Intentionally exposing to certain diseases

[mommyof3co]

First off I'm not looking for a debate at all so please don't turn it into that

My friend's daughter has suspected Rubella, we will know in the morning when she takes her in but my friend's mom is a nurse in the Navy and says that is what it is so we'll see.

We don't vaccinate as most of you know And here in the US we have things called "pox parties" because chicken pox isn't very common here anymore because of the vaccine, so moms that don't vaccinate if a kid gets it, or a vaccinated kid gets it sometimes they will host the pox party where you can intentionally expose your child to it, in hopes of them getting natural immunity. Now of course I don't WANT my kids to get sick, but I don't want them having the vaccine and I don't want them having chicken pox as a teen or up because it has more risks at that time so yes I would do that if the opportunity came along, it hasn't as of yet.

But I'm thinking about exposing the boys to my friend's daughter if it turns out she does have rubella. Rubella is usually very mild, it's very rare for there to be any complications (in their age range) and it's pretty short. Though I know they are contagious for 10 days before the rash and 1-2wks after it's gone, so yes I would be very careful I know others don't necc want their kids to get it But the chances of me knowing someone that has it again is quite rare so I'm thinking it might be their only chance to come into contact with it. It almost always gives you permanent immunity. I know if boys get it at an older age it can cause issues, but they are 2, 5, and 7 they would be ok right now right? I'm thinking it would be better for them to have it now rather than later IF they do come into contact with it when say they are 15-20 or whatever.

What do you think? Again I'm not looking to be attacked for not vaccinating or considering this...just looking to discuss it some, figure out what I want to do

 

[joeyjo]

They think I had rubella as a child but I literally only had the rash 36 hours and it was very mild. The main issue I feel is that your kids could pose a risk to others. Rubella only really has major issues for pregnant women as it can harm the baby; it is thought as many as 1 in 8 pregnant women may not be immune as the vaccine is a bit rubbish - thus I would be worried about your kids possibly exposing other women to this risk. I would also think yhat it would be unfair to send them to school etc as teachers orother mums may be pregnant.
I selectively vaccinate but am a firm believer in natural immunity via exposure in many cases - if it was school hols I'd probably do it but 2+weeks off school would put me off!

 

[marley2580]

If you're prepared to keep them away from people while they're contagious then I'd say go for it.

 

[Rachel_C]

I don't even know if we have the chicken pox vaccine here but I know my sisters and I were sent to play with friends who had it, so I would probably do the same with Leyla. I don't know anything about rubella but if it is mild and you are confident you can keep your children out of school and away from any vulnerable people, I don't see any problem with it. My only real concern would be that you don't know who is vulnerable and who isn't - for example, ANY woman could be pregnant (she may not even know it herself!) and anybody could be immunosupressed, so you'd pretty much have to keep them away from everybody!

 

[lfernie]

^^ Same, I don' think we have a chicken pox vaccine. I understand it in theory however I'm not sure I would put it in to practice, that said I do try with Ryan to make sure everythings not overly clean, iykwim and when the time comes to digging about in the dirt etc I won't have an issue with that as I think keeping children in sterile circumstances probably doesn't do them any good in the long run and I would like him to have a healthy immune system x

 

[sezzlebum]

i dunno meself if i'd go to a pox party,
my reasons being if my kid is going to get it then she'll get it whether or not we go to a pox party and why make her suffer, they can catch it more than once, i did lol (chicken pos that is)
since kids are contagious with it 2 weeks before the spots come out and until the spots scap over you never really know when youve been in contact with them anyway,

i dont know much about rubella to comment on that side lol
if you want to do it then you do it, so long as (like the others said) you can keep them away from pregnant women and imu suppressed people

 

[Lu28]

I know we were sent to pox parties as kids but I didn't realise you could catch it more than once, that would change my mind about sending Aisling tbh. No need to intentionally make her suffer if she could get it again anyway!

Same as the others, as long as you've researched effects of them getting it at this age etc and as long as you keep them away from any vulnerable people then fair enough. But as Rachel said, anyone could be vulnerable so it'd be a case of keeping them away from everyone

 

[kirsten1985]

I have never even heard of 'pox parties', didn't know that happened. I'm not sure whether we would do that or not, but it's very different with chicken pox over here, as absolutely everyone seems to get it as a child, whether you avoid it or not, lol, so I guess that's not an issue.

I guess it's up to you and I don't think it would do them any harm, don't know much about rubella as an illness, I haven't looked into it yet. Why do they vaccinate against it, is it because of the risks of getting it as an older child or adult then? If it's not that serious as a young child.

It would be great if they all had a natural immunity to it, would be well worth it.

