Colorado Community Organizes Dangerous 'Chickenpox Party' to Infect Their Kids

Sometimes being a party pooper is the best decision you can make.

Way back when—before there was a vaccine for chickenpox—parents would encourage their healthy kids to play with those who have the highly-contagious virus in the hopes they’ll contract it from germ exposure. The end game was to get the one-time-occuring virus over with early in life.

A Colorado Facebook group is bringing back this outdated tradition, using a little girl who has varicella, aka chickenpox, to spread her germs to other kids in the neighborhood.

Screenshots sent to the private Facebook group were acquired by 9News.com, and show parents swapping strategies on how to get children sick, the news outlet reports. One specific post comes from an anonymous mother whose daughter has chickenpox, and as a result has been “swamped with requests" to spread the virus around.

“I have been swamped with requests to have my daughter ‘share her chicken pox,’ and I can accommodate as many requests as possible. My 17-year-old son broke out in blisters yesterday, and he has not even been here for a week,” she exclaims.

Eager to share the “pretty contagious wild virus” with her community, the mother welcomes all into her home.

“I can accommodate visitors between noon today and 2:45 p.m.” she explains. “Afterwards, I can have visitors between 3:45 and 7:00 p.m., preferably before 5:30 p.m.”

But no fear. The mom says, “If these hours don’t work for you, please let me know and I will do my best to let you in.”

Many are alarmed by the post, which has gained a lot of traction pretty quickly. Similar “chickenpox parties” have sprung up in the past, and doctors then and now have warned against them. The thinking being, why subject kids to the virus when there is a vaccine to prevent it? And experts say contracting the disease naturally can pose serious threats for a child.

“Chickenpox is a mild disease for many children, but not all. There’s no way to know who will have a serious case. When your child gets the chickenpox shots, he or she is getting immunity from chickenpox without the risk of serious complications of the disease,” the CDC says.

The takeaway: The next time your pox party invite comes in the mail, kindly RSVP “no."

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