My 4-year-old daughter’s classmate has chicken pox, and her mother invited my daughter over for a “pox party.” My daughter received her first chicken pox vaccine when she was a year old, and is scheduled to get her second vaccine in the next several months. I always make sure to keep up with her booster schedule, but it’s just chicken pox! I had it, and everyone I knew growing up had it. Plus, I would rather she get it now, rather than as an adult, when it can be more dangerous. How should I respond to this invitation?
Many parents of young children remember a time when getting chicken pox was just a routine part of childhood. However, this is no longer the case. The vaccination for varicella, the virus that causes chicken pox, was introduced in 1995, and since then, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of cases that occur each year. Two doses of the vaccine are 98-percent effective at preventing chicken pox. Under no circumstances should you bring your daughter to a “pox party.”
Just because chicken pox once was common does not mean it was safe. Of the four million cases per year reported before the varicella vaccine became available, more than 10,500 required hospitalization and more than 100 were fatal. Although the classic symptoms — fever and headache, followed by itchy blisters that can spread throughout the body — often resolve within approximately one week, serious complications can arise.
While relatively rare in children, these potential complications include bacterial infection of the skin, pneumonia, and encephalitis (swelling of the brain).
As you noted in your question, the common wisdom prior to the development of the vaccine was that it was better to get chicken pox over with in early childhood instead of risking developing it as an adult, when the chance of serious problems increase. However, this is no longer a necessary consideration. As long as your daughter receives her second dose of the vaccine according to her booster schedule, it is very unlikely she will have to experience chicken pox at all.
What your daughter’s classmate’s mother is doing is not just misguided, it is also dangerous. It is likely that many children in the class have not yet received their second vaccine, and are therefore not yet fully immunized. If an outbreak occurred in the class, the disease could then potentially spread to those who are at highest risk for severe complications, such as pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, or elderly people.
There is a possibility that your daughter’s classmate may not be receiving vaccines or booster shots. This is something that needs to be brought to the school’s attention immediately. The vaccine schedule exists as it does to maximize your child’s immunity to diseases that were once commonplace and devastating. Chicken pox is going the way of polio and measles, and will continue to do so as long as parents are diligent about their children’s vaccinations. Although there are some who resist the idea of vaccinating children, vaccines are safe and necessary.