 

[moomin_troll]

ive had all my jabs growing up and i caught chickenpox twice i have no immunity at all so im dreading zane catching them as i no ile be ill with them too as i get them bad. im talking everywhere even on my eye lids!

ive never heard of pox parties lol it sounds crazy but i can see the logic behind it.

i dont no what id do but if its something u feel strongly about then do it

 

[Sunflowers]

There are 5 different strains of chicken pox (as in definitive groups although each group has variations of its own!) and you CAN catch all 5 different strains, in fact I've nursed a child who was in with his 5th dose of chicken pox! I was quite "lucky" in that a friend of mine and I were out one day, the following day she phoned me to say that her 14 month old had come down with chicken pox for the second time - so 2 weeks after jocelyn's 1st birthday she was then pickled in spots too! If they're going to end up likely getting something then it's probably better younger rather than later but I don't know if I'd go as far as deliberately exposing them to it!

 

[Sunflowers]

(I know I've gone off tangent from the OP, I was replying initially to chicken pox questions, not rubella ones!!)

 

[sezzlebum]

There are 5 different strains of chicken pox (as in definitive groups although each group has variations of its own!) and you CAN catch all 5 different strains, in fact I've nursed a child who was in with his 5th dose of chicken pox! I was quite "lucky" in that a friend of mine and I were out one day, the following day she phoned me to say that her 14 month old had come down with chicken pox for the second time - so 2 weeks after jocelyn's 1st birthday she was then pickled in spots too! If they're going to end up likely getting something then it's probably better younger rather than later but I don't know if I'd go as far as deliberately exposing them to it!

intresting stuff

 

[mommyof3co]

Thanks for the opinions ladies

I'm still waiting to hear if it is for sure Rubella but I'm thinking if it is I'll do it. We know no one that is pregnant and I would make sure to keep them away from other people, possibly exposing them. I know with boys if they have it in teenage years it can cause sterility issues so since Landon is already 7 I'm not sure how much longer I would want to put it off. But Landon has had 1-2 doses of MMR (before we stopped vaccinating) so not sure how "protected" he would be...maybe he wouldn't get it?? I'm not sure.

The chickenpox I would because it gets more serious as you get older and yes you can get it more than once but usually you don't. Especially here though since it's becoming more and more rare for kids to actually contract it naturally, so hopefully this one time would give them enough immunity for when they are adults and have kids that possibly have it you know? The chicken pox vaccine sheds so even if they chose to get it it could put them at risk being around them without having any immunity

 

[mommyof3co]

Actually I think it's mumps that can be bad for boys?!?! Now I can't remember for sure...gotta go figure it out. Anyone know which it is

 

[saraendepity]

mumps is bad for men...rob got them a few years ago abd we were so worried about fertility stuff

 

[mommyof3co]

Ah see I was getting confused between the 2. Still I think though only having one in school right now keeping them home away from other kids and pregnant women would be easiest at the ages they are now.

 

[mommyof3co]

Guess it doesn't matter cause she doesn't have it

I love my friend but she drives me crazy lol. She is ALWAYS asking for advice but then seriously everything I tell her she does the opposite. Well she called me freaking out yesterday morning about the rash, sent me pics and I said it sounded like roseola but that when the boys had it it was a flat rash but hers was bumps, but that it still sounded like that. Then if not maybe a reaction to the detergent her dad is using at his house cause she just came back the day before. But then her mom came over and looked at her and declared it was rubella. She takes everything her mom says as solid truth because she is in the medical field in the navy...but she has given me some pretty bad advice before so I don't. I know it's her mom but atleast look at other options lol, especially when what she's telling you is so rare. But her mom said I was wrong, it wasn't roseola. So she took her to a pediatrician today and what do you know? It's roseola. lol So she's fine, she's over the worst of it and the rash will be gone soon

 

[chuck]

There is a chicken pox vaccine available here in the UK but it isnt widely used.

I was made to share a bath with my sister when she had the pox (I was 4/5?) and I was nearly hospitalized my pox got so bad!

Problem is with diseases that are 'usually' mild they all have the potential to be much much worse and leave children disabled or even kill.

I am getting my boy immunized as I feel it is irresponsible not to, because if he were to get ill with the best will in the world there's no way I could preempt that and isolate him so he wouldn't infect anyone else.

He will be getting the MMR as having read Dr Wakefields study about MMR and Autism and knowing enough about clinical studies and statistics to see through the claims I can see that it is complete bulls**t.

I wouldnt intentionally expose my child to diseases by taking them to parties but it's a bit different like in my case if a sibling gets ill you kinda cant avoid it!

 

[Sunflowers]

The MMR study was horribly horribly flawed but because the media picked up on it so much it's now changed the way that people think almost irreversibly.. In our village the vaccination rate is about 20% - jocelyn is one of those 20% because there's no way in whatsit that there would be ANY herd immunity here if a kid got measles, it would be round the village like wildfire!

 

[moomin_troll]

before it starts i dont think we need another debate about mmr and if its right or wrong to immunise.

i had pox worse then my sister and brother, altho i seem to get everything worse my immune system is crap lol

everytime i take my son to the play group at the village down the road he catchs alsort its terrible. no matter what we cant protect our children from everything so sometimes it is best to get it over with in hopes it will be good for them in the long run