One of the worst things that most of us experienced in our childhood was a case of the chickenpox. Many people had them before the vaccine was available and back then, he would sometimes hear about parents who would intentionally expose their child to the virus to build up an immunity.

I heard about these things happening in my hometown decades ago, although I got them naturally, I caught them at school! Many of these parties had reportedly disappeared but now it seems that it is making a comeback. In fact, some parents in Colorado have been organizing ‘chickenpox meetups’ on Facebook as an alternative to having their children vaccinated.

One of the most common methods is known as ‘tenting’. This involves putting a lot of children in a small area with an infected child so that all of them get chickenpox. They are covered with a blanket to create a fort and they will remain in the contagious atmosphere for 30 minutes.

Some parents want to give their children chickenpox in this way to help build up immunity. Doctors, however, are concerned that complications could occur as a result of the practice. Admittedly, chickenpox is a mild condition for most children but a percentage of them could experience severe problems or it could even be fatal.

A screenshot was obtained by Denver’s 9 News from a group post on Facebook.

Some of the symptoms and side effects that are associated with chickenpox include pneumonia, bacterial infections, encephalitis, and sepsis. Doctors would like parents to know that these parties could be dangerous, because they could expose a child or a family member who has a suppressed immune system to a potentially deadly disease.

You can learn more in this video: