Let's not get this party started. If you are thinking of attending or holding a chickenpox party, don't.
A chickenpox party is a party that parents may hold to deliberately expose their children to the chickenpox or varicella-zoster virus. This is literally a sick party, and not sick as in "that's sick" or "that's cool." For a "pox party," parents will invite at least one child who is sick with the virus to mix with other children in an attempt to spread the virus and get all the children deliberately infected. It's not clear how often parents reveal to their kids the true nature of such a party. Imagine being invited to a party because of your viruses and not you.
Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin seemed to suggest that such deliberate exposure to chickenpox was OK when he said on a radio show:
Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox. They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I want and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. And they had it as children, they were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.
You can hear him say it on this CBS This Morning segment:
Saying that his kids "turned out fine" is like saying that you were punched in the face and turned out fine. Ergo, it is OK to deliberately get punched in the face. Just because someone was exposed to risk and didn't have major problems, does not mean that you or your children should be exposed that same risk.
Being deliberately exposed to the chickenpox is like playing a really bad roulette game. At best, you will have 5 to 10 days of fever, loss of appetite, headaches, feeling run down, and itchy, itchy rashes. However, there are chances that you could get much worse problems such as pneumonia, encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), cerebellar ataxia (lack of muscle control or coordination), bleeding problems, sepsis, and bacterial infections of the skin, soft tissues, bone, and blood. You can even die from the chickenpox. The risk of such severe complications is quite low if you are a healthy child but goes up if you are an infant and/or an adult or have a weakened immune system. Plus, if you are pregnant, the virus could cause birth defects.
Why then would you host or attend a chickenpox party when there is a chickenpox vaccine available? I have written previously for Forbes about the vaccine. Getting vaccinated should give you and your children the same amount of protection as being naturally exposed to the varicella-zoster virus. The difference is that the vaccine is the safer route. You and your children won't get the same symptoms that a chickenpox illness will bring. You won't put yourself or your children at risk for the more severe complications.
Parents who hold chickenpox parties continue to spin the roulette wheel, roll the dice, and test fate, putting kids at risk when they don't have to do so. For those who don't understand this logic, you have to put your hands up. Things aren't gonna necessarily be okay, when there still are chickenpox parties in the USA.
