Bad Parents Of The Day Are Also Stupid

Last week, we talked here about the stupidity of parents sending lollipops through the mail infected with chicken pox in order to get their kids infected and, in the process, immunized.

We're revisiting it- briefly- today because it turns out that, in addition to the sheer irresponsibility and illegality of the act, according to Mental Floss today, it wouldn't even work. The chicken pox virus doesn't last very long outside of the body, and it would take a huge viral load and a very fast mail delivery to even give the virus a shot at surviving long enough to get into the second kid's mouth. If you're going to get infected, you need to be sneezed or coughed or breathed on. Chicken pox is spread through airborne particles, not saliva.

You could, however, succeed in giving your kid something else that can be transmitted through saliva. Like hepatitis C.

Now I've spent two separate posts talking about how stupid it is to give a kid chicken-pox-laden lollipops. I hope you're happy.