When I worked on Capitol Hill, a fantastic Congresswoman died of complications from chickenpox.

[Bleacher Creature]

It was Patsy Mink, who was a staunch progressive and tough as nails, and her death was a huge loss for the country.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patsy_Mink

People who don't vaccinate because they think that it's no big deal for young kids to go through the disease are completely missing the point. It's about public health and protecting vulnerable populations, including the elderly and those with autoimmune disorders.

[meow2u3]

1. To be fair, the chickenpox vaccine wasn't available until 1996

And chickenpox can kill an adult, especially an older one. Question is, when did she come down with chickenpox?

[MineralMan]

2. She died in 2002. I don't remember any push to have

adults vaccinated against chickenpox after the vaccine was available.

[meow2u3]

4. Neither do I

eom

[Bleacher Creature]

7. I get that, and the point I was trying to make goes beyond that example.

People treat diseases like chickenpox and measles as if they were just nuisances, and for healthy young kids that is often true. You see that when people brag about purposely exposing their kids to people infected with chickenpox to get it out of the way early.

But none of that acknowledges that even if the disease is fairly manageable for some populations, for others - including the elderly - vaccinations aren't an option because any exposure to the disease is dangerous.

I get that my example was a bit early, but there are almost surely better and more examples, albeit without a lot of media coverage.

[Bleacher Creature]

3. Fair point, but I was mostly trying to counter the argument that it's no big deal.

The kid in Kentucky and his parents have no problem with him getting the disease because he's young and healthy. They completely ignore the fact that vaccinations are a hugely important public health tool (and they likely don't care).

It's not about chickenpox specifically.

[3catwoman3]

5. If measles and chicken pox were merely skin...

...rashes, they would be no big deal. You can get serious secondary skin infections, pneumonia or encephalitis, or die.

[Hekate]

6. Patsy Mink was a wonderful public servant, and her death was an awful loss