Measles parties? WTF!?!?!?!

[eridani]

http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/02/10/daily-fix-measles-spreads-17-states?cmpid=tpdaily-eml-2015-02-10

There are now 121 confirmed cases of measles in 17 states and Washington, D.C., The Washington Post reports, citing a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement. The CDC believes this measles outbreak began at a California amusement park.

Last year, 644 measles cases were reported in the U.S., the largest number since 2000.
Is the Anti-Vaccination Movement to Blame for Disneyland’s Measles Outbreak?

Meanwhile, health authorities in California are urging parents not to hold “measles parties.” Measles parties are built on the idea that “infected children will build up immunity to the virus because once someone has the measles they cannot catch it again,” ABC News reports. The parties were popularized in the 1960s, before a measles vaccine was widely available.

[NYC_SKP]

1. Given the news, I guess I'll have to cancel my measels party, but the Herpes Holiday is good to go!

And we're just one month away from our annual "Crabs Cruise", which is always exciting!

[cui bono]

26. !

[Terra Alta]

2. this has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

Intentionally exposing your child to a potentially dangerous disease? Sounds pretty fucked up to me.

[Ruby the Liberal]

15. Low exposure is supposed to kick-start the immune process

This was common practice back in the 60s when the concept was known, but vaccines not yet developed (or widely considered safe).

That said - its how I caught chicken pox. (And now, am a prime candidate for Shingles in a few years )

I'll take the vaccine for $1,000, Alex...

[LittleGirl]

18. me too, I had

the measles, mumps, AND the chicken pox. I am the only one in the family that got the mumps.

I was also infertile later in life. Connection? Who knows.

[ND-Dem]

23. People used to do it. I remember it. You were going to get it anyway, may as well plan. that

was the thought. also, it was better to get it at certain ages (I cant remember exactly which ones -- not too young, not too old I'm thinking).

[panader0]

48. Around 1957, when I was seven, my mom took me to the neighbor's house to catch the measles.

It worked--I never realized that she was probably trying to get rid of me. Mom, how could you?
That was pretty common then as I remember.

[Brigid]

3. More like child abuse parties if you ask me.

[cwydro]

33. I had German measles in the 60's

and my sis got measles and mumps.

My mom had no parties. Never heard of such a thing.

She kept us both inside and away from EVERYONE including my dad.

[MohRokTah]

4. We had 'em in the 60s.

Measles, Mumps, Chickenpox. I got the chickenpox after being exposed to other children that had them purposefully. Same with mumps and measles.

It was common back then.

My brother almost died because of chickenpox, which he got from the same exposure as me.

A kid got brain damage from the measles in the same outbreak my little brother and I caught it in.

[hollysmom]

10. Well, there was more fear when I was born,

but 10 years later when my brothers were born they were having them in the neighborhood/ my mother had no desire to get my brothers there though. the third time I got the chicken pox I got it from my brother who I was taking care of because my mother was pregnant.thanks mom.

[Lint Head]

5. I'll bring the ranch dip. Wait! That's not dip!

[ismnotwasm]

6. I've had it

I'm so pissed I can't even post. Except to say it figures republicans jump all over this.

[AzSweet]

7. Yes...

My Mom, and many others used to make play dates when any kid in the neighborhood got measles, mumps and chickenpox. It was their only option at that time to give us immunity to them. Dangerous? Yes, probably for some. My little brother and I came through all three unscathed, and don't know of any of the kids we knew that didn't.

[Islandurp]

8. Just like that South Park episode except it was with chickenpox

I didn't know that this was an actual thing.

[AtomicKitten]

9. Mortality rate for measles is 1:1,000.

Measles parties are not happy fun time. The odds of dying are too high to tempt fate.

[Telcontar]

11. Every time I think I've seen stupid, the internet comes along and ups the anty

Good God Almighty, what is wrong with these folks?

[Comrade Grumpy]

12. DEBUNKED: "'Measles Parties' in California Prove False"

http://www.today.com/health/measles-parties-california-prove-false-2D80486307

Recent rumors of "measles parties" in northern California have prompted concern among parents nationally and locally.

