Parents Are Debating Swine Flu Parties To Get Their Kids Sick On Purpose

Did your mom ever get you sick with chicken pox on purpose? Ours did, we think. Anyway, we got it from our pinche cousin and man did it SUCK. Well, now some parents are talking about getting their kids together to infect one another with the swine flu and all the doctors are PISSED because they want people to be scurred. Even though an infinitesimal fraction of the earth’s human population has actually died from it, most of those with pre-determined health conditions. Doctors want all the power. Mwah ha ha. Also, we suppose we don’t really know what the hell we’re dealing with. We mean, maybe all those people who haven’t died from it will one day grow a snout or something.

Oh and okay, a scientist blogger on Effect Measure,, where a lot of this swine flu party debate began, has some other good reasons why it might not be a good idea:

• While clinically the virus seems to be resulting in a “mild” flu, even a mild flu is not most people’s idea of a mild illness. Even mild cases of the flu can be very uncomfortable: high fever, wracking muscles aches and pains and a hacking cough that goes on for weeks after other symptoms subside, not to mention easy fatigue and tiredness. This version also has an unusual prevalence of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
• Of course you could get a milder or even asymptomatic case, too. On the other hand, you could get seriously ill. Last I looked there were 35 people hospitalized in the US and as the disease spreads there will be more. The hospitalization rate is somewhat higher than for seasonal flu, especially the relative number of healthy young adults and children. The hospitalized cases seem to have roughly the same age distribution as the cases in general, that is, half of them are 15 years old and younger. Few parents would consider something that sent their child to the hospital a mild illness
• All this is predicated on the virus continuing to act as it does now — or as we think it is acting now. As we pointed out in , we still are not confident we know how severe it is. [Ed's Note: Pig snouts.]
• It may not continue to act as it does now. Flu viruses are notoriously unpredictable. It could just disappear, it could become more severe or it could change in ways that make a subsequent infection possible, as with the changes we see from year to year in seasonal flu
• Given all this, you may still choose to voluntarily and knowlingly infect yourself or your family. But unless you and all your fellow party-goers are also willing to isolate yourselves for 14 days, you also may infect others. You could be spreading the disease in your community to others who have not consented to take the risks you have 

So, maybe we should leave the swine flu parties to cinco de mayo and beer pong in the office break room.

Debating the Wisdom of ‘Swine Flu Parties’ [NY Times]
Swine flu: why we are party poopers [Effect Measure]