S/O - chicken pox parties

[mcsangel2]

So, I have no kids but I am aware that there's been a CP vaccine around for awhile. There was some stuff in the other thread how there's a pretty obvious divide between people who vaccinate for it and people who deliberately expose their kids to it.

I'm 40, and when I was a kid, deliberately exposing other kids to someone who had CP was pretty common. I specifically remember an outbreak in my (really really) small parochial school in 1985-86. I had a couple of very young cousins at the time (1 and 2 yrs old), and I remember them being taken over to get exposed.

What was your experience with deliberate exposure (or not)? I had mine when I was 18 months old, so thankfully I don't remember it.

[mcsangel2]

Also, another cousin who is the same age I am, has no immune system and had CP twice as a kid and has shingles twice as an adult.

[basilosaurus]

Deliberate exposure before a vaccine was a good thing to ensure kids got it as kids when it's relatively safe. Despite many outbreaks in my childhood, I didn't get it until I was a teen, and not in America. My mom had turned down the vaccine a couple years earlier, and I never went to a party.

Where I was it was relatively isolated, and they hadn't had an outbreak in decades. So, of course it spread through pretty much everyone, and it was really rough on the adults.

We have a vaccine now, though, so there's no excuse.

[pamela]

Pretty much deliberate exposure in about 1990-ish (guestimating based on how old the youngest must have been). All the kids on the block got it at the same time. The idea was to get it at that age rather than older when it was believed to be more painful and possibly causing longer term problems.

[redheadbaker]

I was not deliberately exposed to it (as far as I know, my mom doesn't know who I contracted it from), but she deliberately exposed my younger brother to it, "to get it over with."

I think I was 8 and he was 5.

Oh, and she discovered it when we got home from my dancing school dress rehearsal, a few nights before the recital. The recital was a little sparse that year.

[sillygoosegirl]

I don't think I was deliberately exposed. I got it when I was less than 1, which I think my mom said was younger than she would have exposed me on purpose. However, I still went to CP parties as a preschooler. Cause, you know, why not?

[penguingrrl]

I was not deliberately exposed. Instead I came down with CP two days before I was supposed to have my first communion. I remember being allowed to chill in my mom's room all day watching her 13 inch black and white TV, which was very exciting.

[msmerymac]

I just caught it in first grade. My brother was 3 and he had it a week or two later. I don't know if my parents were aware of an outbreak at my school, but I had to stay home for at least a week and I felt relatively fine. I don't even remember itching that much. My mom was helping me change into my pajamas and noticed some spots on my stomach (which is where they usually start). She assumed then that I might have chicken pox.

Ditto Sibil. Before the vax, it was best to expose kids to it early in life, because it gets worse as you get older. My cousin had chicken pox when she was 30. Ouch.

I remember hearing about older kids who had mumps or measles when I was a kid, and I thought that also sounded cool and exotic (I thought getting chicken pox was kind of exciting, like losing your first tooth). But I had the MMR vax when I was 2.

[statlerwaldorf]

I was not deliberately exposed. I never had chicken pox, but I have been vaccinated for it.

[ringstrue]

I don't think i was deliberately exposed. I think my sis got it and brought it home to me. We were about 3/4 and 5/6.

Getting Shingles doesn't *mean* anything outside of the fact that you had CP before (wild or vax) and that you most likely presently are going through a hard time immune-wise. That same sis got Shingles when she was post-partum and figuring out her SSRIs, for example.

The issue with getting it "wild" vs. a vax is that , well, you actually have to get the disease and set yourself up for complications. The pox can land in unfortunate places and harm you long term. You can have to be hospitalized for this.

It's just sort of a silly debate. If this were a cold party or a flu party no one would agree that it should be happening. But somehow we've romanticized CP as a rite of childhood and find it NBD, which is BS.

[Deleted]

I don't think I was deliberately exposed because I was under 2 and my sister was an infant.

I know my other sisters weren't delibertately exposed because my sister and I were giving baths to our "baby sisters" when we noticed one sister had red dots. The other two quickly followed and our friend that was spending the night got them too. The friend was miserable because she was probably 10-11 when she got them and missed a lot of school.

[MrsDL]

I don't think we were "deliberately" exposed but all 4 of us had it at the same time. When you have siblings it's like any other illness, you're not trying to have them all catch something but it's likely to happen. I had it at age (10) and my sisters (9, 6, 3). . My poor mother.

[marie427]

When I was younger we hung out with a particular set of cousins regularly. One of them got it somehow and the rest of us got it one after the other as a result.

[Deleted]

I wasn't deliberately exposed. I think my younger sister got it from preschool and then I caught it from her. It was a miserable fucking experience.

[2curlydogs]

I wasn't deliberately exposed that I know of. I was 4 and it was fucking miserable. I think my parents actually tried to keep my younger sister away from me (she was only 2).

