Amid Vaccination Controversy, Ky. Governor Fondly Recalls Chicken-Pox Parties, But Experts Call The Practice Antiquated
The practice of letting kids get chickenpox from sick friends or neighbors is a holdover from the days before the vaccination became widely available, and doctors say the method can lead to dangerous complications or death. Meanwhile, experts are using actual examples of social media activists attacking doctors and others advocating for vaccinations in order to better understand the resistance.
The New York Times:
Remember Chickenpox Parties? Kentucky Governor Says He Let His 9 Children Get The Virus
Amid a renewed national conversation about childhood vaccinations, Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky said this week that he and his wife made sure all nine of their children got chickenpox. “Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox,” Mr. Bevin said in an interview on Tuesday with a radio station in Bowling Green, Ky. “They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. They had it as children. They were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.” (Bosman, 3/21)
The Washington Post:
Anti-Vaxxers Trolled A Doctors’ Office. Here’s What Scientists Learned From The Attack.
School was about to start. Doctors at a Pennsylvania pediatric practice wanted to remind parents to get their children vaccinated against human papillomavirus, or HPV, which can cause a variety of cancers. The doctors produced a 90-second video and posted it to the practice’s Facebook page. The video sparked positive feedback initially and resulted in more parents scheduling appointments for their children and adolescents to get the recommended vaccine. But three weeks later, anti-vaccine activists began inundating the Facebook page of Kids Plus Pediatrics, a Pittsburgh doctors group, with hostile messages. (Sun, 3/21)
