The chickenpox had arrived!
*doing the Snoopy dance*
Yes, I'm actually excited. I missed the few "pox parties" my mommy group had a couple years ago and I was worried the littles would get out of childhood without the pox. Which is just not good news. And yes, if you haven't guessed, we don't vaccinate for chickenpox. We actually don't vaccinate for anything, but if we did, the varicella vaccination would definitely not be on the list.
The uber-scary tactics of Merck (the vaccine developer) with their sinister commercial rubber duckie, trying to convince the world that everyone is going to die without the chickenpox vaccine, makes me cringe with embarrassment for them, and seethe with anger at the people who actually believe it.
Getting a good case of the chickenpox naturally (as opposed to getting the vaccine) may provide a stronger, lifelong immunity. Getting the vaccine, however, exposes you to the dangers of the vaccine itself (which are unproven but still a risk) and studies have come to show that the vaccine itself isn't very effective. The "outbreaks" that Merck and others have been trying to use to "prove" that chickenpox is dangerous have occured, largely, in already vaccinated populations.*
Do people die from chickenpox? Yes. But it's extremely rare, and it happens primarily in the very young, the very old, and those whose immune systems are suppressed. And the truth is that no one dies from chickenpox itself - there is always a secondary complication, and it is often iatrogenic (i.e. doctor caused. For example, giving a child Ibuprofen/Nsaids during chicken pox has been shown to increase the risk of flesh-eating bacteria (necrotizing fasciitis) and strep toxic-shock, which are two of the major complications of chickenpox that can lead to death in the otherwise healthy.)*
Merck itself characterized chickenpox as a "benign, self-limiting disease." And yet we're vaccinating all school-aged children? Why, again? Oh right... because we make billions from the vaccines given, and we have access to those children and can strong-arm parents into believing it's required! Like the Hepatitis-B vaccine given to newborns (which serves no purpose except to guard against the possibility they may grow up to be sexually active, IV drug users) the chickenpox vaccine serves no real purpose (except as protection against the 1-2 week vacation from school!)
Dr. Mercola makes a good point, actually, that a strong natural immunity against chickenpox, which is a version of the herpes virus, may protect children later in life from those types of viruses that could cause MS, AIDS, Bell's Palsy, or even cervical/penile cancer. (Oh, but wait, they've developed a vaccine against that, too, haven't they? I wonder if the chickenpox vaccine will cause a rise in herpes-related viruses?) *
One scary possible complication of the chickenpox vaccine itself is its limiting effects. We may be just prolonging the inevitable. Adults may end up the ones who get chickenpox (when it's called "shingles" and is a living hell compared to the childhood version!) and many more people die from shingles than they do from chickenpox. *
So for those of you who think I'm crazy or irresponsible for thinking about exposing my children to chickenpox on purpose, all I have to say is, do your own research. Look outside the box (i.e. outside of mainstream big-pharma studies.) If I'd continued to homeschool, I'm sure a "pox party" is just where they would have contracted chickenpox, but thankfully, school took care of that worry for me.
We've got the pox!
I've got a spotty, itchy little boy (and a girl who's already got the runny nose/fever starting) who I'm dosing with cat's claw, olive leaf, echinachea, burdock and nettle... instead of Ibuprofen.
He's already taken a bath in colloidal oatmeal along with herbals (calendula, nettle, lavender.) And of course, we're avoiding sugar (feeds that virus!) and eating lots of plain yogurt!
Now I just have to plan my own pox party... anyone else need the pox?
