Two Reasons Why Chickenpox is Important Right Now

There are two reasons why chickenpox is important right now. Both of which were brought to my attention by my school.

We have already heard members of ATS say "I'd expose myself or my kids to swine flu so that they can get it now. Before it mutates." or "So that they don't get it later."

There are strict warnings in place to prevent people from doing this. The first reason why chickenpox is important is that these "parties" that parents create so that their children become infected at a certain time (before school starts, before a vacation, whatever) are a horrible idea. Dr. Kevin says:

Some believe that natural immunity produces a higher level of antibodies, and thus, longer-lasting immunity. Which is true. However, they fail to realize the very real risks of natural immunity, such as encephalitis, hospitalization, and possibly, death.

Furthermore, there is the public health risk, since "other strains of the chickenpox epidemic can be passed around as children who are not protected against the virus mingle with one another."

Vaccines only work if everybody is protected. Those that hold out are in danger of putting others at risk of diseases that should have been eradicated.

Some people are attempting to treat swine flu epidemics the same as chickenpox outbreaks. This method should not be used for anyone, ever. With any disease.

The second reason why chickenpox is important I was unaware of until this past week. An email was sent around to parents of students in my school district saying "A student at the High School has chickenpox."

It was on the front page of the papers.

I thought to myself... "Um, it's chickenpox. Whatever." But then I remembered that as you get older, chickenpox can cause more severe symptoms. I realized that students my age have not been vaccinated. We all had the chickenpox, but many students such as myself had very mild cases. And it would be easy for the virus to come out of dormancy. Also, if it is a mutated strain, we could all get it again. In addition, most people who were vaccinated had it quite a number of years ago. The vaccines could have worn off.

So, beware swine flu. But apparently, also beware of chickenpox. Don't throw parties to get your children sick.

Have any of you ever heard of cases of chickenpox being on the front page of a newspaper before? What do you think?

Resources: www.kevinmd.com...

This is not front page or send letter home event!

I don't understand why a letter about chicken pox would be sent home in the same fashion as a kid having swine flu.

I knew people who had pox at my high school, back in 2002 and no letters were sent home then.

Has chicken pox mutated to a deadly disease or am I missing something

i had chicken pox when I was 27..i never thought of being dead was better than dealing with the misery..I wouldnt wish it to anyone..There was a few times I didnt think I was going to wake up..

Oh and dont be fooled that you cant get it twice..my wife had it whan she was little,so she didnt think of catching it..2-3 weeks later..back to the Doctor,bafled..

there is even a bigger risk of having BOTH the chicken pox and the flu at the same time!

Even the regular flu combined with chicken pox raises the chances HIGH of getting encephalitis.

My cousin had exactly this happen to her at 14 yrs old. She died.

So if schools in Flu areas are sending out warnings of chicken pox being reported in the same school, that is a GOOD thing.

I suppose that there must be a reason why it has made front page news here. I have no idea why. It seems like we're split between how dangerous it is.

Apparently the student who has it is recovering fine at home though. Just doesn't make much sense to me.