A really good example of children in the USA still dying from childhood diseases.

Published

This is a child that died of chicken pox...what is unusual was that this wasn't an infant, but a 12-year old.

Article didn't say if the child was immunized or not, which to me, was a pretty important detail that was missed.

http://www.local6.com/health/18271674/detail.html

I attended one of these parties when I was a kid, that's how I got chicken pox and then gave it to my siblings.

My husband is the oldest of 7 children. When he was 10, he came down with the Chicken Pox. By the time my in-laws realized that it was not just the garden variety saw throat, fever, and runny nose, he had infected all of his siblings. The youngest wasn't born yet. They ended up with 6 kids, between the ages of 2 and 10, home with the chicken pox all at the same time. My mother in law is a nurse and took care of all of them.

My two came down with the chicken pox two weeks apart. I asked her what she did with 6 kids with the chicken pox. She made this deep sigh, and said, "well, I just got it all over with at once". What else can you say? When the kids have the chicken pox, they have the chicken pox.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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I read a story about a 19 year old that was home schooled. Her fundamentalist family did not believe in modern medicine. She went off to a 3rd world country unvaccinated as a missionary. She was dead within a month of chicken pox. Probably up until that point in her life she was protected by herd immunity. It is insane to go to a 3rd world country unvaccinated.

One of my classmates was from Malaysia, where chicken pox is not the ubiquitous presence it is here, and contracted it in his early 20s and nearly had to repeat a year of school.

This was prior to the vaccine.

My hospital has seen some of these "extinct" diseases from our unvaccinated Amish and Mennonite patients. So much unnecessary suffering.

The above does not, of course, apply to people who cannot be vaxed because of medical or religious indications.

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When I was growing up, we were not deliberately exposed, nor did our parents allow us to be exposed to the neighborhood kids, because we knew of a child who contracted chicken pox this way, got varicella encephalitis, and was left severely retarded.:sniff:

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The problem is, the Generation X'ers, like myself, have no memory of classmates actually dying of these things.

However, our parents do. It's easy to dismiss them based on "personal philosophy" when you have never actually seen a child practically choke to death or die from these diseases from massive infection, they will probably sing a different tune.

There is no doubt in my mind that some children do have adverse affects of these vaccinations...just like medications, someone has to be that 1% (theoretically speaking..not literally).

Granted, if that 1% is your child, it's devastating. I couldn't imagine. There was a pediatrician on a talk show years ago that felt very strongly that the chicken pox vaccine cased his daughter's autism (b/c the behavior had turned so sharply after it was administered)...however, he said, "As a pediatrician, I cannot sit here and say that I am going to advice parents to not vaccinate, and if I had another child, I would."

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Of all the vaxes out there, chickenpox is not one that I feel strongly about. I had my son vaxed for it at 1yo, and they are requiring a booster before he goes to kindergarten.

Now, DTaP/TdaP, MMR, polio, pneumococcal, flu, and HepB? In a NY minute.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

My mother related a story when I was home last about her mother's recollections of pertussis. My mom had it when she was a toddler and the treatment in those days (late 1930s) was a mixture of molasses and kerosene... administered orally. My grandmother always said she would have preferred to take it herself than to give it to her girls, the coughing and vomiting were almost more than she could bear. Now whether and vomiting were disease related or cure related is not clear... but she remembered that even after her mind was mush.

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I don't advocate chicken pox parties...The link was merely a reference to the old way of doing things.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatrics, Wound Care.
There is no doubt in my mind that some children do have adverse affects of these vaccinations...just like medications, someone has to be that 1% (theoretically speaking..not literally).

I read the article printed earlier, and it does seem that 100 people per year die from Chicken Pox - not nearly 1% - and 50% of those that died were adults, not children. I believe many of those that died used medications that may (or may not) make chicken pox worse - aspirin, NAID's, steroids, immunosuppressants, antibiotics (for a virus??).

On the other hand, something like 1% of people have complications from the vaccine, and of those 4% are serious, and can result in death.

For plenty of vaccines, they probably save lives, but in this case, it may actually cost more lives.

