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stopdiggin

(15,539 posts)

37. vaccinations were what anybody with any sense did (and wanted for their children)

Mon Mar 2, 2020, 04:10 PM

Mar 2020

and I never heard of "intentional" exposure for the remainder.
Our parents had memories of the tragic "consequences" of some of the common diseases .. they were not fans of things like measles. Maybe different parts of the country had different attitudes?

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Do any of you other boomers remember parents exposing their kids to common childhood diseases [View all] rzemanfl Mar 2020 OP

My mother didn't do it purposely, it just happened in normal course, but she also got me vaccinated. Thomas Hurt Mar 2020 #1

Same here Leith Mar 2020 #12

My mom was an RN , and smart. apcalc Mar 2020 #52

My Mom was an RN, too csziggy Mar 2020 #56

My mom also started out as an RN and she had us vaccinated for everything, but there was smirkymonkey Mar 2020 #100

Oh, yeah - my Dad had a bad case of shingles csziggy Mar 2020 #117

Wow. I had shingles too, but I was lucky. zackymilly Mar 2020 #121

He had the shingle pain in his upper back then lower back from deteriorating vertebrae csziggy Mar 2020 #130

I'm so sorry you are suffering from it. I have heard it is horrible. smirkymonkey Mar 2020 #126

This is something I've had for 45 years csziggy Mar 2020 #138

Not before vaccines, it wasn't child abuse. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #91

I'm talking about people NOW deliberately exposing their children, apcalc Mar 2020 #97

This was the question posed: Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #98

You mean like chicken pox parties? getagrip_already Mar 2020 #129

Ours was via lollipops licked b the person with chicken pox. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #131

Deliberate? apcalc Mar 2020 #132

Deliberate exposure. That's what the question was asking about. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #136

I know what the question was. apcalc Mar 2020 #137

My mom was also an RN and a WWII army nurse. zackymilly Mar 2020 #119

That's what I remember mcar Mar 2020 #73

No. The Velveteen Ocelot Mar 2020 #2

Mine didn't do it Rorey Mar 2020 #3

Gen Xer JustAnotherGen Mar 2020 #4

Yep. happybird Mar 2020 #115

Nope my folks would never do that. redstatebluegirl Mar 2020 #5

I didn't say mine did. I know parents used to hope their boys got mumps. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #10

True because mumps often caused sterility in adult men, but not boys. Liberty Belle Mar 2020 #79

I'm not a boomer (X'er) but remember it being talked about as though many still did it ... mr_lebowski Mar 2020 #6

I remember that happening for Chicken Pox Mz Pip Mar 2020 #7

Yes! luvs2sing Mar 2020 #8

I know of many who did. 2naSalit Mar 2020 #9

Mine certainly did Chainfire Mar 2020 #11

Mine did too. I was retested when I went back to my university and I still have the antibodies. TheBlackAdder Mar 2020 #125

Yes in the church nursery Runningdawg Mar 2020 #13

Ha! n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #14

No. Cross contamination was a consequence of contact at school, etc Siwsan Mar 2020 #15

Mine did not do that, Greybnk48 Mar 2020 #16

While I don't remember my parents deliberately doing it robbob Mar 2020 #17

Mumps, I believe. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #19

Not on purpose. We were all Polly Hennessey Mar 2020 #18

They didn't have those vacs in my time. Kingofalldems Mar 2020 #22

I remember UK parents in the early 80s wondering whether to expose their sons to mumps muriel_volestrangler Mar 2020 #20

Never heard of that until I was an adult. Kingofalldems Mar 2020 #21

I had them all except mumps. Neither my father nor I ever got them despite being exposed rzemanfl Mar 2020 #23

I don't remember anything like that, but I did have a memory this morning of Vinca Mar 2020 #24

I posted about polio. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #25

I don't know why that memory came back so vividly this morning. Vinca Mar 2020 #31

Several of us Moms had a chicken pox party SoCalDem Mar 2020 #26

My parents, thank god, believed in science lapfog_1 Mar 2020 #27

There were no vaccines back then for measles, chicken pox or mumps. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #30

No. Measles out break in '58 to 62 may have led to 2 of my aunt's miscarriages irisblue Mar 2020 #28

I had a woman pediatrician who of course was constantly exposed to these diseases- dawg day Mar 2020 #38

Measles was a flat rash? shanti Mar 2020 #42

Yep. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #51

Oh, I've always been a scratcher. dawg day Mar 2020 #57

I did too! radical noodle Mar 2020 #109

I had chicken pox and a really high fever. cwydro Mar 2020 #86

Yes. Mugu Mar 2020 #29

Late boomer. Never heard of that until recently. Eugene Mar 2020 #32

There were no shots back then radical noodle Mar 2020 #111

Mine did, I remember when she took me to visit my cousin who had chickenpox, so I would get it and Meadowoak Mar 2020 #33

No, we didn't have to be deliberately exposed. dawg day Mar 2020 #34

Yes, mine did with me. greatauntoftriplets Mar 2020 #35

Yes! Measles frogmarch Mar 2020 #36

vaccinations were what anybody with any sense did (and wanted for their children) stopdiggin Mar 2020 #37

I don't believe vaccinations were available. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #43

for the boomers? certainly were for me! (nt) stopdiggin Mar 2020 #53

See post below regarding availability of vaccinations for mumps, measles and chickenpox. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #54

oh we got chicken pox stopdiggin Mar 2020 #59

Interested in the source for your list. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #62

