Chickenpox Anyone?

I never vaccinated my children for the chickenpox.  Five years ago, when the doctor suggested we vaccinate Eva with the varicella vaccine, I objected for three reasons.  First, I believed the vaccine was too new and not tested enough; second, I didn't  think chickenpox was so bad;  third, it is a live virus  with some unusual ingredients.  Some of these ingredients include guinea pig DNA and fetal bovine serum.   On page 103 of  Dr. Robert Sears' new book, The Vaccine Book, he lists "[r]esidual components of the Merck human diploid cells, including DNA and proteins from the cells."  On the following page, Sears points out,"some parents find it a little odd to inject unknown human DNA into a baby."

The pediatrician had no objection to my objection, but warned me that Illinois would require Eva to have the vaccination in order to attend school.  One day without warning, Eva's skin erupted with red angry bumps.  She had contracted the chickenpox!  Eva was twenty months at the time and doesn't remember it at all today.  Two miserable nights later, she was comfortable again.  During those two nights, I felt incredibly guilty.  I knew that even vaccinated children often catch the virus, but a much milder version.  Eva was miserable because we had decided not to get her vaccinated.  Today, looking back, I'm happy she got the chickenpox naturally.    She will never have to worry about catching it again.  She will never need the boosters today's children are going to need, probably for the rest of their lives.

Charlie just finished his bout with the chickenpox.  For him, I was much more proactive.  I took him to a Chickenpox Party to intentionally infect him with the virus.  You may be asking, "What is a Chickenpox Party?"  It is exactly what you think it is.  I took little Charlie over to a sick child's house to play.  The mom volunteering her home and her pox-marked child, Jeffrey, provided the organic lollipops.  "Charlie, let's give little Jeffrey a taste of your lollipop."  I suggested.   After little Jeffrey took a lick, I handed it back to Charlie.  Charlie put it in his mouth.  The deed was done.  I had intentionally inflicted my child with a virus.  Am I a terrible mother?

All I know is that I did not want Charlie to be injected with the varicella vaccine, and the government was going to make him get it unless he got the virus naturally.  I did a lot of research before I came to the decision to refuse the vaccine and infect my child. For example, Dr. Sears, in his newly published The Vaccine Book has stated, "Since chickenpox is usually harmless, I don't worry too much when parents tell me they don't want this shot for their child (p. 108)." Like me, he worries that if our children do not catch the chickenpox naturally, the vaccine may wear off later in life.  Once this immunity wears off, these children, who have grown into adults, will be vulnerable to the virus.  This is a problem because catching the disease as an adult is much more dangerous.  Proponents of the vaccine claim that it can save lives because some children die of the chickenpox every year.  Yet, through my research, I discovered that the only children who died from chickenpox and its  complications were children who were given aspirin (Reyes Syndrome), or children with Leukemia or Asthma, or another kind of infliction compromising the child's immune system.  I knew that Charlie's immune system was strong.  I knew that the timing was right because I could nurse him through it, thus bolstering his immune system even more.   

Was I a monster?  I'm still not sure.  All I know is that I am doing the best I can as his mother.  Of course, I never want my children to feel bad or to get ill.  However, for me, the alternative seemed worse.  As his mother, I wanted Charlie to be immune for life.  I hope someday he will understand.

An original post to Chicago Moms Blog.

Comments

[Adventures In Babywearing]

We don't do the varicella vax- or any vax for that matter! For us our decision came about due to vaccine reactions in my children and getting very educated about the pros & cons. So, we'll be dealing with the chicken pox eventually, too. And that's ok!

Also, a child can go to school in Illinois without the vaccine if the parent claims medical or religious exemption.

Steph

[feener]

wow, that was very interesting. i think i have to get the sears book and get myself educated. I know in NJ they are now passing the law that your child must get the flu vaccination ?

[Joy]

I am coming at this from another angle. I know a child WHO DIED because she got chickenpox (a few weeks before she was suppose to receive the vaccination). She had a siezure and never recovered.

I find this incredibly irresponsible. Your child may expose chicken pox to another child (or adult) that can't handle the sickness as well your child.

Glad your children are fine - but how selfish for the rest of society.

