
Italian ‘anti-vax’ advocate Massimiliano Fedriga catches chickenpox - YeGoblynQueenne
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/massimiliano-fedriga-no-vax-advocate-catches-chickenpox-cbnpkdbh6
======
alanfranz
While I don't especially like the guy (he's the governor of my very state),
the title is clickbait and the news is NOT ACCURATE.

Fedriga is 38 years old, just like me; and, when he was a child, just like me,
chickenpox vaccination WAS NOT MANDATORY IN ITALY, nor it was recommended. I
was not vaccinated against chickenpox, either, while I did all recommended
shots.

It is mandatory TODAY, and he has already stated that his children ARE
vaccinated.

The only reason because this was news is because he has stated that he's
against the Lorenzin law which makes vaccination required in order to go to
school.

EDIT: In the 80s there was no chickenpox vaccine available at all.

EDIT 2: Fedriga's answer to his haters:

[https://www.facebook.com/massimilianofedriga/posts/101620342...](https://www.facebook.com/massimilianofedriga/posts/10162034241635393)

(can't seem to make google translate work on fb, you'll need to copypaste the
text yourself)

~~~
simonh
I didn’t see what is inaccurate, he is an anti-Vaxer and he has caught chicken
pox. Low rates of vaccination, for whatever reason, carry significant risks of
increased infection rates. He’s lucky it’s just chicken pox, but the reason
this should be news and is important is that people are dying needlessly from
measles.

Infections and deaths from measles are on the rise in countries with
significant anti-vacination movements. This nonsense is killing people.

~~~
alanfranz
Why is he an anti-vaxxer? He's got all his recommended shots, and his kids got
those as well.

He's against the mandatory vaccination law... but you should remember his
party is an opponent of the party who introduced such law. It's more about
politics than being an antivaxxer.

And many countries in the world don't mandate vaccination - is it full of
antivaxxers out there?

------
setquk
Having had chicken pox as an adult I hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

Took me two years to get over it completely.

------
choeger
Dangerous for pregnant women IIRC. And can cause complications later in life,
afaik.

Either he shakes it off, feeling confirmed in his pov. Or he suffers
miserably. Both are no outcomes I wish.

~~~
ahoka
Apparently - like other herpes viruses - the virus remains inactive after
recovery and can resurface at older age. I had chickenplox as a child, ouch.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shingles)

------
gbrown123
So what is the news? Nearly every child had that some decades ago.

It isn't like measles, which _was_ vaccinated against back then.

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lixtra
He probably had a higher contact rate with non-vaccinated population.

I don’t see a reason to mock him and wish a fast recovery.

~~~
short_sells_poo
I do wish him a fast recovery, but I don't mind him being mocked.

He knowingly preys on people's ignorance and fears and the damage he causes is
not even confined to himself or the people who listen to him, but people who
can't vaccinate their children for legitimate reason are put in danger because
of his actions. Even people who do vaccinate their children are put at risk
because herd immunity is compromised.

~~~
manicdee
I do mind him being mocked when mocking him means you have totally failed to
understand the situation.

------
dylz
At least he sticks to his word and doesn't take vaccinations himself?

~~~
danieldk
Chickenpox vaccinations are not mandatory in all of Europe. E.g. our daughter
was vaccinated against chickenpox because we lived in Germany at the time
(where they have been vaccinating against chickenpox since 2004), but kids in
The Netherlands (where we live now) are not vaccinated against chickenpox.

~~~
jackweirdy
The NHS also do not vaccinate for chickenpox in the U.K, arguing that
vaccinating children (where chickenpox is mild) makes the the health risks for
adults more severe

[https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-
health/...](https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/childrens-health/why-
are-children-in-the-uk-not-vaccinated-against-chickenpox/)

