Let's Have a Party - NOT

We've all watched the continuing controversy over vaccines. The debate rages with the rhetoric getting more extreme and much of it not very believable. I have tried to warn as to where this fear-mongering and faulty facts could lead. We absolutely must demand truth in reporting.

Today, a trustworthy news outlet warned of a new concern. There is now a trend known as "Measles Parties" among young mothers. This is where parents of children will get together with a child who has the measles, so that their child will also become exposed.

I feel compelled to join in on this discussion, because the white-washing of these diseases is becoming very dangerous, indeed. With measles being virtually eradicated from the US due to the vaccine, there is a new generation that has no understanding of the dangers of this disease.

I was born in 1954, so I am of the generation that can remember the symptoms and effects of this disease. I remember the exact day I came down with the measles. I do not remember the year for sure - it was 1957 or 1958. I was approximately 4 years old. But let me share where I can be specific.

I remember waking up in bed in the bedroom I shared with my older sister. I woke to her exclamation. "EWWWW! You have the measles!" I remember the look of shock on her face as she stared at me. I remember her running out of the room to tell our mom. And I remember feeling very, very sick. I remember going into the bathroom to look in the mirror. What I saw was not what one sees, when one looks at a person with this disease. Instead, I saw bright red, perfectly round little painted dots all over my face. They were puffy and I was covered. Now it sounds like I am simply describing what is the normal look of measles, but I am not. I cannot accurately portray what I saw into words. I was seeing my face through a fever, and I was on the border of delusions - seeing things that were not real. I remember the light hurting my eyes terribly, and my mom putting me back to bed in a darkened room. I know I had dreams and delusions that were not real. Of course I know now that was due to the fever. But that is as much as I remember.

Now we have all heard the stories about how "we all survived the measles and it was no big deal." But the truth is, it was a very big deal. And during that era, our parents certainly didn't have "measles parties" to expose their children. When the vaccine was made available in 1963 parents were encouraged, but also excited to vaccinate their children. Those parents remembered something different with these diseases than what parents think they know today.

Today, the disease and it's symptoms have been white-washed. People who are against vaccines like to call it "a disease with a rash and the sniffles". I'm sorry. It is far more than that. At least it can be. These are the symptoms of measles:

“Symptoms of measles include rash, a cough, runny nose, eye irritation and fever. Symptoms will appear one to three weeks after exposure to this highly contagious virus. Measles can lead to serious complications including pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, and death. Measles spreads easily through any coughing and sneezing...

The part in bold is what the anti-vaxxers want to ignore. But it is absolutely a very real part of the measles. And quite bluntly, parents are absolutely nuts to want to inflict this disease on their children. Ok, I will be nice and change "nuts" to "dangerously misinformed". They simply do not understand the danger if they think it is ok to expose their child in this way.

Let me touch base on a few other childhood diseases that have been mostly eliminated by vaccines and therefore forgotten; causing new generations to have little understanding.

My parents' generation remember the problems with polio. My own dad's brother almost died from polio. He was lucky; he survived to be left with only a skinny leg and a bad limp. And I suspect he was also left with a weak heart as he died in his early 40's with open heart surgery. That generation praised Jonas Salk as "gifted from God" for coming up with the vaccine that saved so many from death.

Personally, my parents almost lost their son, as he became extremely sick with a horrible rash, fever and strep. It was called Scarlet Fever at that time. That was when the strep appeared with an extremely high fever and reddening rash of the skin. Doctors have since removed that label for the fear that it strikes in parents. I know another family who almost lost a son to Scarlet Fever and the older brother still talks about the fear his family experienced over almost losing his brother. Thankfully, the effects of this disease has been greatly minimized with antibiotics.

Mumps is another disease whose effects are now being misconstrued. The true effects include:

“Symptoms of mumps include fever, headaches, muscle aches tiredness, loss of appetite, and swollen or tender salivary glands under the ears on one or both sides of the head. A common complication in men is testicular inflammation, which can cause infertility. Other rare but serious complications include meningitis, encephalitis, inflammation of the ovaries, and deafness. Symptoms appear within 25 days of infection, but the virus can be spread before the ill person has any symptoms.”

I'm sorry, that's a bit more serious than parents today are led to believe touted by a movement with a different agenda.

I remember the effects of chicken pox. I do remember parents trying to inflict this disease on their children in the way of exposing them to someone who had come down with the disease. But this was a tad different than the "Measles Parties" of today. There WAS NO vaccine for chicken pox at that time. The vaccine was only developed in 1995. And it was better for children to get the disease when they were smaller than to take a chance on their kids being a teenager when they caught the disease. The repercussions and danger are far greater the older a child gets. It was also a milder disease than the measles. But one can be left with terrible problems if hit harder by the disease as in the case of an older child or adult. These are the effects of chicken pox:

The itchy blister rash caused by chickenpox infection appears 10 to 21 days after exposure to the virus and usually lasts about five to 10 days. Other signs and symptoms, which may appear one to two days before the rash, include: fever, loss of appetite, headache, tiredness and a general feeling of being unwell (malaise)

As I said, Chickenpox is normally a mild disease. But it can be serious and can lead to complications including:

The condition itself last approximately five to ten days after exposure, and is an overall a minor virus; still, there are rare times that chickenpox can lead to complications and become more serious. Some issues that can fall hand-in-hand with chickenpox includes: dehydration, bacterial infections (of one’s skin, bones, soft tissue, bloodstream, or joints), pneumonia, toxic shock syndrome, and brain inflammation (encephalitis). It’s also important to note that chickenpox during pregnancy can cause some issues for babies, including birth defects, low birth weight, and limb abnormalities. Moreover, the threat increases if a woman develops the illness close to having their baby (a week or days, prior to delivery); causing an infection that could be life-threatening for a little one.

Suffice it to say, none of these diseases are anything to mess with. The measles was practically eradicated from the United States. Statistics are being skewed. Anti-vax sites love to use a statistic reported from a few years ago. The claim has been that there had been 102 deaths in the United States due to the measles vaccines as opposed to zero deaths caused by the disease. But think about that a moment! These are false statistics, manipulated to make a point. Measles had been almost totally eradicated! Of course, if there were bad reactions with the vaccine, it would be a higher number when there had virtually no cases of measles to report. There was nothing to weigh it against. No one had the measles at that time! And truthfully, it has never been accurately proven the deaths were from the vaccine. I'm sorry. I do not want to minimize the pain of a parent losing a child. But there are many factors that must be considered before a statistic can be confidently claimed as fact. Neither am I denying that children died after receiving a vaccine. I am only saying there are many factors to consider before placing the entire blame on the vaccine, each and every time. We need to know all truth, and consider all facts to prevent things like that from ever happening again.

Now the statistics in the case of measles are of course a bit different in foreign nations where the vaccine was not available. Consider the deaths caused by measles worldwide, as opposed to here in the United States where the disease was no longer a problem. The truth is, over 110,000 people a year die from measles around the world. The global statistic is down by 80% from an estimated 544,200 in 2000 to 145,700 in 2013 and 110,000 in 2017. This extreme decrease is due to the availability of the measles vaccine in countries that had not before had the vaccine!

So now we have parents throwing measles party rather than trusting a vaccine. This is why exaggerated statements and false facts about the dangers of vaccines is risky. This is where minimizing the effects of the disease has led. Parents who have never experienced the disease first-hand, now believe it's simply a piece of cake - nothing to get all worked up about or worry about; but the truth is it can be a very deadly disease. Please do not take that chance with your child.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chickenpox/symptoms-causes/syc-20351282

https://rmhealthy.com/10-signs-symptoms-chicken-pox/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Google%20-%20CPC%20-%2010%20Signs%20Chicken%20Pox&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-LTRipDH4QIVCh6tBh3ZUQ5pEAAYASAAEgKktPD_BwE