Mailing Chicken Pox

Article first published as Mailing Chickenpox Illegal and Ineffective on Technorati. 

Mail an envelope containing anthrax through the mail or via a delivery service and you are committing not only a crime but a federal offense. Mail a lollipop or container of saliva from a child with chickenpox to another parent and you are facing the same strict penalties.

Image by Jay-W via FlickrRemember the anthrax mail scares a few years ago? Envelopes coming through the mail with a white powder caused fear in the many and had the power to evacuate entire buildings. Today, many parents are engaging in an activity just as illegal. Mailing lollipops licked by children with chickenpox or saliva from infected children to other parents in the hopes of avoiding the chickenpox vaccine is a crime. It is a federal crime to send diseases or viruses through the United States Postal Service or private delivery services such as Fed Ex or UPS. Those that are engaging in this very risky behavior can face penalties of up to 20 years in federal prison.

In addition to it being illegal, according to health professionals, mailing infected lollipops or saliva from a child with the chickenpox is also highly ineffective, according to Isaac Thomsen, a pediatric infectious disease specialist. The chickenpox virus is typically spread through inhalation. While transmittal in the method being touted online via social media and other groups is possible, is it highly unlikely. What is likely, according to Thomsen, is the spread of far more dangerous diseases, such as hepatitis. 

The dangerous new craze has come to light after a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney's Office in Tennessee reacted to reports that Facebook and other internet groups are trying to connect parents with children with chickenpox and parents who are anti-vaccine. The groups are attempting to create a 21st century online version of neighborhood chickenpox parties where parents would commonly get neighborhood kids together to play at an infected child's home in order to get the disease. The prosecutor warned parents that engaging in this type of activity is not only dangerous but it is illegal.

Parents who want to avoid having their children receive the chickenpox vaccine are placing the children at a serious, and far greater, health risk by literally trading spit with total strangers. In addition to the unhealthy nature of the practice, it is also highly illegal.

Seriously, folks, who thinks of these things? The last thing in the world that I would think is a good idea is taking some stranger's saliva and giving it to my child. 

Read more: http://technorati.com/women/article/mailing-chickenpox-illegal-and-ineffective/#ixzz1d4RBa7i3

Related articles

• Chickenpox Lollipops? Vaccination Fears Lead to Pox Parties (inquisitr.com)
• Fears Over Chickenpox Lollipops For Children (news.sky.com)
• Mailing "chickenpox lollipops" called illegal, risky (cbsnews.com)
• Parents warned against mailing chickenpox lollipops (100gf.wordpress.com)

ITunes Class Action Settlement - Do You Qualify?

Article first published as ITunes May Owe You Money on Technorati.

Wouldn't it be great if ITunes gave you money instead of you forking over cash? If you purchased an ITunes 99 cent gift card to purchase songs for $1.29 on or before May 10, 2010, you might be looking at some extra cash. A class action lawsuit brought by the law firm of Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson LLC on behalf of ITunes customers who purchased a gift card advertising 99 cent music are eligible to receive a one-time ITunes store credit. The credit in the amount of $3.25 will be given to all eligible customers who have completed an ITunes Class Action Lawsuit Online Form.

Although the firm is in the process of emailing potential class members, you don't need to wait to receive the email in order to claim your part of this class action settlement. A class action settlement is a lawsuit brought by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of all those persons who are similarly situated. In this case, the plaintiff alleged that the gift card, which stated that if one purchased and used the gift card, a person would be able to purchase songs at the ITunes Store for 99 cents each.

The lawsuit contended that in April 2009, Apple raised the prices of certain songs to $1.29 and refused to honor the 99 cent gift cards.

Unlike most other lawsuits, there is no minimum age for claimants in this litigation since it is believed that most of the users and purchasers of the ITunes cards in question were children, teenagers or college students, who might otherwise be ineligible to make a legal claim.

If you would like more information on the background of the litigation please visit the law firm's news release.

Read more: http://technorati.com/technology/article/itunes-may-owe-you-money/#ixzz1cbOBKgO2

Related articles

• Settlement Announced in iTunes Gift Card Class Action Lawsuit (prweb.com)
• Steve Jobs (tammyheff.wordpress.com)

HPV Virus for Boys--Will Parents Be Its Biggest Obstacle?

Image via Wikipedia

Article first published as Will Fears of Homosexuality Curtail Parents from Getting Sons Vaccinated for HPV? on Technorati.

The Advisory Panel on Immunization Practices for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just recommended that all boys and young men from age 9 through age 26 receive the HPV vaccine. The vaccine is said to prevent the human papillomavirus or HPV. Girls and young women were recommended to receive the vaccine a few years ago in order to guard against cervical cancer. The advisory panel, which has been considering the expansion of the vaccine to males, released its findings that the male vaccine will guard against anal and throat cancer in males. The panel is recommending that males between the ages of 11 and 12 should be vaccinated along with their other vaccines, but all males between the ages of 9 and as old as 26 receive the three shots constituting the vaccine.

A vaccine against cancer — seems parents would be running their sons to the pediatrician's office to get such a vaccine. But sadly, it is anticipated that the fact that the vaccine guards against anal cancer and throat cancer, two types of cancer associated with homosexual behavior, will seriously curb the number of parents who are willing to seek out the vaccine for their sons.

A similar problem has been evident in the vaccination of young females. Research has demonstrated that parents are reluctant to obtain the vaccine for their daughters, afraid that it will in some way, condone sexual activity. Statistics show that while the vaccine has been available for girls since 2006 only 49 percent of adolescent girls have actually received at least one of the three required shots. As of last year, the total number of adolescent females that have received the full vaccine, all three shots, amounted to only one third of adolescent girls. Since the controversy over sexual promiscuity has shadowed the female vaccine process, the connotation of homosexuality, however misconceived, may prove an insurmountable obstacle to parents of male children. 

Parents of both sexes need to put aside their own preconceptions about sexual promiscuity and homosexuality to protect their children, experts recommend. Experts agree that the vaccine may be the best way to avoid the risk of children contracting the cancer causing virus. To inflame matters even more for some parents is the entire political debate that has recently surrounded the vaccine when Texas Governor Rick Perry was criticized for his mandatory HPV vaccination for females in Texas and Minnesota representative, Michele Bachman's suggestion that the vaccine caused mental retardation. Bachman's opinion was vehemently opposed by researchers and physicians who decried her allegations and publicly challenged her to come forward to proof of her allegations. 

Read more: http://technorati.com/women/article/will-fears-of-homosexuality-curtail-parents/#ixzz1bynwUZhk

Related articles

• Vaccinating Boys for HPV: Why Scientists Say Yes (But Some Parents Will Say No) (healthland.time.com)
• CDC recommends HPV vaccine for boys! [erv] (scienceblogs.com)
• Boys Should Get HPV Vaccine Too, CDC Says (livescience.com)
• Boys should get HPV vaccine too, panel says (seattletimes.nwsource.com)