Kentucky Governor Misguides on Chickenpox
On March 19, in the midst of a chickenpox outbreak in his state, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview that he had not vaccinated any of his children against the disease, choosing instead to purposely expose his kids to an infected person to get chickenpox — a practice that public health officials say is dangerous.
In the course of the interview, Bevin made several other false or misleading statements:
- He said that the people catching and spreading chickenpox had been vaccinated, calling this an example of irony. Some outbreaks include more vaccinated than unvaccinated people, but that’s an expected outcome. Vaccinated people are far less likely to develop the disease and are usually less contagious if they do.
- Bevin incorrectly said that natural chickenpox infection in childhood “will have 99.999 percent no long-term [repercussion] on you.” Shingles, a disease caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus, is a possibility for anyone who has had chickenpox.
- He also falsely claimed that people who are vaccinated against chickenpox “need to keep getting boosters.” There is no evidence that boosters are needed after a person receives the two recommended doses of the vaccine.
Bevin made his comments during an interview with WKCT, a talk radio station in Bowling Green, Kentucky (the interview starts approximately an hour-and-a-half in). According to his campaign website, Bevin has nine children between the ages
