 4-6 years. For people over the age of 13 the two doses are administered 4 to 8 weeks apart.
Chickenpox is an airborne disease spread easily through coughing or sneezing of infected children, or by direct contact with secretions from the rash on an infected child. A person suffering from chickenpox is infectious one to two days before the rash appears. The contagious period then continues for 4 to 5 days after the first appearance of the rash, or until all lesions have crusted over. Research result has shown that chickenpox is caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), a herpes virus.
Most often, this initial episode of chickenpox occurs in childhood. Additionally, however, a common late complication of chickenpox is shingles, caused by reactivation of the Varicella Zoster virus, sometimes occurring decades after the initial episode of chickenpox. Finally, in a small fraction of shingles cases, post-herpetic neuralgia can develop, mainly in the elderly, which is extremely painful and very troublesome to handle.
Varicella zoster virus is nothing to toy with. Not only can permanent scarring occur, but also pneumonia, encephalitis, possible brain damage and later, shingles may develop. What responsible parent would want to inflict this potential harm to their child?
This vaccine is exceedingly safe: approximately 5% of children who receive the vaccine develop a fever or rash, but as of 2006, there have been NO DEATHS yet attributable to the vaccine, despite more than 40 million doses being administered. Compare this with 100 deaths PER YEAR before the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine. According to the CDC, before the vaccine, 11,000 people were hospitalized each year from chickenpox. This vaccine is a remarkable medical advance, which promises to lift this scourge permanently from mankind.
This much is known about how to contain chickenpox, using the chickenpox vaccine. Varivax is a tried and proven vaccine, and given routinely and effectively every year to millions of children and adults. There's additionally a final reason for kids to get the chickenpox vaccine: prevent shingles. The chickenpox virus is a herpes virus that stays in the body for life. And, when VZV gets reactivated, a person gets shingles, and possibly post-herpetic neuralgia as a complication. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that childhood chickenpox vaccination prevents adult shingles.
The Internet is feeding this irrational phenomenon. Some Facebook pages advertise "Find a Pox Party Near You." Parents can join a Facebook group and can either link up with those arranging a "pox party" or arrange to purchase a chickenpox-infected lollipop.
The only possible reason to attend a "pox party" or purchase a chickenpox lollipop is a belief that all government-sanctioned vaccines are a plot to conduct some evil purpose. People who believe in these alternatives are either extremely paranoid about government intentions or just plain irrational. The title refers to 1348 AD, the year the Black Death arrived in Europe.
We live in a golden age of mankind, where the scourge of varicella Zoster virus is finally being eradicated. This virus has be-deviled mankind for hundreds of thousands of years. To stray away from a brilliant advance in chickenpox treatment is just plain wrong-headed and counter-productive. Worse, parents who participate in a "pox party" are potentially subjecting their children to serious medical harm.
It is reported that some parents, not living nearby to a set of neighbors holding a "pox party," in trying to avoid giving their kids the chickenpox vaccine, were offering payment to people to send them lollipops licked by kids infected with chickenpox. A Nashville, TN TV station reported a story about a woman selling lollipops licked by her children, who were infected with chickenpox. People would spend $50 to get their hands on these lollipops, and they would be mailed them, infected with VZV and bacteria. In effect, these rogue parents had created a new vector for the chickenpox virus. Mailing these infected lollipops is illegal since it violates federal law governing use of the U.S. Postal Service to transmit infectious substances. Frighteningly, what many people think is a "trivial" illness in fact exposes them to serious organisms including MRSA and flesh-eating strep, in addition to the Varicella virus.
In 1974, in a stunning medical advance, a chickenpox vaccine for was developed by Michiaki Takahashi. The Varicella vaccine is an attenuated live virus that protects against the VZV viral disease. Adopted first in 1988 in Japan, it has been available in the U.S. since 1995 to inoculate against chickenpox. Protection from one dose is not lifelong, and a second dose is necessary five years after the initial immunization, which is currently part of the routine immunization schedule in the US. Chickenpox vaccine is marketed under the name "Varivax" in the U.S. by Merck.
The vaccine is suited for all children under 13 and for everyone 13 or older who has never been exposed to chickenpox. Two doses are always recommended. Normally, a first dose is administered at 12 to 15 months and a second dose at age 4-6 years. For people over the age of 13 the two doses are administered 4 to 8 weeks apart.
Chickenpox is an airborne disease spread easily through coughing or sneezing of infected children, or by direct contact with secretions from the rash on an infected child. A person suffering from chickenpox is infectious one to two days before the rash appears. The contagious period then continues for 4 to 5 days after the first appearance of the rash, or until all lesions have crusted over. Research result has shown that chickenpox is caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV), a herpes virus.
Most often, this initial episode of chickenpox occurs in childhood. Additionally, however, a common late complication of chickenpox is shingles, caused by reactivation of the Varicella Zoster virus, sometimes occurring decades after the initial episode of chickenpox. Finally, in a small fraction of shingles cases, post-herpetic neuralgia can develop, mainly in the elderly, which is extremely painful and very troublesome to handle.
Varicella zoster virus is nothing to toy with. Not only can permanent scarring occur, but also pneumonia, encephalitis, possible brain damage and later, shingles may develop. What responsible parent would want to inflict this potential harm to their child?
This vaccine is exceedingly safe: approximately 5% of children who receive the vaccine develop a fever or rash, but as of 2006, there have been NO DEATHS yet attributable to the vaccine, despite more than 40 million doses being administered. Compare this with 100 deaths PER YEAR before the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine. According to the CDC, before the vaccine, 11,000 people were hospitalized each year from chickenpox. This vaccine is a remarkable medical advance, which promises to lift this scourge permanently from mankind.
This much is known about how to contain chickenpox, using the chickenpox vaccine. Varivax is a tried and proven vaccine, and given routinely and effectively every year to millions of children and adults. There's additionally a final reason for kids to get the chickenpox vaccine: prevent shingles. The chickenpox virus is a herpes virus that stays in the body for life. And, when VZV gets reactivated, a person gets shingles, and possibly post-herpetic neuralgia as a complication. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that childhood chickenpox vaccination prevents adult shingles.
The Internet is feeding this irrational phenomenon. Some Facebook pages advertise "Find a Pox Party Near You." Parents can join a Facebook group and can either link up with those arranging a "pox party" or arrange to purchase a chickenpox-infected lollipop.
The only possible reason to attend a "pox party" or purchase a chickenpox lollipop is a belief that all government-sanctioned vaccines are a plot to conduct some evil purpose. People who believe in these alternatives are either extremely paranoid about government intentions or just plain irrational. The title refers to 1348 AD, the year the Black Death arrived in Europe.
We live in a golden age of mankind, where the scourge of varicella Zoster virus is finally being eradicated. This virus has be-deviled mankind for hundreds of thousands of years. To stray away from a brilliant advance in chickenpox treatment is just plain wrong-headed and counter-productive. Worse, parents who participate in a "pox party" are potentially subjecting their children to serious medical harm.
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