I remember I was staying with my dad when my cousins got chicken pox. My mom was FURIOUS that he didn't inoculate me. I ended up getting it later as a teenager with my siblings, and still have scars from it. It seems to me that adults should get vaccinated if they weren't exposed, not kids.

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I don't advocate chicken pox parties...The link was merely a reference to the old way of doing things.

When we got chicken pox - or anything transmissible - as kids we were quarantined by our parents.

The mind wobbles, to quote Kelly Bundy.

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Specializes in ER.

I am in agreement with the sentiment that vaccination has to be looked at on a case by case basis. Some diseases are seriously scary and I wouldn't even consider not vaccinating baby boo and ms. la. Conversely, I know that, as nurses, many of you have seen the sad complications from chicken pox but from what I have read complications are very rare and occur most commonly in medically fragile children.

We are accelerating the rate that these vaccines come onto the market and are then pushed onto parents. The chickenpox vaccine went from newly created to required in my state in a hot second!

It angers me that a relatively common childhood disease is sold as this terrible scary thing by my pediatrician when I have had it and IT IS NOT. What if the vaccine wears off any my kids get chickenpox in their adulthood?

Further, we must remember that drug companies do a fabulous job of selling their products...they try to push 200 new vaccines a year through FDA! Its part of a business strategy!

I also agree with the sentiment that if my kids are vaccinated then you are darn right that your kids should be too! I am NOT providing conferred immunity to your child! My state is closing loopholes that allow parents to enroll children without vaccination! Thank goodness.

I am of the mindset that I am the mother and I do know best and providers give good advice. Thanks for respecting that!

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Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.
I'm not in agreement with this sentiment. It is completely reasonable for me to develop opinions on various subjects, such as childhood immunizations, and even to disagree philosophically with those who choose not to vaccinate their children. What my job entails, as a healthcare professional, is not that I do not have opinions, but rather, that I respect the patients' right to autonomy in health care decision making. :twocents:

By not vaccinating, these people are putting many others at risk..........so, yes, I am going to be very judgmental if one of my family or friends is harmed by that decision.

Wow... I too know that I have to respect a parent's right not to vaccinate their kids, but at the same time... *shakes head*. Let me say this; I know of a woman with 5 kids, they live out in AZ, she never even takes her kids to the DOCTOR, let alone gets them vaccinated. Are diseases less prevalent out in AZ, due to the dry atmosphere or something? She also says that the schools out there do not require up to date vaccinations.

I think it's just plain silly. Without vaccinations, we'd still have polio. We'd have smallpox. Whooping cough would be worse than it is now. So would chicken pox, perhaps. We'd have diphtheria. Is that what people want?

As I said, I am all for vaccinations. My child is totally up to date on everything, got everything on time, and I do advocate for vax's. I am a member of several local mom's groups, and do my best to make sure I can tell them as much as I can about myths and truth about vax's until I'm blue in the face (many of them didn't know we had an infant DIE here last year from pertussis).

Then the girls online who have children with autism start posting, and all I've said goes out the window. I know the autism/vaccination link is a big hot button that could quickly get heated, so I won't go there. But I step back, say my part, and respectfully disagree with these women, knowing we're all doing what we think is best for our children. I protect my child by making sure she and my family are vaccinated against illnesses. Beyond that, I can't protect her from what other people do. I can't protect her from a child with pertussis in Target, I can't further protect her from a car accident or a crazed person entering her daycare with a gun and starting shooting. I can do everything I can to protect her, but that's as far as it goes.

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My mother related a story when I was home last about her mother's recollections of pertussis. My mom had it when she was a toddler and the treatment in those days (late 1930s) was a mixture of molasses and kerosene... administered orally. My grandmother always said she would have preferred to take it herself than to give it to her girls, the coughing and vomiting were almost more than she could bear. Now whether and vomiting were disease related or cure related is not clear... but she remembered that even after her mind was mush.

I had a classmate in elementary school, who had a younger brother who was blind because his mother contracted German Measles while she was pregnant with him. It is true that the younger generation does not remember this, and has had no experience with seeing first hand what these childhood diseases did. My kids are up to date, and them some, with all of their vaccinations. I would not have it any other way.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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