Anyone Want to Play Chicken...Pox?

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Anyone Want to Play Chicken...Pox?

Friday, November 30, 2007

filed under: health logic

Spice Girl spawn swap childhood virus.

People is reporting that "Ginger Spice" Geri Halliwell's 18-month-old daughter, Bluebell, caught chicken pox from "Posh Spice" Victoria Beckham's son Cruz. On the Spice Girls blog, Ginger suggests the outbreak was inevitable since all the Spice Kids hang out together while the girls rehearse. Girl Power can overcome most anything, but apparently not the rapid spread of the chicken pox virus.

Some parents throw "chicken pox parties" while their kids are infected so that other kids can contract the virus (thereby avoid the need for the chicken pox vaccine). But, pediatrician and friend of Mom•Logic Dr. Gwenn thinks pox parties are a bad idea. "Touching a kid's oozy lesions exposes your kid to a big viral load," she warns. "If your child does contract the virus this way, their chicken pox might be more severe and come with more complications." She says "natural" chicken pox (chicken pox in unvaccinated children) is typically more extreme. Cases can last up to two weeks, and side effects may include vertigo, brain swelling, pneumonia, encephalitis, or even death. "If kids get the vaccine and then get chicken pox," Dr. Gwenn says, "Their case will likely be more mild and be much less of a shock to the system. The virus usually only lasts two to three days, and kids typically get fewer lesions."

filed under: health logic

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I would disagree. I had my daughter vaccinated and she later had an extreme case of chicken pox. In her mouth and throat, private areas..everywhere imaginable. It definitely lasted much longer than a few days and she has scars from some of the lesions on her back and shoulders. The vaccine was totally ineffective in my opinion.

- Jessica

Posted 11/30/07 04:03 PM

my vaccinated daughter has a very mild case of pox right now. no fever or lesions, but rather itchy bumps. while this is great for now, rather than dealing with full blown chickenpox, i worry that her immunity will not be as complete, and she may run the danger of full blown pox when she’s older, which is much more serious.

- Tonya LAMM

Posted 12/14/07 11:07 AM

- Tonya LAMM

Posted 12/14/07 11:08 AM

I disagree as well. The statement that the children are exposed to more virus is silly. Once the virus has invaded the host, the amount of virus is irrelevant, as the virus is self-replicating. The vaccine is only effective for five (5) years, and I am seeing cases now where children with the vaccine still get the chicken pox. It is better to have it when they are young, and get lifelong immunity, than avoid it and run into it as an adult, when the prognosis can be much worse.

- Anthony

Posted 05/19/08 02:27 PM

I think this article is skipping something very important. Like shingles! You get chicken pox the first time, but if you contract the virus again, you can get shingles. One of my friends cousins got shingles at nine years old, because he had got the vaccination as a baby. Nine years olds should not have shingles, it’s a lot worse than the chicken pox. We are over vaccinating our children, and it’s just making us less healthy and paranoid. I got the cervical cancer shots last year, and my immune system has been damaged by it. I used to get sick once a year. ONCE. I never throw up, and I’m generally just very healthy. I got that shot, and I got sick five times since (in one year), and have been feeling nauseous lately. Not a fun feeling.

- Charlotte

Posted 01/25/10 07:45 AM