The fears are unfounded, as there isn’t proof that such parties existed and many reports appear to have all relied on a single mother’s account in Marin County, near San Francisco.

California Department of Public Health spokesperson Anita Gore told TODAY.com there is no “information to share about the existence or frequency of [measles] parties.” But, the CDPH strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles under circumstances, Gore said.

<snip>

The measles party rumors started when California public news outlet KQED quoted a Marin County mother of two unvaccinated kids as saying she was approached by a friend who offered to set up a play date with a child who has measles. But the mom, Julie Schiffman, told KQED, “I would never do that to my child.”

Schiffman told TODAY.com that, to her knowledge, there were no measles parties or play dates that had occurred or were planned for the future. Schiffman’s two sons, age 5 and 8, are unvaccinated on the advice of her doctor because of the family’s medical history.

According to Schiffman, the current measles parties rumors have all been based on a casual remark she posted in a private Facebook group and then repeated to KQED.

“Someone asked me in passing if I wanted to expose my kids because she knew a family who had measles,” Schiffman wrote in an email to TODAY. But, she added, the friend — who vaccinates her own kids — hadn’t even asked the family of the infected child if they would be willing to host an unvaccinated kid in their home.

<snip>

[ismnotwasm]

16. Good

Although the stupid is so high it would it surprise me if they had been

[cui bono]

29. I was going to say...

if measles parties were going to happen they would be in Arizona or Florida. Duh.

[mwrguy]

31. Look up vaccination rates for Oregon

[cui bono]

32. My joke fell flat. :( I was just poking fun at AZ and FL since those are the crazy states. n/t

[eridani]

30. Glad that it hasn't really taken off. Still public shaming through humor is a good idea IMO

See rest of thread for lots of examples.

[LisaL]

52. That somebody even suggested it to her is ludicrous enough.

At least she had declined the ridiculous idea.

[shenmue]

13. People need to start going to jail

[HeiressofBickworth]

14. Will we also have to dust off

the Iron Lungs for a new round of polio?

Just think of all the other conquered diseases we can re-invigorate by not getting vaccines. Parents may be willing to roll the dice on their own children's health care, but do they really have the right to put others at risk? There are categories of people who can't get vaccines due to pre-existing conditions. Or are they considered unworthy to protect from diseases?

[Warpy]

20. Nah, we use tubes and ventilators now.

The last kids I saw in iron lungs were in the last stages of muscular dystrophy and used them only at night.

[HeiressofBickworth]

22. Oh, good to know.

So we can destroy all the vaccine and have no problems with the results.
(heavy sarcasm intended)

I still have the round scar from the smallpox vaccine I got as a child (I'm now 69). After nearly expiring from the H1N1 last year, I was sure to get a flu vaccine in October. I'll not roll that dice again.

[MFM008]

17. they need to have

ebola parties. Idiots.

[LisaL]

51. Exactly.

WTF are these people thinking?

[Warpy]

19. They just don't get it that this disease can cripple and kill!

While those "parties" and play dates might have been useful before we got a safe and effective vaccine, they're just plain stupid now.

Parents doing this idiocy should be charged with child endangerment.

[Arkansas Granny]

38. I grew up in the 50's and remember those parties.

However, those of us who had that experience made sure our children got their immunizations when the vaccines were developed.

[azurnoir]

21. I remember such parties in the 60's but the disease was Rubella (German Measles) or 3 Day Measles

which in a child is a relatively mild illness which usually passes in a manner of a few days, however in an adult woman in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy can cause severe birth defects in the unborn fetus

[Spider Jerusalem]

24. Rubella in pregnant women is in fact one of the few things definitely known to cause autism. (n/t)

[gordianot]

28. I remember when the schools for the deaf were full of kids resulting from German Measles.

There were often other complications besides being deaf. It is one factor why there are Schools for the Deaf with facilities 5 and 6 times current enrollment all built in the 1960's.

[Mariana]

41. Mumps also can cause deafness.

My neighbor is deaf because he had mumps.

[uppityperson]

47. yes and yes. When I had Hard Measles, rubeola, my sibs spent weeks at my grandparent's

house to not catch it. I don't know if people understand the difference the 2 types of measles

[Rhinodawg]

25. What could be more fun than Measles Party?

A party is just the thing when you have fevers,fatigue,chills, severe muscle aches and a rash.

[Kablooie]

27. I'm not going because I've got an Ebola party to attend.

[TrollBuster9090]

34. It's okay. Grandpa Simpson is holding a 'struck by lightening party.'

Next time there's a thunder storm we're all going to go up on the roof and hope we get hit by lightening NOW, so that we won't be struck again later. Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, you see.



Seriously, before the measles vaccine was invented, that used to be a 'thing.' You were supposed to catch measles when you were young, ostensibly so that you wouldn't catch it when you were older. It was probably one of the dumbest folk remedies ever invented. But even today you'll hear old codgers raving against vaccines, and saying (in full Dana Carvey voice) "In MY DAY we didn't HAVE fancy vaccines. We used to have 'measles parties' as our way of getting immunized." If one kid on the block got measles, other parents would arrange a play date with that kid so THEIR kid could get it too.

By the 50s medical science had gotten to the point where people didn't DIE from measles as often, but there were still massive amounts of secondary complications, some of which included deafness, mental retardation, respiratory complications etc. And all of those complications are far more dangerous to have when you're a kid than when you're an adult. So, even on its own grounds, that folk remedy made no sense.

[BubbaFett]

39. and they weren't "play dates"

all the pregnant moms got together to drink gin and smoke cigarettes, while the kids played unsupervised outside!

I wonder how we have survived as a species.

[chelsea0011]

36. I don't remember measles parties growing up

I do remember who my parents told me I needed to stay away from going up as the need to keep exposure down. The exposure was always constant through out the school year. You would never show up for class and see an empty classroom but throughout the year pockets of students would be out with one disease of another. There was no beginning or ending to the spread.

[Dorian Gray]

37. Yes

because exposing your child to a virus with risks of major side-effects is better than a vaccine. ::Sarcasm::

[jeff47]

40. It's all-natural and organic! (nt)

[jwirr]

42. I did not take my three girls to disease parties. Wasn't needed - they just went to school. It was

that common.

[GoCubsGo]

50. That's more or less how I got the chicken pox.

One of my 3 siblings caught it at school, and gave it to the rest of us and 2 of my cousins. I remember mine being fairly mild. One of my sisters wound up with some scarring from it.

I remember when the Rubella vaccine came out. I was in the third grade. The whole school got the shot. They used the "gun" instead of a needle. I thought it was a prtty amazing invention. It stung just a little, and nowhere near as scary as was a needle at the time.

[jwirr]

54. All those diseases in the shots we get now were very very common. If you or your siblings when to

school sooner or later you would get them. My kids got the shots in school also. The Public Health Nurse for the County would set up a clinic in the school gym and everyone lined up. I suspect there may have been a few who did not for religious reasons but not many.

[RobinA]

55. Really

That's how my sister and I got everything. Mumps, chicken pox, German measles. Real measles had a vaccination by the time we came around. I had pneumonia, but that was fun because I got to stay home from school for a long time and didn't feel all that bad.

[closeupready]

43. Thanks for the thread.

[mainer]

44. I remember chicken pox parties in the 50s.

Yep, they really existed. I was invited to one as a kid, but since I'd already had my case of chicken pox, there was no need for me to go.

At the time, there was actually some logic to exposing your kid to chicken pox. The biggest fear was that a kid would go through childhood unexposed, and then catch it as an adult, when the consequences could be far, far more serious.

[Glassunion]

45. Still not as fun as a herpes party

Now that's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Trillo]

49. What about HIV parties?

Never hear of them giving those. Wonder why?

[uppityperson]

46. there were GERMAN measles parties not Measles parties

Do these people understand there are 2 different diseases here, 1 minor, the other serious?

I grew up during rubella party time and no parent would expose their child to rubeola as there was too much risk of health issues, death, etc.

Rubella and rubeola are NOT the same thing.

[YarnAddict]

53. I wonder

if they will completely self-quarantine for weeks, and if/when they do come down with it, they will treat at home, rather than infect everyone in their docs' waiting rooms--including babies.