Beware mail order Chicken pox warn Doctors

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 7 2011

Doctors have warned against a new trend that has emerged via social networking websites like Facebook - one that guides parents through a process of exposing their children to chicken pox, so that they can get the virus, early and avoid any need for vaccination.

Years ago, some parents allowed their children exposure to the virus, hoping they would have a milder childhood version, rather than the painful, itchy lesions as an adult.  Some parents still practice this in area “chicken pox parties” that are often talked about on social media sites.

Now the virus is also being circulated via mail. In Nashville a woman reportedly had her child, who was infected with chicken pox, suck on lollipops.  She was posting her plans to send the lollipops to people who wanted exposure to the virus for $50.

Doctors are also speaking out against the idea of sending viruses through the mail, a process which is also illegal. “You don't know what you're getting,” said Dr. Helen Morrow of the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department.  “There are many other diseases that can be transmitted that are not chicken pox that can have more severe consequences,” she added. Morrow says lollipops that have been sucked on may not spread chicken pox, but could spread other viruses like strep throat or hepatitis, and infect people present during the sending process.

“In this day and age I think it's very irresponsible for parents to do this.  And I think it's a reflection of a population that is very anti-vaccines,” Morrow said. “They may think they're getting something, but in actuality they may get something far worse.” Additionally it is a federal crime to send diseases, viruses or a contagion through the post office or any mail transport service and carries a sentence between less than a year to 20 years if convicted.

Chicken pox is an illness caused by the varicella-zoster virus. According to the CDC (Centers of Disease Control), even previously healthy children and adults can get serious complications from varicella. These include secondary skin infections, pneumonia, encaphalitis and even death. Before the vaccine, we had more than 10,000 hospitalizations and 100-150 deaths from chicken pox every year.

Isaac Thomsen, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, said that shipping the infected items is “theoretically possible” but “probably not an effective way to transmit it. It typically has to be inhaled.” But Thomsen also warned that the lollipops could carry other more dangerous viruses, like hepatitis.