The chickenpox vaccine was not licensed in the US until 1995. Both of my kids born 1989 seaglass Mar 2020 #84

As did my daughter, born in 1990. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #94

Those years are not entirely accurate. PoindexterOglethorpe Mar 2020 #85

Not for me radical noodle Mar 2020 #113

No vaccinations in my childhood, except Whooping cough, diptheria and ... and....???? nt LAS14 Mar 2020 #46

DPT: Diptheria, Pertussis, Tetanus. Smallpox was separate. Hekate Mar 2020 #75

First, short term mumps vaccine 1948. Improved upon in the '60s. (Wikipedia) rzemanfl Mar 2020 #49

whatever was available .. we were getting them stopdiggin Mar 2020 #58

The MMR vaccine became available in 1971. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #93

Nope. Polio was still around... TygrBright Mar 2020 #39

No but I remember parents keeping me out of school until chicken pox MaryMagdaline Mar 2020 #40

Intentionally? No. But they didn't panic about them, either...nt Wounded Bear Mar 2020 #41

That was the way my parents were. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #50

Like German measles parties for girls. nt tblue37 Mar 2020 #44

Yup. Measles and chicken pox. I think it was a good thing because... LAS14 Mar 2020 #45

Mine never did, and that was in the 50s when polio was still around. kskiska Mar 2020 #47

Not intentionally but didn't quarantine me from neighbor kids tavernier Mar 2020 #48

Pretty sure that my dad did it to me, I am a GenXer The Genealogist Mar 2020 #55

Yep. jeffreyi Mar 2020 #60

YES! BigDemVoter Mar 2020 #61

Yes! karynnj Mar 2020 #63

My dad was an RN, and I come from a smart family anyway, so we got our vaccinations. Aristus Mar 2020 #64

Oh yes, and I came down with everything. Totally Tunsie Mar 2020 #65

Yes. For chicken pox. mainer Mar 2020 #66

No, but all us kids caught every sort of procon Mar 2020 #67

Did you read the whole thread? Jail seems a bit extreme. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #68

It's child abuse. When someone wants to deliberately procon Mar 2020 #74

True if there is a vaccine. Before vaccines,for diseases worse in adulthood, I understand this. Liberty Belle Mar 2020 #78

Mumps and measles and their effects on adults are "conspiracy theories?" rzemanfl Mar 2020 #83

Nonsense. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #95

I had a microbiology professor whose younger daughter got chicken pox Ilsa Mar 2020 #69

That seems like a dumb thing for a microbiology professor to do. pnwmom Mar 2020 #127

He wanted them both to have it at the same time, Ilsa Mar 2020 #139

But by the time his younger daughter got it, she would have naturally given it to her younger sister pnwmom Mar 2020 #140

Yes, our friends got sent over treestar Mar 2020 #70

Just before Christmas one year one of my siblings came home with malaise Mar 2020 #71

No. No. No. NO! I remember each and every one of those diseases from having caught them... Hekate Mar 2020 #72

It's not a urban legend. Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #96

I think this thread establishes this is not an urban legend. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #106

Yes, I remember some parents doing that with chicken pox before the vaccine. Liberty Belle Mar 2020 #76

Pox parties is how you got your kids exposed to it Fullduplexxx Mar 2020 #77

I had to stay home for a week C_U_L8R Mar 2020 #80

Yes!! agingdem Mar 2020 #81

I only remember getting small pox and polio in the sugar cube. MuseRider Mar 2020 #82

I'm not a boomer, but some parents would hold chicken pox parties in the 70's KWR65 Mar 2020 #87

My dad married a doctor. He was sick for the first years of my parents' applegrove Mar 2020 #88

Yep. That's how I got the mumps. n/t trackfan Mar 2020 #89

Yup. I was the exposure vector for mumps - lollipop time! Ms. Toad Mar 2020 #90

That was a thing for chickenpox as late as the '80's or '90's Spider Jerusalem Mar 2020 #92

My mother survived polio MrsMatt Mar 2020 #99

Wow, this really happened? Polybius Mar 2020 #101

Went to two Chicken Pox Parties. I didn't take...lol. Iggo Mar 2020 #102

Only chicken pox TexasBushwhacker Mar 2020 #103

Diagnosed with chicken pox aged 34 MrsMatt Mar 2020 #107

Goodness! Glad you and the baby were okay TexasBushwhacker Mar 2020 #135

Absolutely radical noodle Mar 2020 #104

Not just no customerserviceguy Mar 2020 #105

It happened. Denying it doesn't change that. Different times, rzemanfl Mar 2020 #108

I sure wish customerserviceguy Mar 2020 #110

Not until 1995 in the U.S. I am not sure whether the chicken pox/shingles connection rzemanfl Mar 2020 #112

Whether it was known or not customerserviceguy Mar 2020 #114

True on both counts. Vaccines can be risky too. Kids died from the Salk polio rzemanfl Mar 2020 #118

I don't remember that customerserviceguy Mar 2020 #122

I read it in a book, years later. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #124

The connection between the two was verfified in 1953. n/t rzemanfl Mar 2020 #116

I heard about this but I don't remember people actually doing it Skittles Mar 2020 #120

Mine either, but I heard about it back in the day. Plenty of people here verify. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #123

Yes, but not to "get it over with" Mossfern Mar 2020 #128

Aware of that. I am male, born in 1947. For boys, mumps was the issue. rzemanfl Mar 2020 #133

Chicken Pox Party at mom's house! VOX Mar 2020 #134

Yeah, it was called 'going to school.' Dem2theMax Mar 2020 #141