The Backward Logic of Chickenpox Parties
Key takeaways
- Ciara Di Vita was only 3 years old when she caught the virus, but she remembers it well—along with the oven mitts she was made to wear to stop herself scratching.
- DiVita, now 30, was actually the second in the chain, having been taken by her parents to catch chickenpox from an infectious friend.
- A lot has changed over the past three decades, most notably the development of a chickenpox vaccine, meaning the virus is no longer the childhood rite of passage it once was.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photo-Illustration: Darrell Jackson; Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Anyone who has had chickenpox shares one distinct memory: the relentless, all-consuming itch.
Ciara Di Vita was only 3 years old when she caught the virus, but she remembers it well—along with the oven mitts she was made to wear to stop herself scratching. She also recalls being taken to hang out with her cousin while covered in blisters, in the hopes of deliberately infecting them.
DiVita, now 30, was actually the second in the chain, having been taken by her parents to catch chickenpox from an infectious friend. “I imagine the chain continued and my cousin gave it to someone else at a chickenpox play date,” she says.