[moodymommy (aka Sophia Leto)]

Joy, I am so sorry to hear about that. I also totally respect your point about unknowingly exposing others. Did you know that even with the vaccine, a child can get chickenpox and expose others? I am totally in favor of children at risk and adults getting the vaccine. I am wondering, did that child you know have a respiratory illness? Was he/she given aspirin? Did the child have Leukemia or another compromised immune system? I would be very surprised if that child did not. As for adults not being able to handle the sickness, we knew exactly when he would contract (between day 10 and day 21). I pretty much kept him away from everyone. If we were on the playground from day 7 on, I talked to all the parents we were around to tell them what I did and to make sure it was ok if they were exposed. Also, as far as adults getting it, I believe we will have a terrible epidemic of adults with the chickenpox in 10-20 years because the vaccine will be wearing off. Half of all chickenpox deaths are adults. I think it is more irresponsible for a drug company to promise immunity and not really know how long that immunity will last. Especially in the case of chickenpox, which is much more dangerous in adulthood.

[Geomom]

Interesting post! We are struggling with the decision as to whether our son will get the varicella shot (and also MMR). It seems there are good arguments for and against the shot, and that either choice carries some risk. It is such a difficult decision to make.

[t]

As a mother of a child with autism who has done some vaccines and not others I applaud you doing your research. No, I don't know what caused her autism, bit I have several close friends who there is no doubt that their children NOW HAVE SERIOUS SEIZURE DISORDERS AS A RESULT of vaccines. One of my best friends is a father of a child who go the meningitis vaccine, took her home, called the dr whens he ran a fever, dr told them not to worry, the next day she was lethargic, mom stayed home with her while dad took son to baseball practice, they came home to ambulances, and to fing his daughter in a coma. The hospital called the CDC to report her reaction and to ask for help. THE CDC'S REACTION THAT SHE WAS "AN ACCEPTABLE CASUALITY." to who was this acceptable? Her parents who now care for a child who is non-verbal, can't walk and she is fed by a tube? The CDC also offered NO HELP TO THE HOSPITAL TO TREAT HER OR TO THE FAMILY. There is a vaccine court for a reason-do your research and choose your schedule and vaccinations carefully. I don't think any chlld is an acceptable casualty.

[moodymommy (aka Sophia Leto)]

Oh "t" what a terrible story. Isn't it sad that we, as parents, have to be research scientists and doctors to our children? Indeed, we are hardly qualified. However, we have one thing going for us no one else does -- the best interest of our child at heart. The pharmaceutical companies are out there to make money. The FDA is right there in the pharmaceutical companies' pockets. As for doctors, yes, they want healthy patients, but they get their information from pharmaceutical companies and the government. What is a parent to do? All we can to is our best.

[Lia]

While I totally respect your decision to not vaccinate, I do find it a little gross that you would intentionally infect your child with anything. I will admit that I don't have all the facts or have studied this in depth but it just really rubs me the wrong way.

[moodymommy (aka Sophia Leto)]

Believe me, I'm not proud of it and I hated doing it. If our state did not require me to have Charlie injected with human DNA, guinea pig DNA and other objectionable stuff, I would have left him alone to contract it unintentionally over the course of his childhood. I posted this to get people thinking about vaccinations. Who do they really benefit? How far do we have to go to prevent a generally harmless (most in the medical community will agree that, for children with normal immune systems, Chickenpox is, indeed, harmless) virus?

[Sarah]

We are unvaccinated as well. The only thing that concerns me is that I have never had chicken pox. So I'm concerned about MYSELF! Selfish mommy! There is always a chance that I carry an immunity, but I'm not banking on that.

[anne]

It's a hard decision and everyone needs to decide what's best for their kids. however, as others have pointed out, chickenpox can be dangerous, especially for adults. I had it at the age of 30 and was sick for two weeks; according to my doctor that was pretty typical for a 30 year old in good health. The length of the illness gets longer as people get older, so it's especially bad for elderly people.
When your kids do have it, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep in mind that it's highly contagious and you can be putting other people at risk. I caught it from a coworker whose kids had it. We were sitting in the same room for several hours or so but I had no other contact with him. So do your best to wash your hands and change clothes frequently.

[Kelly]

http://www.cispimmunize.org/fam/aribrownletter.html

For all of those who decide not to vaccinate their children- make sure you say "thank you" to those who do. We make it safe for you to have the option.

The New McCarthyism
Dangerous vaccines that harm kids. An epidemic of disabled children, hurt by an uncaring medical establishment.

Sounds like a B-grade Hollywood thriller. But this isn't some screenwriter's revenge fantasy-it's a "true story" as told by actress and best-selling author Jenny McCarthy, who was on a nationwide publicity blitz last month for her new book.

When I heard Ms. McCarthy tell Oprah and Larry King that vaccines caused her son's autism, I had a flashback to a cold winter's night, 13 years ago. I was the senior pediatric resident on call in the Intensive Care Unit...

Cradled in the arms of her parents, a seven-year old girl was brought to the emergency room at Children's Hospital Boston.

