Forget those scary needles. For all you vaccine-wary parents out there, the way to get a youngster immunized against disease is through his sweet tooth. For $50 a pop, your child can lick or suck his or her way to vaccination.
Or, for parents concerned about post-Halloween candy overload, the mail-order lollipop -- which has been "licked by a stranger’s infected kid" -- can be substituted for good old-fashioned infected spit!
According to the Time.com report, authorities are already cracking down on the "get sick quick" scheme, warning that chicken pox candy is not only bizarre – it’s also illegal.
“Can you imagine getting a package in the mail from this complete stranger that you know from Facebook because you joined a group, and say here, drink this purported spit from some other kid?” Nashville federal prosecutor, Jerry Martin, told the Associated Press.
While it's theoretically possible to transmit the virus this way, chicken pox is typically "inhaled" according to Isaac Thomsen, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Besides, Thomsen added, sharing lollipops could inadvertently spread more dangerous viruses, such as hepatitis.
Although chicken-pox-related deaths have more or less been phased out with the vaccine, the Facebook group “Find A Pox Party Near You” isn't convinced.
“We, as parents, know what we’re doing,” wrote the page's administrator. “Healthy kids don’t die from chicken pox, and our children are healthy, generally with extremely strong immune systems.”
As an adult who has never contracted chicken pox, I'm hoping for immunity. Just in case, can anyone tell me where the nearest pox party is?
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