tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post8984746356212702668..comments2023-06-16T09:39:07.504-04:00Comments on Harpocrates Speaks: Orgies of Death - The Dangerous Tradition of Pox Parties and Measles TeasTodd W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16192694127268195554noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-12793324946091627092015-06-25T15:51:26.782-04:002015-06-25T15:51:26.782-04:00For those unconvinced by the decrease in mortality...For those unconvinced by the decrease in mortality rates, the undeniable truth is that a measles infection carries other co-morbidities http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-measles-sspe-20150624-story.html and http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-measles-long-term-effects-20150507-story.html Beckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00471949840350434577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-17440022979028153562014-06-17T07:53:00.620-04:002014-06-17T07:53:00.620-04:00Peter,
It kind of depends on the disease. For exa...Peter,<br /><br />It kind of depends on the disease. For example, those measles teas were definitely a bad idea, since measles is much more dangerous for infants than for adults. It's no picnic for adults, either, but the death rate was much higher for children. But even with something like chickenpox, where there is greater risk if you are older, pox parties were still seen as ill-advised. But like I said in the post, I can sort of understand where those parents were coming from at a time when vaccines were not an option.Todd W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16192694127268195554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-84534502219924008802014-06-17T04:28:24.197-04:002014-06-17T04:28:24.197-04:00Historically, this is quite interesting.
It is cr...Historically, this is quite interesting.<br /><br />It is crazy, given the availability of vaccines, to subject your child to the risk of a disease that could kill, or leave him or her severely disabled.<br /><br />But if vaccines are not available, and the disease is more-or-less inevitable (these "childhood illnesses" are highly infectious, and in the absence of vaccination cyclical epidemics were normal), there was much to be said for doing what you could to ensure that your child got the illness at a time when they were least likely to suffer serious consequences. Most of these diseases are more serious if acquired post-adolescence or in infancy (or before two). So, if your child was over two, and there wasn't a younger sibling in the house, it would be rational to ensure they'd been exposed to these illnesses. The risk associated with acquiring immunity would, of course, be orders of magnitude greater than the risk associated with vaccination; but the immunity acquired would be at least as good and as long-lasting, and would ensure the child wouldn't catch the disease when older (and more likely to be seriously ill or die); and maybe would ensure they were not an infection source when there was an infant in the house.Peter M B Englishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17032739079250190441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-46578325129707886052014-06-16T22:40:02.564-04:002014-06-16T22:40:02.564-04:00I had never heard of scarlet fever parties, then o...I had never heard of scarlet fever parties, then or now. If we're not having them now, what was it that made them go away? It's not like everyone out there gets why we treat scarlet fever (to prevent the much more dangerous rheumatic fever). If we knew (and maybe it's just that scarlet fever isn't as attractive to pseudoscience loons) it could help battle against these "pox parties". Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017940269859801483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-82285240827644983112014-06-16T13:27:08.282-04:002014-06-16T13:27:08.282-04:00It is interesting to search the early papers on Pu...It is interesting to search the early papers on PubMed, and they keep adding more full texts all the time. One I found was on statistics, which had some strong words on the last page to those who claim measles is "mild":<br /><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1286334/pdf/amjphealth00116-0001a.pdf" rel="nofollow">A STATISTICAL STUDY OF MEASLES (1914)</a><br /><br />Here is a take down of someone who downplays the severity of measles, <a href="http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/papa-scared-shmeasles-measles/" rel="nofollow">This Papa is scared of the shmeasles measles</a>, by the Skeptical Raptor.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14428361191787397415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-6259732350013439202014-06-16T11:38:07.432-04:002014-06-16T11:38:07.432-04:00Yeah. Sadly, there will probably always be a cohor...Yeah. Sadly, there will probably always be a cohort of people who just don't understand or refuse to accept the risks of diseases and try to make reality fit their notions, rather than adjusting their notions to fit reality.Todd W.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16192694127268195554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3609683919099708226.post-86609659292194999232014-06-16T11:34:12.321-04:002014-06-16T11:34:12.321-04:00It's almost as if there is nothing new under t...It's almost as if there is nothing new under the sun, or something.<br /><br />Thanks for this write-up. It puts a lot of the nuttery in context.Renhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02165486823815850422noreply@blogger.com