It's the only time I remember my mother missing Sunday mass - to stay home to take care of me.

[ringstrue]

Does anyone have CP scars that they still notice? I have a few on my arm and torso, but I think I scar easily. I have to say its an added bonus to know DD isn't going to get those, at least not from CP.

[eclaires]

I wasn't deliberately exposed. Actually, my mom still doesn't know where I picked it up (I was around 4.5), and at first, she didn't even think I had CP b/c it was such a mild case. But that also meant my younger brothers were exposed b/c she didn't realize it was CP and they were 2.5 and an infant. Each case got progressively worse, with the baby having it the worst and being totally 100% miserable for him and my mom.

I had shingles as an adult. It was right before our wedding... I had to go pick up some valtrex at the pharmacy, lol.

[caden]

I was deliberately and accidentally exposed a bunch of times but didn't get it til I was 18. That SUCKED. My sister never had it, though now she has gotten the vaccine. The crappiest part for me was that I had JUST found out about the vaccine and was at the health clinic waiting to get it when I noticed my first chicken pock on my abdomen, so I was too late. I truly cannot understand why anyone would WANT their kid to get immunity from a disease instead of a vaccine. It doesn't matter if the disease is rarely fatal. Even a normal case of chicken pox sucks. It especially sucks if you're older. Why would you want that?

[2curlydogs]

Jun 20, 2012 8:29:41 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

Does anyone have CP scars that they still notice? I have a few on my arm and torso, but I think I scar easily. I have to say its an added bonus to know DD isn't going to get those, at least not from CP.

Shockingly enough, I don't. And I was covered head-to-toe and am terrible about scratching things like that. But I think my mom kept my hands in mittens so I couldn't.

[meg]

I remember being deliberately exposed but my mom says I wasnt. I was like 7 so it is totally possible that I do remember it correctly (and I had it in the summer so it would make sense...) but also possible that I heard my mom talking about CP parties or soemthing and misunderstood.

Anyhow I am very pro-CP-vax. I remember having the CP and it was hell. I think that a lot of people in our generation tend to idealize the chicken pox, or dont remember having them at all. I had them first, then each of my younger sisters in succession (brother got the vax a few years later). I was absolutely miserable and the medicine was so hard to take. I remember taking baths with baking soda or whatever and just crying. I had them everywhere. I had pox inside all my bodily orefices. I had a few pox ON MY EYEBALLS. My mom was terrified I would be blinded from them (obvs I was not).
And yes, I have visible scars still. My mom would put mittens on me (in hte summer) but I couldnt help but scratch. I have one n the smack dab center of my forehead - I can feel it and when I point it out to ppl they can see it too. I also have a scar on my nose.

My sisters both had it bad too. The youngest was like 18 months old and ran some VERY high fevers.

Yeah, it isnt generally fatal for kids, etc etc etc but man... it really really sucks. If I dont have to, Im not putting my kids through that. And really, Im not putting ME through caring from them through that!!!!

[terpsfan]

Jun 20, 2012 8:29:41 GMT -5 ringstrue said:

Does anyone have CP scars that they still notice? I have a few on my arm and torso, but I think I scar easily. I have to say its an added bonus to know DD isn't going to get those, at least not from CP.

Yup, I have them on my forehead, right between my eyes. They were the first "itches" that I started scratching the heck out of the night before we noticed the red dots (I have a bad habit of "winning" bug bites..scratching till I bleed, still do).

I got CP in 5th grade and then passed it along to my younger sisters, who had it at the same time. We all had it over Easter/Spring Break..fun times for my mom!

[Scout'sHonor]

My younger sister got it first, then my brother and I came down with it a few days later. He and I didn't have bad cases, but my poor sis was still sick a good week after ours had cleared up. All of us definitely have scars, I've got a few on my stomach, arms and even one inside my ear.

[downtoearth]

There was no vaccine when I was young. My sisters and I all got when we were around 9, 7, 5 after my mom had us visit a friend and share suckers with them when they had it - so I guess we were deliberately exposed. It's what doctors advised at the time. Plus, being 7 I don't remember it being that bad - just lots of extra baths and the fever that came before the pox was the worst part. It's been a long time though.

As for the vac. my oldest just got it at age 5 and I haven't had my 3 yr old get it yet. We've spaced vacs out so I am getting the most critical ones out of the way first and if my 3 yr old gets CP before he gets the vac, I guess I don't mind as much as if he got most of the other diseases.

I have a neice who got the vac and still got CP as a teen (about 7 years later) and then my nephew also had the vac and he got about 15 pox from CP about 2 years later. They're from the same family so maybe they didn't get full immunization for some genetic reason, who knows.

I only had a total of maybe 30 pox when I got it - no scars and I don't remember it itching that much since I was in the bath like 3-4 times a day, but I always wonder if I'm fully immune since my case was really mild.