The girl had come down with chickenpox a couple of days ago-she had a fever and hundreds of itchy skin lesions. Tonight, she had taken a turn for the worse. Her fever shot up to 106 and she became confused, lethargic . . . she was unresponsive and limp in her mother's arms.

The ER doctors suspected that her open sores allowed Strep bacteria to get under her skin and rage through her bloodstream. And now, she was in "multiple system organ failure"- every square inch of her body was shutting down all at once.

IV's were placed into her veins to start fluids, antibiotics, and medications to stabilize her heart and blood pressure. She was placed on a ventilator machine to breathe. Then she was brought to the Intensive Care Unit.

By the time I met my patient, she had tubes coming out of every opening and weeping skin lesions all over her body. I was used to blood and gore, but it was hard to look at her and not cry. Imagine how her parents felt when they saw their once beautiful little girl in this grotesque state, struggling to survive.

My attending physician told me to grab dinner. This child would need me for the rest of the night.

I returned to the ICU to find that my patient had gone into cardiac arrest and died.

I watched, helplessly, as the nurses placed the little girl into a body bag...

Fast forward five months: the first chickenpox vaccine was approved. That day, I vowed never to let a child on my watch suffer from a disease that was preventable by vaccination.

That's a story that doesn't grab headlines or guest shots on Larry King. Vaccines are one of mankind's greatest scientific achievements. This year alone, vaccines prevented 14 million infections, $40 billion in medical costs, and most importantly, 33,000 deaths.

Yet vaccines are victims of their own success. Today's parents are unfamiliar with the diseases they prevent, but these diseases are alive and well in the U.S.-I have personally seen children suffer from them.

It's easy for some to attack vaccines as the "cause" for this or that disorder. Call it the New McCarthyism: who cares about 100 years of scientific research? Vaccines are evil . . . because the Internet says they are.

When a well-meaning parent like Jenny McCarthy blames vaccines for her child's autism, placing the fear of God into every parent who has a baby, it's not only irresponsible-it's dangerous. Why? It’s simple math: vaccines are less effective when large numbers of parents opt out. And the more who opt out, the less protected ALL our children are.

Celebrity books come and go . . . but the anxiety they create lives on in pediatricians’ offices across the country. A small, but growing number of parents are even lying about their religious beliefs to avoid having their children vaccinated, thanks in part to the media hysteria created by this book.

Why blame vaccines? Parents go through stages of grief when their child is diagnosed with a disorder like autism. We all want to blame someone for our suffering. It somehow feels better when it is someone else's fault. Was there "something" we could have done as parents to prevent this? That's understandable.
But, why hasn't the media called out Ms. McCarthy on all the medical inaccuracies of her book? Has anyone actually read it? I have-cover to cover. Here are two revealing points:

McCarthy told Oprah that her son was a normal toddler, until he received his Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine (at 15 months of age). Soon after-boom-the soul's gone from his eyes. Yet, she contradicts herself in her book: "My friends' babies all cracked a smile way before Evan did...he was almost five months old." Which is it? Was he normal until his MMR vaccine or were some of the signs missed before he got that shot?

McCarthy also contends that mercury in vaccines caused damage to her son's gut and immune system, leading to autism. Yet the mercury preservative McCarthy assails was removed from the childhood vaccination series in 2001. Her son, Evan, was born in 2002.

It's hard to trust McCarthy's medical degree from the University of Google-she comments about the Hepatitis C vaccine that wreaked havoc on a friend's child. An inconvenient truth: there is no Hepatitis C vaccine.

I agree with McCarthy on one point. Doctors need to do a better job of guiding families through the maze of autism treatments. But, it's not an elaborate cover up when doctors don't support certain "alternative" therapies. Some treatments McCarthy advocates are downright dangerous
and unwarranted-like chelation. That's already claimed one autistic child's life. Doctors worry that families will fall prey to unscrupulous folks selling snake oil in the hopes of curing their child.

As a pediatrician, I also want to desperately know why autism happens and how to treat it. But, let's put our energy into funding autism research and treatment . . . and not demonizing our vaccination program.

Ms. McCarthy is in the trenches, fighting for her son. I, too, am fighting. I am on the frontlines everyday, trying to keep our kids healthy and protected. And, after all I have seen, one thing is certain-I've vaccinated my own kids and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Ari Brown, MD, FAAP
Pediatrician

[Elizabeth]

I read up on vaccines, and worked with my son's pediatrician to make sure he was inoculated with the most proven, trusted vaccines available.

I believe in organic, homeschooled, home-made (from scratch) childhoods. I also believe in informed decisions, long-term thinking, and common sense.

