A POX at Your House Chickenpox parties are an old-school method to expose kids to the disease, but are they safe alternatives natural, lifelong immunity. Web sites such as diyfather.com or to an effective vaccine? “Chickenpox is a normal child- mothering.com give tips on how to by Sarah McCoy hood illness and I would rather not host a pox party with as much gusto vaccinate against a relatively minor as a birthday bash. sickness that will give permanent im- Parents who choose to enlist their Chickenpox parties are meant to munity,” says Jessica DelBalzo, moth- children in such parties claim they’ve be unsanitary. Children swap whis- er of two children, ages 2 and 6, who done their homework, weighed the tles, cups, lollipops and are encour- is desperately seeking a chickenpox risks and benefi ts, and made a thought- aged to cough without covering their party in Flemington, N.J. ful choice. mouths. The goal is to ensure every- Statistics on such parties are dif- Still, many in the medical commu- one gets some quality time with the fi cult to fi nd, but according to a nity shake their heads at such ideas. guest of honor, the varicella zoster vi- study done by the American Acade- “If parents came into my offi ce and rus, which lives in airborne respirato- my of Pediatricians, the chickenpox said they were going to a chickenpox ry droplets and is highly contagious. vaccine is the second most refused party, I would tell them that they were Parents who are more afraid of by parents, behind only the mea- putting their child’s life in danger,” says exposing their children to vaccines sles, mumps and rubella. Chicken- Dr. David Kimberlin, a member of the than the virus hope their children pox parties have been portrayed on AAP. “We have a safe and effective al- will get sick, recover and enjoy a The Simpsons and South Park, and ternative in the chickenpox vaccine. SCHOOL DAYS theria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP); hepa- allergies to the vaccines or who are im- Before Billy and Suzy begin tallying titis A and B; measles, mumps and rubella munocompromised. Forty-eight states (ex- As and Bs to their academic records, (MMR); haemophilus infl uenzae (Hib); polio; cluding Mississippi and West Virginia) they’ve got to have DTaP, Hep A and B, and chickenpox (varicella). A few states re- allow religious exemption and 15 offer and MMR on their shot records. quire the pneumococcal and/or meningo- philosophical exemption. Each state has its own immunization coccal for college students. The CDC provides a complete list of requirements for school children, but the There are exemptions, however. All states requirements and documentation neces- most common vaccinations include diph- offer medical exemptions for individuals with sary for each state at cdc.gov. February 2009 have been prevented as have 95 per- cent of severe infections, such as VACCINE pneumonia and encephalitis. Before NATION the vaccine, about 4 million people in the U.S. caught the illness annual- ly, with about 10,600 of them being Vaccines have become a hospitalized and 100 to 150 dying. hotbed of contention with many Skeptical parents worry that the parents asking: Are we overvac- vaccine will not produce permanent im- cinating our children? munity from wild strains of the virus. Before the advent of vac- According to the AAP, parents are most cines, childhood was a perilous concerned about the chickenpox vac- time—measles, polio, smallpox, cine, but in general are concerned that and whooping cough struck al- vaccines weaken the immune system most every household. These and cause developmental disabilities. diseases are nearly eradicated Granted, there are possible side ef- today, mostly thanks to our na- fects. Generally, they include a slight fe- tional vaccination program. ver, soreness or swelling at the injection Currently, the Centers for Dis- site and a mild rash. However, the Vac- ease Control and Prevention rec- cine Adverse Event Reporting System ommends children (birth through “Chickenpox has associat- fi nds that about 4 percent of chicken- age 18) receive approximately ed with it mortality and morbidi- pox vaccinations induced serious reac- 56 to 68 doses of about 13 dif- ty. When you have lesions on your tions, such as seizure, pneumonia and ferent vaccines. Many parents skin, you’re more open to skin in- neurological problems. As for a lifelong are afraid this exposure is caus- fections like the fl esh-eating bacteria immunity, the rates are equal for catch- ing autism and other long-lasting or methicillin-resistant staphylococ- ing breakthrough chickenpox whether neurological side effects. cus aureus (MRSA). So even if your the person was vaccinated or caught a Dr. David Kimberlin, a mem- child doesn’t die, there’s a risk that wild strain of the virus. ber of the American Academy they might have permanent disfi gu- However, concerned parents have of Pediatrics Division of Pediat- ration from a bacterial infection of an advocate in Barbara Loe Fisher. ric Infectious Diseases, says he the skin that was made vulnerable The president and co-founder of believes these concerns are un- by the chickenpox lesions.” the National Vaccine Information Cen- founded: “Vaccines do not cause Typically, a child with chicken- ter says: “Mass use of chickenpox vac- autism. People are hearing the pox endures a fever, headache and cine by children in America has driven zealots more than they’re hear- about 300 lesions that are incred- chickenpox out of the child population, ing the proven medical facts. ibly itchy. The sickness lasts about where it was mild and self-limiting, and Vaccines prevent diseases that fi ve to 10 days. (All aspirin products created increases in adult shingles...In used to kill millions of children.” are to be avoided as they could cause addition, it is unknown how two doses Barbara Loe Fisher, co-found- Reye’s syndrome.) The AAP recom- of another live virus vaccine has inter- er and president of the Nation- mends the fi rst dose of the chicken- acted with the dozens of other vaccines al Vaccine Information Center, pox vaccine be administered at 12 given to children and contributed to an hopes that research will shed to 15 months of age and a booster increasing number of children develop- more light. She says the ques- dose at 4 to 6 years of age. ing chronic immune and brain system tion “can only be answered with A recent study by the Centers problems.” large, case-controlled prospec- for Disease Control and Prevention She urges parents to inform them- tive studies spanning several de- shows that since the vaccine’s release selves and discuss their family medi- cades to compare the long-term in 1995 the mortality rate in children cal history with trusted health care health of highly vaccinated and ages 1 to 9 has declined 90 percent; providers before making a vaccina- unvaccinated individuals.” 85 percent of general pox infections tion decision. February 2009 .