The parents of an unvaccinated Texas child who died from measles appeared in a video formulated by an anti-vaccine advocacy group where they railed against vaccines, even saying the disease “wasn’t that bad.’
A 6-year-old Texan died after contracting measles last month, marking the first death of a child in the U.S. caused by the highly contagious illness in nearly a decade.
Following her death, the anti-vaccine advocacy group Children’s Health Defense met with the child’s parents, whose four other children also suffered from milder cases of the same illness, as reported by Mother Jones.
During the interview, the young couple doubled down on their decision not to vaccinate their child even after her death. Hailing from the Mennonite community, they argued that if measles patients had access to untested treatments, the MMR vaccines would be entirely unnecessary.
“We spent the morning at Dr. Ben Edwards’ clinic, and the parents are all still sitting there saying they would rather have this than the MMR vaccination because they’ve seen so much injury, which we have as well,” journalist Polly Tommey said while interviewing the couple. “Do you still feel the same way about the MMR vaccine versus measles and the proper treatment with Dr. Ben Edwards?”
“Absolutely [do] not take the MMR [vaccine],” said the mother. “The measles wasn’t that bad. [The other children] got over it pretty quickly. And Dr. Edwards was there for us.”
The parents described the symptoms of the illness their child exhibited, beginning with a fever, respiratory symptoms and the notorious rash that often accompanies it. However, days after contracting the illness, the child’s fever continued and respiratory symptoms worsened as she began struggling to breathe.
The girl’s parents took her to a hospital emergency room where she was admitted and diagnosed with pneumonia. After being placed on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit, the child passed away.
The measles outbreak in Texas has spurred…
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