Dear Anti Vaxxer, I’m Angry!

There was a time when I would read these articles and feel sad, I would feel fearful, worried and uncertain. I would feel empathetic, understanding that as a mother we all have the best of intentions for our children and that we all have choice, perhaps for reasons I may not have understood, parents are choosing not to vaccinate coming from a place of concern and lack of information.

Now, however, after seeing case after case of diseases, like measles, preventable diseases, diseases that were by all accounts non-existent just a few years ago are suddenly rearing their ugly head over and over again I am not sad, I am not fearful, worried, uncertain or empathetic, I am angry and I’ve had enough! I am disappointed that as a collective society we have let fear-mongering and scary words like ‘autism’ lead us to make uninformed and uneducated decisions.

Perhaps I am biased? Perhaps it’s because I had healthy, vibrant, full of life baby boy. Perhaps it’s because that healthy, happy, full of life baby boy, at 3 months of age, got what we thought was his first cold. Perhaps it’s because I walked the halls of my home day and night with my helpless baby boy screaming at a pitch that will haunt me the rest of my life. Perhaps it’s because I watched his tiny, fragile body projectile vomit, convulse and fall limp grey and lifeless in my arms. Perhaps it’s because in emergency I watched detached and frightened as my baby boys veins collapsed, as doctors slammed an injection directly into his bone marrow in a desperate attempt to administer a drip. Perhaps it’s because I gasped in disbelief as they folded and crumpled my son, bent over to perform a lumbar puncture. Perhaps it’s because my world crashed around me as I heard the words “your son has meningococcal B meningitis” a vaccine preventable disease.

Maybe my view is no longer impartial. Maybe it’s because I sat terrified and alone, too afraid to move in the ICU hoping and praying for my infant son now in the fight for his life. Maybe it’s because I was told and prepared in no uncertain terms that my son, my world, my all, could potentially die. Maybe it is because by nothing short of a miracle my son survived and there is no measure to our luck, our gratefulness and our thanks our fight, our battle and our recovery is and will continue be ongoing.

So yes, possibly I am biased and my view on vaccination cannot be impartial. Or possibly I am a mother who has seen and lived first hand the devastating effects a vaccine preventable disease can have on your healthy, happy, vibrant and full of life child. I am angry, I am exhausted and I’ve had enough, how many more children have to get sick? How many more children have to die based on fear based misinformation? As a parent you have a choice, you have a responsibility and you always have the best intentions for your children, visit your GP, immerse yourself and read medically based information, be stronger than rumours and fear designed attitudes and opinions.

A misinformed “what if” is nothing compared to the devastating, heartbreaking and crushing diagnosis of a vaccine preventable disease.