In 2011, Reuters reported a Nashville U.S. District Attorney was warning parents not to mail chicken pox infected lollipops or other materials through the mail. The mailing of infectious diseases through the U.S. mail is a federal crime. They also caution that tampering with consumer products such as a lollipop is also a federal crime. These warnings came after news of a multi-state ring of anti-vaccination parents were sharing lollipops licked by their infected children and mailing them to parents who wanted to intentionally infect their child with chicken pox to give them what they hoped was a mild case of it.
The test for whether you have committed a federal crime is not whether the lollipop was mailed across state lines, but whether it had "a substantial effect on interstate commerce," which could be potentially achieved by having investigators travel to the area to investigate and spend money on a hotel and food.
The parents were also hosting chicken pox parties. Information for parents hunting for infected children was shared on Facebook at one page called "Find a Pox Party in Your Area". I since located other Facebook pages, "Pox Party-USA", Pox Party in the Gulf South, Chicken Pox -- Greater New York Area".
Not only is this illegal, it is dangerous. CDC reports more than 100 children a year were killed by chicken pox before the childhood vaccine became available about a decade ago. Shingles is also caused by the presence of the chicken pox virus, so once you have the disease you may be looking forward to shingles in the future. The chicken pox vaccine allows your child to miss that opportunity.
Troubling is the evidence that this is become a global phenomena, not just an American one. The United Kingdom as well as New Zealand have had reports of chicken pox parties.
The First Amendment provides for Americans to gather in their homes without government interference, but when those gatherings have a serious impact on public health, state governments should consider making these contamination rituals at parties, illegal.
I don't understand why any parent would want to infect their child with a virus intentionally. These people are going out of their ways! Chicken Pox parties? That sounds absurd!
ReplyDeleteThe parents are not thinking beyond their immediate household. What do they think will happen when they send their exposed child back to school and there are children who have not and cannot get the shot? These concerns of putting at-risk children in greater danger should be addressed by the local school administrations and by government for control and prevention.
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ReplyDeleteParents sending chicken pox through the mail is undoubtedly concerning. However, I remember when I was younger, parents encouraged their children to play with children who had chicken pox with the hopes of their child catching it. With that being said, maybe we should go back to that instead of mailing diseases through the postal service.
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