chickenpox party
Deliberate childhood infection
A chickenpox party is a gathering where parents deliberately expose their unvaccinated children to a child infected with chickenpox, hoping to induce infection while young.
The practice rests on the belief that childhood chickenpox is milder than adult cases and confers lifelong immunity.
They invited the whole playgroup over for a chickenpox party when Tommy broke out in spots.
The practice declined sharply after the varicella vaccine became widely available in the 1990s and is now discouraged by medical authorities.
- varicellaBlister-causing viral infection
- childhood illnessSickness typical of youth
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- contagiousTransmissible between people
- virusMicroscopic infectious agent
infection · outbreaks · exposure · itchy skin · herd immunity · anti-vaccine · public health campaigns · social norms · natural immunity · immune system · immune response · informed consent · community gatherings · spots · rash · monkeypox · fever · spread
chickenpox partyvaccination
Administered immunity booster
immunization · inoculation · quarantine · preventive medicine · isolation
chickenpox partyevidence-based medicine
Clinical care guided by research
chicken, chickens, chick, chicks, party, parties, partied, partying, partygoer