I remember getting chickenpox as a child in the early ’80s. Due to the highly infectious nature of chickenpox, all the kids in the neighbourhood got it. None of our parents blinked an eyelash because they knew that chickenpox was a harmless disease if acquired during childhood with a very low risk of complications.
Before the introduction of the chickenpox vaccine in 1999 here in Canada, it was fairly common for parents to hold “chickenpox parties.” A chickenpox party involves the deliberate exposure of children infected with the chickenpox virus to other children who have not yet been exposed to the disease. Parents willingly expose their children to the disease in order to grant their children life-long immunity to chickenpox. These “chickenpox party” parents know that chickenpox is a mild disease if acquired during childhood, but infection is riskier when acquired by teens or adults.
What Changed?
Before the introduction of the vaccine, chickenpox (varicella) was considered by almost everyone to be a mild disease, and parents were not concerned if their children were infected with it. Now, most parents are horrified by the idea of chickenpox parties. So what’s changed?
Relatively Benign Disease in Childhood Becomes Risky in Adulthood
In general, complications as well as fatalities from chickenpox are more commonly observed in adults than in children. Case-fatality ratios (deaths per 100 000 cases) in healthy adults are 30-40 times higher than among children aged 5-9 (WHO). Each year from 1990 to 1994, prior to the availability of varicella vaccine, about 4 million cases of chickenpox occurred in the United States. Of these cases approximately 10,000 required hospitalization and 100 died. After the introduction of the vaccine in 1995, overall US chickenpox deaths plummeted to 66 per year in 2001 and hospitalizations declined significantly. However, death rates from chickenpox did not decline for those aged 50 or older (NEJM).
A Decrease in Chickenpox Infection Leads to an Increase in Shingles
Shingles (herpes zoster) is a debilitating, painful skin rash acquired in adulthood. After a child has been exposed to the chickenpox virus, the virus remains latent in the body. The varicella virus can later be reactivated as shingles later in life. If the varicella virus infects the nerve cells, it can cause an extremely painful condition called postherpetic neuralgia. Nerve pain caused by postherpetic neuralgia can last for months and in some cases even years. Approximately 200,000 adult Americans are afflicted with postherpetic neuralgia every year.
There is scientific evidence that adults who are regularly exposed to children infected with the chickenpox virus have increased protection against the shingles (Thomas). Thus, natural exposure to the chickenpox virus boosts adults’ immunity against shingles, acting like a natural shingles vaccine. Since chickenpox infection rates are now so low in Canada and the US, chances of adult exposure to the virus is also low, thus scientists expect an eventual shingles epidemic to emerge in the coming years (Brisson).
Since the beginning of the mass chickenpox vaccination campaign in the US, deaths and hospitalizations did decrease, but studies also showed that shingles increased over that same time period (Yih; Mullooly). A recent MacLeans article quotes several scientists who admit that more varicella vaccine coverage has already sparked an increase in shingles in Canada and the US, plus it is shifting shingles incidence to a younger population.
Introducing the Shingles Vaccine
Merck, the manufacturer of the varicella vaccine, is forcing a shingles epidemic on the American (and Canadian) population. But they cleverly “fixed” the problem that they created when they invented a vaccine for shingles in 2007. Now they are trying to push the shingles vaccine on the elderly population of North America.
What Next?
The chickenpox vaccine is decreasing the incidence of a mild disease, and in exchange is increasing the incidence of a more debilitating disease: shingles. Now what? Once the entire elderly population starts vaccinating against shingles, what new problem will that create?
Time to Bring Back Pox Parties
Big Pharma companies like Merck have profits, not your health, in mind. It’s time to take your family’s health into your own hands. Have a pox party. Build your child’s immunity naturally instead of relying on vaccines. Adults should attend these parties as well because natural exposure to the chickenpox virus boosts their immunity to shingles.
Organize a Chickenpox Party in Vancouver
Try starting a group to organize chicken pox parties in your local area.
Still concerned about the chickenpox? Read about homeoprophylaxis, a natural way to boost the immune system.
Enjoy this article? You might enjoy this one as well: Fear the MMR Vaccine, Not the Measles
References
Belluz, Julia. “Why are ever-younger adults contracting shingles? No longer just a disease of the elderly.” MacLeans. August 16, 2010.
Brisson M, Gay NJ, Edmunds WJ, Andrews NJ. Exposure to varicella boosts immunity to herpes-zoster: implications for mass vaccination against chickenpox. Vaccine. 2002 Jun 7;20(19-20):2500-7.
4 thoughts on “Chickenpox Parties Need to Make a Comeback”
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I took my daughter to several “Pox Parties” when she was young, but she never contracted the disease. I finally gave up when she turned 12 and got her vaccinated, because I didn’t want her to suffer the disease as a teen or adult.
I would indeed have preferred her to become inoculated against CP naturally, but it simply didn’t happen. Please refrain from trying to guilt trip me (and others like me) who are doing, and have done, the best we could. Attending a party is no guarantee of infection!
Hello Mary. Thanks for your comment. You did everything possible to try to infect your child. Obviously there is nothing for you to feel guilty about. Teens who have not contracted chickenpox should get the vaccine to be safe. I lean towards homeopathic protection. Like I said, you did everything you could do, and there is no reason to feel guilty.
My husband was like your daughter. Despite repeated exposures he just never got chickenpox. He tested negative to having the antibodies and has to be immunized every so many years. You did what every parent should do, tried to do the natural and safe thing first and when that failed looked to western medicine. That isn’t a reason for guilt, it’s just good parenting. I didn’t get a sense from the article that you were the target of a guilt trip, rather Merck and those pushing the vaccine before children even have the chance to develop the antibodies naturally. They are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves.