Measles party

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Measles party refers to the conscious bringing together of healthy children who have not been vaccinated against measles with children who are acutely infected with measles. The aim is to infect unvaccinated children with measles viruses so that they can go through the disease and subsequently develop immunity against measles.

So-called German measles parties , in English 'rubella parties', were common in the Anglo-Saxon region in the 1950s and 1960s before the introduction of the vaccination against rubella . The exact genesis of the measles parties is unknown and possibly goes back to a misunderstanding (English "German Measles" vs. "Measles", in German "Röteln" vs. "Measles"). Measles parties took off in the early 2000s, particularly in the UK, when measles-mumps-rubella vaccination (MMR) was mistakenly linked to autism . This assumption could clearly be refuted. For more information, see The Wakefield Case .

Corresponding meetings are also reported for other diseases, such as chickenpox ("smallpox party").

Risks

So-called anti - vaccination parties justify measles parties by stating that measles is a “harmless” childhood disease and that a “natural” infection with “wild viruses” has advantages over vaccination. However, measles disease is significantly more risky than measles vaccination, as it is not uncommon for severe permanent damage and also fatal course to occur. There are different data on mortality from measles infections. They vary from 1: 1000 ( Robert Koch Institute , Germany) to 1: 500 ( Centers for Disease Control , United States) and 3: 1000 ( ECDC , European Union) up to 28% in developing countries. The most common cause of death is pneumonia , which occurs as a complication in an average of 6% of cases. In 0.1% of those infected, it comes to an inflammation of the brain , which results in permanent brain damage in around 40% of those infected. Furthermore, can infaust running subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) can occur in adolescents and children when they fall ill with measles before their second birthday. For example, a fourteen-year-old boy died of this late complication in June 2013 because he was infected as an infant in the waiting room of a pediatrician by an eleven-year-old boy with measles, whose parents had refused to give their son a measles vaccination.

Legal Aspects

According to German law, the deliberate bringing of pathogens - including measles viruses - constitutes dangerous bodily harm "through the introduction of harmful substances" ( Section 224 (1) No. 1 variant 2 StGB ) or attempted dangerous bodily harm; if permanent damage occurs as a result of complications, it can result in serious bodily harm . In the event of death, negligent homicide is to be assumed, especially due to the known danger of measles parties, possibly also bodily harm resulting in death .

There are no published court rulings on the question of whether the legal guardians of a child are liable to prosecution if they intentionally infect their child with measles in order to immunize it.

In a prevailing opinion in the literature, the parents make themselves in this case according to §§ § 223 Abs. 1, § 224 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 Alt. 2 StGB punishable. Whether there is also criminal liability based on Section 223 (1) No. 5 of the Criminal Code (life-threatening treatment) is controversial, as it may fail due to intent, which, however, is questionable in view of the high probability of complications. Parents' consent with regard to the right to custody of persons (§ § 1626 , 1629 Abs. 1 BGB) is ineffective, as it concerns decisions that are existential in nature and therefore unjustifiable. In addition, it should be noted that such consent would be immoral, since measles vaccinations do not involve any risks, while measles disease is associated with the risk of death. In addition to dangerous bodily harm, depending on the course of events, punishment for serious bodily harm ( Section 226 StGB) and, in the event of death, punishment for bodily harm resulting in death ( Section 227 StGB). A criminal liability for violation of custody rights would possibly fail due to the lack of malicious neglect of the duty of care, if parents approve of such a measure, because they mistakenly consider it the gentlest due to ignorance. Such criminal liability would, however, revive if parents were aware of the risks or if they did not consult a doctor after an infection despite the intense symptoms. Evidence of the virus, the suspicion of illness, an actual infection and death from measles are notifiable in Germany in accordance with Section 6 (1) No. 1 (h) of the Infection Protection Act . In the medical literature it is argued that measles parties could therefore be punishable for practitioners according to §§ 74, 75 IfSG, with the same laws in the legal literature the criminal liability of the doctor is justified.

In Austria, intentionally causing an infection can be punishable by deliberately endangering people from communicable diseases according to Section 178 of the Criminal Code . According to the Swiss Criminal Code , criminal liability for bodily harm, violation of the duty of care and upbringing and the spreading of human diseases, although the latter presupposes an act of "common conviction", is possible.

See also

literature

  • Christopher Leander Roth: The criminal liability of measles parties . Gießen writings on criminal law and criminology, Nomos Verlag , Baden-Baden 2013, ISBN 978-3-8487-0378-4
  • Esser, Beckert: measles party. JA 2012, pp. 590-596.
  • Wedlich, ZJS 6/2013, pp. 559-566.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Infectious Diseases: German Measles Epidemic . In: Time , April 24, 1964. Retrieved February 21, 2015. 
  2. ^ Children infected at 'measles parties' , BBC News, July 20, 2001.
  3. ↑ Shannon Henry: A Pox on My Child: Cool! The Washington Post , September 20, 2005. Text online , accessed August 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b measles. RKI Guide to Infectious Diseases - Leaflets for Doctors. Status 08/2010
  5. ↑ Overview of Measles Disease , CDC website
  6. ↑ Measles factsheet ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the European Centers for Disease Prevention and Control , accessed April 16, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ecdc.europa.eu
  7. ^ A b Robert T. Perry, Neal A. Halsey: The Clinical Significance of Measles: A Review. In: The Journal of Infectious Diseases . 189, 2004, pp. 4-16, doi : 10.1086 / 377712
  8. ↑ Measles . In: Epidemiology & Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases - "The Pink Book" , 9th Edition, Public Health Foundation, pp. 131–144 PDF, 830 kB
  9. ↑ FAZ No. 135 v. June 14, 2013, page 8
  10. ↑ See BGH, judgment of November 4, 1988 - 1 StR 262/88; Kühl in Lackner / Kühl, StGB, 24th edition. Munich 2001, § 224 Rn. 1a .; Wedlich ZJS 6/2013, p. 559 (560).
  11. ↑ Jäger, Criminal Law AT, 8th edition 2017, p. 132 with additional information.
  12. ↑ Esser / Beckert, JA 2012, 593
  13. ↑ Wedlich, ZJS 2013, 562
  14. ↑ Jäger, Criminal Law AT, 8th edition 2017, p. 132
  15. ↑ Nicole Saddle Enzler, Brigitte Strasser-Vogel: 300 questions for vaccination. 1st edition. Graefe and Unzer Verlag, Munich 2008, p. 149. ISBN 978-3-8338-1145-6 .
  16. ↑ Zylka-Menhorn: Measles Supposedly harmless virus disease , Deutsches Ärzteblatt, vol. 103, issue 23, June 9, 2006, A 1586.
  17. ↑ Dorothea Habicht: Measles vaccination versus measles party. In: Bayerisches Ärzteblatt 11/2005, p. 760. Text online , accessed on August 8, 2011 (PDF; 117 kB)
  18. ↑ Wedlich, ZJS 6/2013, pp. 559-566.
  19. ↑ Suspected "measles party"? , ORF contribution from April 3, 2008
  20. ↑ Art. 123.2 Swiss Criminal Code
  21. ↑ Art. 219 of the Swiss Criminal Code
  22. ↑ Art. 231 of the Swiss Criminal Code