We talked a long time ago about this American custom of organizing meetings between children with the purpose of exposing them to different viruses so that, in this way, they can be immunized at very early ages.
This was commonplace more than 20 years ago, when there was still no chickenpox vaccine. Today they make no sense because we can protect them with a single injection, but some parents continue to organize these "chicken pox parties" and announce them on Facebook, as the American TV network has reported. News 13.
In Babies and more Welcome to the chickenpox party A dangerous fashion
We thought that the fury of these “chickenpox party” would be temporary and that it would disappear, but it is clearly not the case. The television channel News 9, denounces that parents of the state of Colorado (USA) continue to organize them, and very often.
The frequency has been so high that the Colorado Department of Health has had to raise its voice and remind parents that Chickenpox can be a serious infection, especially for babies, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.
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And these meetings are so popular in the area that the organizers have rejected requests alleging that "we are overwhelmed":
"I have been flooded with requests for my daughter to share chicken pox, and I will try to accept as many as possible."
This was explained by a mother in a Facebook post, which had already been shared almost 700 times, when News 9 made it known.
The curious thing is that there were comments to the publication of the news network, for all tastes.
While some wrote:
"I do not see what the problem is. I did this when I was a child. It is not new or crazy. Exposing children to non-dangerous viruses simply strengthens their immune system and makes them stronger. ”
Others reacted with:
“Oh, for the love of God. This should be considered child abuse. ”
But the thing is not there: some parents are willing to drive hours and even to different states to put their children in the same room as an infected person.
There are even those share strategies on Facebook to better spread the infection, such as living in tents or sharing a small, enclosed space with an infected child who has exhaled in the air for 20-30 minutes.
In Xataka A holiday and forty recovery: chickenpox parties are reluctant to disappear even in countries with epidemics And what about those who can not attend one of these parties to 'immunize their children' choose to be sent infectious materials by postal mail. With the help of infected candies or clothing, healthy children are intended to be immunized from the disease naturally.
The reason for these infections in groups
The idea of infecting children with a childhood illness is not new. For years there have been "immunization parties" of chickenpox, but also of measles and other infectious viruses.
In fact, outbreaks of these diseases that were believed eradicated continue to alarm the population and claim innocent victims.
In Babies and more Measles parties, shouldn't they be banned?Chickenpox parties became widespread in the 1980s in the United States with the same idea: if my child is infected as soon as possible, the worst is over and will not have serious consequences later.
In addition, theoretically, having the whole family sick at the same time meant less loss of productivity, less absence from work and class absences.
Chickenpox is a disease that many of us with young children remember having. The vaccine against this disease is available since the mid-1990s, so those who were born before that time live the disease and what it implies in the best of cases: a long quarantine, two weeks of missed classes and, for our parents, some juggling to work and take care of ourselves.
And the issue worsened if you took it when you were older, already in adolescence, because the infection is stronger: a very high fever, which can even lead to delusions.
Luckily now There is a vaccine that protects 98 percent of the children who receive it and of course, also their schoolmates.
It can become a very serious disease
According to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), chickenpox is an infectious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus.
It can appear at any time of the year.
It is a classic childhood disease and, unless they get vaccinated, almost all children go through it before adolescence
It is very contagious, so that, when there is a sick person in the house, 80-90% of the people who live there and did not suffer it before end up contracting it.
It is transmitted by direct contact with skin lesions or through droplets of saliva that are expelled with cough or sneezing.
The sick are contagious approximately two days before the rash appears until all skin lesions have become scabs (about a week).
Some experts link chickenpox virus with a increased risk of stroke in children, rare but possible: it infects the large blood vessels in the brain and causes inflammation. Blood vessels can heal and decrease the blood supply to the brain, causing a stroke.
Only a few months ago we talked about the death of a baby for this reason, after being infected by his brothers, who were not vaccinated.
And in Spain?
There is no news of the existence of these "chicken pox or measles parties", although that does not mean they do not exist.
What is a reality, is that vaccination against chickenpox is recommended since 2000 by the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP). It is included in the calendar of vaccinations 2018 funded by Social Security.
In Babies and more Chickenpox vaccine: everything you need to knowIt is a disease that was considered eradicated and that surprises with specific regrowths, because parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children.
They are not aware that widespread vaccination protects children who cannot get vaccinated, either because they are under one year old or because they have immune system problems.
With all these facts, one must ask why there are parents who choose an intentional infection with unpredictable results instead of a vaccine that prevents or considerably limits the infection. But of course, the natural is always better, even if it means suffering from fever and blisters (at best).
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