Would you purposefully expose your children to chicken pox? - Page 2

[mom to 3 boys]

Originally Posted by Chloebelle 

I'm SO glad my kids got CP. Thank-you to DH for getting Shingles ;)

I would give it a try. Better to get it now than later. As far as killing people, so has the common cold in certain cases. If your children have normal immune systems, I wouldn't worry about it. CP is not much fun though, so be prepared for some grumpy kiddos for a few days!

*edited for gammer :)

that was how my kids got it.  Even 3 (out of 6) of my vaccinated kids still broke out.   Not as bad, but they still had spots all over.   It was not as bad as even my mom made it out to be.  They are uncomfortable (about 4 and up) from scratching but otherwise, it was not bad at all.  My dd was born after the "outbreak" and if I can find another family with the pox, I will have a play date. :)

[Viola]

Originally Posted by Turquesa 

I had shingles at age 28.  I had no children and was unaware that there was even a chicken pox vaccine that nearly all children were getting.  The doctor who diagnosed me said it was due to "stress" because I was in grad school.    I'd had a nasty case of CP when I was 13, too.

I wonder how many more cases there are of young adults getting shingles. 

I will seriously board an airplane to get to a party.  Just name the time and place!

I believe that I got shingles when I was in my mid 20's...around 25.  I had a stressful life at the time and was sick all the time.  I got this weird cold sore on my head just above my eyebrow that just would not go away, I was treating it with some sort of cream, and it cracked and was red and fissured, and I had a headache in that part of my head for weeks.  It was scabbed over and there were these deep shooting pains both burning and itching in my head, and they made me dizzy.  I can't even describe it. In any event, I thought it was shingles, but I had only one lesion, so I decided it couldn't be.  It took two months to go away, and I worked in retail and never took any time off, never went to the doctor, so if it was shingles, I probably infected many people.  It left a noticeable scar on my head too.  

Anyway, I'm hoping that was a mild case of shingles and I don't get them again, but I guess shingles are common in the elderly.  I had chicken pox when I was about 6, I think.

[craft_media_hero]

Yes, I definitely would at those ages if they are otherwise healthy with good immune systems.

[ssun5]

Thankfully, my son got it at 5 years old from a vaxed kid at a playground. I was all prepared for it but he only came down with a bad fever for 2 days and broke out with a total of 4 spots.

Last year again in my home school group, a vaxed kid came to the park (without knowing he had it) and got a really really bad case of it, passed it to other kids in the group. Of the 20 kids he saw that day, 7 other (fully vaxed) kids got it-.

My daughter who was 6 got it and my son didn't.

Again, my daughter just came down with a bad fever for 2 days and then only had 3 spots. 

I do assume that our lifestyle of good food with strong immune systems helped both of my kids get it and CP end up being super easy. (not saying this is an absolute, but I do know it always helps!)

I did at first wonder what would happen if my son was around it again-with the thought, that his CP was way to easy, I wonder if it really did give him immunity! Apparently it did. My son was also the one who was most around and all over playing with the infected friend.

One day I hope the same thing happens to my new little one! (just not yet!)

DS 11

DD 6

DD 6 months

[1love4ever]

I would absolutely expose my kids to it.  Some nationalities do not do well with chicken pox, those from countries that have never even heard of it.  But, if you are in a country where it is a fairly common thing, then yes I would.  I do not vaccinate and I believe that vaccines can cause a lot of harm and are not always/maybe never effective, so I would not take the risk of vaccinating for something so small and non-life threatening knowing that it probably wont even be effective.

The article that ma2two posted is great by the way, I highly recommend it!!  http://www.whale.to/vaccine/wimer.html 

Edited by 1love4ever - 9/7/11 at 12:59am

[rik8144]

Yes I would. I am hoping to find the pox before April when the new baby is due. My son has never had a vax and my daughter was a victim of my ignorance and got hers up to a year. I hope she can gain some sort of natural immunity by getting the pox.

[fertich]

It's hard to find other kids with pox.  Has anyone considered exposing your children to an older person with shingles in order to catch chicken pox?  From what I read, people can catch chicken pox from exposure to someone with shingles.
 

[draigunfly]

I would and did! We went to a CP party 2wks ago. I'm still waiting to see if it took, fingers crossed, but if not, i'll look for another outbreak of CP to expose him to. I think it's much to risky to get CP as a person gets older, it's better if they get it now! My son is not vaccinated by the way!

[Chickapea]

I would purposely infect my children with the pox via pox party if I had to do it over again. I write this to you as my 18 year old who received her first vaccination in 2001 sits infected on my couch. Her case was much worse as a young adult than if I had exposed her as a smaller child. This vaccine is bogus, and now, seemingly to me, just another way for pharma companies to not only make money off of the vaccination, but also the booster (that is only good for 10 years btw) , plus the doctor visit to certify that it was indeed pox, along with the benadryl, tylenol, and hydrocortizone I had to buy in addition to the anti-viral medication that the doctor called in because she was breaking out so fast and so bad. It actually scared me. I have three other children who are younger and am praying that they get it too.

The argument against it, I know secondary infections and complications are possible, but not as many as experiencing it as an adult or older child.

[kellib]

I tried as well, without success. We did physical contact and lollipops to no avail. I'm frustrated and hope to try again next year but not terribly optimistic as it is so incredibly rare around here. Plus, it seems most of the forums where I would learn about it block any type of post re cp parties. sigh.

[grumpybear]

I selectively vax and I would purposely expose my kiddos to CP because the only other option would be to purposely expose them to the vaccine (if they don't get it by a certain age), if that makes sense.

Fortunately, my son got it the 1st month or so that he was in Kindergarten, then DD a few weeks after. A few of our friends tried really hard to get it from him (straws, water, spoons) to no avail. Which makes me really wonder what the heck do children do at school?! LOL

And also, we really lucked out with it because my kids looked totally fine except for a low grade fever and the occasional itchies. They weren't even grumpy. If that's how CP is, I'd take CP over a cold, any given day.

[Asiago]

To those members whose kids did not seem to contract varicella from being exposed perhaps a titer will help. It is possible that they acquired antibodies but their immune system fought off clinical infection.

Edited by Asiago - 12/9/11 at 5:01pm

[Peony]

I exposed my two girls on purpose several years ago. It was nothing. We have had numerous colds that were worse then CP! I haven't heard of it in my area since, until this week. My friend just exposed her three DC and I am desperately hoping one at least gets it so I can take my two boys over there. My little one is still a baby and while I won't purposely expose him, I will the older one and if the little one gets it, he gets it. Otherwise at least I can cross another child off my list...