American parents caught selling chickenpox-infected lollipops

[Thomas]

American parents caught selling chickenpox-infected lollipops. Photo Rex

American parents have been caught selling chickenpox-infected lollipops to other families who want their children to catch the virus while they are young.

Prosecutors in Tennessee have been forced to issue a warning that sending viruses or diseases by post is illegal, after parcels of the infectious sweets were discovered on sale over the internet.
Wendy Werkit, of Nashville, offered to send other parents a "fresh batch of pox" on lollipops or cotton-buds in return for $50 (£31) via PayPal.

Mrs Werkit told a local television station that she had been inspired to sell the products because parents were frustrated that "they can't get it the normal way any more".

Her advertisement was placed on a Facebook page intended to help parents find a "pox party" in their local area, where children can mix and pick up the virus, which can be more dangerous if suffered later.

Advice for the best way to send chickenpox emerged in a thread of postings on the site. "Tuck it inside a ziplock baggie then put it in the envelope," it said. "Don't put anything identifying it as pox."

Jerry Martin, the US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, condemned the practice and said that it was a federal crime to send diseases or viruses across state lines.
"If you are engaged in this type of behaviour, you're not only potentially exposing innocent people to dangerous viruses and illnesses and diseases, you're also exposing yourself potentially to federal criminal prosecution," he said.

Opinions?

[Accipiter]

Hilarious.

It's like an American Dad episode in one, I don't see any problem with it, it's just like injecting a child with a flu so their immune system becomes use to it.

[LoveToStack]

Seems like a fine idea. It is much worse to have it as an adult than as a child iirc so why not. It seems like the issue here is just regarding the law of ferrying diseases across state lines rather than the moral implications of infecting kids since no one seems to care about the practice of 'pox-parties'.

I wonder if it was a long term operation though because how can you maintain a steady supply of chickenpox lollipops? I assume they just had their kids cough over a bunch and thought they'd make a quick buck off the back of the whole thing as a one-time deal.

It's no surprise they got caught though. Even with the potential benefits of catching chickenpox as a child you're bound to get someone reporting it. If there are people who are opposed to state-provided vaccinations then it seems unlikely that they're going to let someone trying to make money off of a DIY job slip under the radar.

You'd think they'd go through Tor or something rather than a bloody Facebook page lol.

[Slowpoke]

I like the idea actually

[geo]

That's quite sneaky. Not sure whether I like it or I don't, they're kind heloing the people. :p

[beth]

it's quite a clever idea. i've never had chickenpox and my mom often says it would've been better for me if i'd had with my sisters when i was younger.

[GommeInc]

A nice idea but stupid to send it in the post. I can see why she's in trouble as it is completely stupid considering the post is handled by hundreds of thousands of postal workers in the US. They are likely to pick it up and either catch it themselves or pass it on to others. Unfortunately, I doubt she has the funds to travel personally with the virus.

[Eric]

This will be another reason not to accept sweets by people lol.

And i think it's a pretty good idea. My mom said chicken pox was awful

[HotelUser]

No, this is not a good idea because the varicella vaccine (otherwise known as just a vaccine against chickenpox) is all you need for your body to build antibodies against the disease. People in 2011, no, people starting in the 90s don't need to ever have chickenpox. Children only need this cheap or often free vaccine from their local physician.

Outright exposing children to chickenpox is wreck-less to the child (the chance is low but still there that they could become seriously ill), and it's also wreckless to society because 1) children who didn't want anything to do with these lolipops are being exposed via parents who purchased them, and 2) contrary to what most people think, you can get chickenpox twice. Immunity to a varicella vaccine can fade gradually. The only safe way to irradiate chickenpox is to vaccine our population (which is the popular method anyway), and since vaccination is already the norm when we all have children in ten years chickenpox will be left in the past (infact it's not even spoken of as often today because of the already existing vaccine). If nobody has it anymore, and everyone is vaccinated against it, it's a dead disease.

[@]@LoveToStack[/@] [@]@slowpoke[/@] [@]@bubblegunk[/@] [@]@gommeinc[/@]

[Stephen]

^ someones upset cos they didnt get one