Measles Parties: Don’t Do Them
Health Departments have issued a new warning: don't throw a so-called measles party to purposely expose your kids to measles and other diseases.
Throwing parties to expose kids to illness isn't anything new. As a matter of fact, I can remember my friends going to pox parties in the 80's where they were exposed to chicken pox to try to increase exposure as a way to build up natural immunity.
But playing with the measles is a whole different ballgame. As a matter of fact, the California Department of Public Health issued a statement last week that said it "strongly recommends against the intentional exposure of children to measles as it unnecessarily places the exposed children at potentially grave risk and could contribute to further spread of the outbreak."
ABC News chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser echoed that statement, saying measles parties are "a really bad idea. While it's true that most kids recover from chicken pox and measles without a problem, not all kids do. Dr. Besser says the vaccines are much safer than the diseases."
Physician Phillipa Cheetham says that measles parties come with a whole slew of risks, "...But besides you have children who can get issues with ear infections, even inflammation of the brain, pneumonia. These can result in children being in hospital and two out of 1,000 children will die from measles."
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