Antivax GOP Kentucky Governor Exposed His Children to Chicken Pox Voluntarily for They Get Sick / Boing Boing

Some people mistakenly believe that chicken pox is a harmless disease, but it can lead to death in children and adults with complications.

In a radio interview, Republican Kentucky's Republican governor in the state of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, said that he had intentionally exposed his children to chickenpox so that they would catch the disease. very contagious and become immune.

Bevin was on the Bowling Green WKCT radio station earlier in the day and revealed that his kids were "miserable for a few days" after catching chickenpox and that they "all behaved well".

Bevin and his wife Glenna have nine children, four of whom are adopted.

Governor Bevin said parents fearing that their children will get chickenpox and want their children vaccinated should do so, but the government should not impose vaccination.

From Courier-Journal of Kentucky, affiliated with USA Today:

In the interview, Bevin also suggested that the government avoid imposing vaccines. In Kentucky, chicken pox is one of the vaccines prescribed to all children entering kindergarten, although parents may seek religious exemptions or provide medical evidence that a child has already contracted the disease.

"And I think, why are we forcing children to get it?" Said Bevin at a radio interview, talking about the chickenpox vaccine. "If you are concerned that your child is getting chickenpox or something else, get it vaccinated … But for some people, and for some parents, for whatever reason, they choose otherwise." It's America The federal government should not be imposing this on the people, they just should not. "

Jacobson said that he recommended vaccines as a safe and effective way to prevent diseases.

"We do not live in the 17th century anymore," he said. "I really recommend that my parents vaccinate their children, do it quickly and recognize that they are doing what is right for their children."

Bevin's comments follow reports this week of a chickenpox outbreak in a Catholic school in northern Kentucky, where at least one student said he was not vaccinated for religious reasons.

Chickenpox is an infectious disease that causes fever and itchy skin blisters. It is preventable with a vaccine that became publicly available in the United States in 1995.

Many people mistakenly believe that chicken pox is a harmless disease, but it can lead to death in children and adults with complications.

The Courier-Journal quotes Dr. Ruth Carrico, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Louisville, Kentucky:

"On several occasions, a pregnant patient was exposed to chicken pox, became ill and contracted pneumonia, and she or her baby, or both, did not survive."

Carrico said people should be vaccinated against chickenpox and get vaccinated not only for themselves, but also for those who may not be able to do so for medical reasons and who are susceptible to infection. .

[Photo illustration from public health imagery and photograph from Governor Matt Bevin’s campaign Facebook page.]

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