Chickenpox parties are making a comeback: Is purposefully exposing your child sensible?

Chickenpox parties, once popular with parents in the 70s and 80s, are currently seeing a revival, with some convinced they’re a great idea.

But is it good for little ones to get the dreaded chickenpox over and done with while they’re young, or can throwing children into a room of pox-riddled kids actually put your child at risk?

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin recently made headlines after revealing to WKCT that he and his wife had purposely exposed their five biological and four adopted children to chickenpox.

“They got the chickenpox on purpose, because we found a neighbour that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it,” he said.

A quick scroll of parenting sites Mumsnet and Netmums reveals countless examples of parents being invited to so-called pox parties and turning to the Internet for advice about it.

“My friends little girl has chickenpox and has asked if I want to go round there tomorrow, her little girl is 3 and my (darling son) is nearly 2,” one post reads.

“My (darling husband) thinks it’s crazy to potentially let my (darling son) catch it and cause him discomfort, I think it may be better while he is young, he doesn’t really know how to scratch himself as such and his skin should heal well with scarring while he is so little. (No guarantee he will catch it obviously) but what are your thoughts? I know kids that have caught it at 15/16 and the scarring is bad especially on their face.”

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Parents in favour of pox parties believe that by ensuring that their kids got and then fought off the chickenpox when they were young, they wouldn’t catch it when they were older and less able to get over it.

But purposely exposing your children to illness does seem somewhat crazy?

So what’s the truth about pox parties?

“The subject of chickenpox parties is a contentious one,” explains Dr Stephanie Ooi, a GP from MyHealthcare Clinic.

“It used to be a popular practice as parents believed it was best to expose their children so they would confer immunity in this way. In general it is better to have chickenpox at a younger age as it tends to be less severe. Older children and adults tend to suffer quite badly with the illness.”

However, Dr Ooi says the concern with deliberate exposure is that there is no indication about how a child will react to the illness. As with a lot of illnesses, symptoms can vary from child to child. While one might feel mildly irritated by chickenpox, others could feel much worse.

“Chickenpox is generally thought of as a mild illness however there are some rare complications such as infected blisters, brain and chest infections and bleeding problems,” she explains. “And these complications are potentially life threatening.”

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The illness can also be dangerous for pregnant women, with the potential to cause complications both for the mum-to-be and her unborn baby.

“Chickenpox poses a risk to pregnant women and the foetus if they have never been exposed before or if they have insufficient immunity levels themselves,” Dr Ooi explains. “Any child with a problem with their immune system should also not be exposed in this way.

“Although there is some reasoning in a child having chickenpox earlier, most health professionals would not advocate having these chicken pox parties as a solution.”

Many parents who a pro pox parties also believe that if their child catches chickenpox as a child they can’t catch it again, but according to the NHS, though extremely rare it is possible to get chickenpox more than once.

“Most people who have had chickenpox won’t get it again because they’re immune to it for life,” the site explains. “However, some people who have had chickenpox will develop a related condition called shingles later on. This is caused by the chickenpox virus being reactivated, usually several decades later.”

In the US children are routinely vaccinated against chickenpox, but in the UK the jab is not part of the UK’s routine childhood vaccination schedule, which means it is currently only available on the NHS for those who are at high risk of spreading the virus to particularly vulnerable people.

However, back in 2017 Superdrug became the first retailer on the British high street to offer a chickenpox vaccination.

It was a move welcomed by some parents as many believe chickenpox can be so unpleasant the vaccine should be available to all on the NHS.