How Times Have Changed: The 80s vs Now

Like it? Share it!

Facebook

Pinterest

Reddit

Twitter

Google+

Chickenpox Parties

Hawaii Nurses Continuing Education

This is one of the things we envy the kids of today: they will never have to go to a chickenpox party. Chickenpox used to be a rite of passage, as being exposed to this highly infectious disease at an early age was nearly inevitable. In pre-vaccine days, there were about 350,000 reported cases of chicken pox a year in Canada. Once the vaccine was developed, that number dropped down to about 1,500. Before the vaccine, some of our parents had us go to a chickenpox party. A chickenpox party is where parents intentionally expose their non-vaccinated kids to others who have the highly contagious virus, as it is more dangerous to get it in adulthood rather than childhood. Since the debut of the vaccine in 1998, long after we had the disease in our childhoods, the need to expose children to the disease tapered off. Despite however, health experts saying that the vaccine is highly effective and safe, some parents still choose to forgo this method and expose their children to chickenpox. Either through an old-fashioned infection party, or back in 2011, when parents bought chicken pox-infected lollipops to expose their kids to. The CDC has said, “It is not worth taking the chance of exposing your child to someone with the disease. The best way to protect infants and children against chickenpox is to get them vaccinated.”