Other parents choose differently. It's a plural world, and free will rocks.

Science can seem frightening and Corporate and bottom-line oriented. I've been educated to the Master's level (twice) and I can tell you that reading a lot of these reports is well above my understanding, which makes it sometimes seem like so much voodoo.

That's why I chose a doctor I could trust. And force her to take the time to explain things to me. And know that in any given time or place, there simply is no "ONE" correct answer for everyone.

There are countries in which vaccines we consider optional would, quite simply, save entire populations. To me, that means that the debate is worth having - and worth taking seriously.

[Sarah]

For all of those who decide not to vaccinate their children- make sure you say "thank you" to those who do. We make it safe for you to have the option.

There is much to be debated regarding herd immunity. Don't paint us to be backward or unconcerned with the health of others, and we won't paint you to be sheep following doctors' orders. Propaganda is propaganda, whether it is in reference to a little girl who died of chickenpox, or a baby who has died of a vaccine reaction.

[Rox]

I am reeling with shock courtesy of commenter moodymommy:
"If we were on the playground from day 7 on, I talked to all the parents we were around to tell them what I did and to make sure it was ok if they were exposed."

Really? Did you wipe down the surfaces that your child touched, or post a sign that indicated that an exposed/infected child played here?

Because my son has an immune function disorder, your choice not to vaccinate and to purposeful expose your child to a disease compounded by your decision to let him play on a playground (which, in my opinion, was grossly disrespectful of others) could land my son in the hospital. Fortunately, I know that there are people like you out there, so our playground trips are rare, and I'm the mom who's always coating her kid with Purell -- but wouldn't it be much simpler, much nicer for ALL children if we moms collectively decided NOT to force our sick kids on others?

Clearly, I'm in the pro-vaccine camp, but my child's medical needs necessitate them. I have always been of the "to each his own" mindset -- but not when someone crosses the line and purposefully exposes my kid. That doesn't respect my son's rights.

[moodymommy (aka Sophia Leto)]

Hey Rox, Since you are so "up" on your info, I'm sure you know that all those kids who ARE getting vaccinated for Chickenpox are receiving a LIVE vaccine. Kids who are inoculated are told to "stay away" from pregnant women and those who have not had the Chickenpox yet. How long does this LIVE vaccine risk others? All children who get these vaccines are exposing your child for some unknown period of time. Essentially, with or w/out the vaccine, no one is "safe" from exposure. If I am wrong, I would love to be corrected on this.

[Rox]

Check the CDC web site; while there is a minimal risk of developing pox post-vaccine, there is no risk of exposure discussed from receiving the vaccine alone -- and, if you think about it, don't you think it's highly unlikely that a vaccine would cause widespread illness? While I don't agree that the FDA is always effective, I'm confident that the varicella vaccine would not have been approved if people could spread the disease through receiving it alone. (Maybe through contracting pox from it, but not just from the vaccine.) The warning that I see on the CDC and other sites is for pregnant women receiving the vaccine, not being around those with it -- and I don't recall my pediatrician saying that. I could be wrong, as I've heard of cases of mothers coming down with shingles -- which is another complication that non-vaccinators may want to think about longer term -- from rubbing their child's injection site. There are other risks, like 1 in 20 kids developing bacterial infections from their pox sites; pneumonia is also a risk. There are risks from the vaccine and from not getting it, but taking your kid to the playground when you've purposefully exposed them to chicken pox? That's making a decision for everyone on the playground, and I call that rude at best and irresponsible at worst.

[Biron J.]

Can adults get tested to determine their immunity to chicken pox?

[Sarah-Ji]

Thank you for bringing this up! As parents, we want to do right by our kids, and we trust those in authoritative roles (i.e. doctors) who tell us we need to give our babies these shots for their own good and for the good of society.

Each family must make their own decisions regarding vaccination, but I would hope that they would do the research first. I'm glad the the Sears Family came out with the Vaccination Book, which should give a balanced perspective on the topic and give parents the information they need to make their own choices.

And I don't think you are a horrible mother for exposing your child to the chicken pox. It is actually probably the most responsible thing to do if you choose NOT to vaccinate, as you will be able to control when the illness occurs and thereby minimize exposure to others.

[Sarah]

Biron J. -

Yes. You can get your "titers" checked by a doctor.

[NJ Pediatrician]

I hope your kids don't get Shingles down the road.
Food for thought: how often do parents question their pediatrician regarding OTHER problems and remedies? Everyone thinks they know more than us regarding immunizations, but they won't question the doctor for a second when their child has a VIRAL fever of 105 and some quack pediatrician unnecessarily offers an antibiotic. Gotta love the media and forums like this.