Woman Who Was Never Vaccinated: I've Had Measles, Mumps, Meningitis

[sandilion]

On Friday morning, the Australian website Mamamia republished an article originally written for the parent-led non-profit Voices for Vaccines by Amy Parker, an English woman who was raised in the 1970s by a mother who thought she was giving her daughter the most healthy lifestyle possible. She was wrong.

Parker describes her mother as "crunchy," a woman who fed her organic food, wouldn't let her eat sugar, encouraged time outdoors and staunchly refused to vaccinate her. As a result, Parker got a host of terrible diseases:

As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox, some of which are vaccine preventable. In my twenties I got precancerous HPV and spent 6 months of my life wondering how I was going to tell my two children under the age of 7 that mummy might have cancer before it was safely removed.

Parker's republished article has clearly hit a nerve: it has over 80,000 Facebook likes and dozens of comments from people who also suffered from illnesses after not being vaccinated. That's probably because Parker's is a story that's rarely heard. While the internet is full of anti-vaxxers who speak about the harm vaccines have done to their children, the stories of the people who have been harmed by not being vaccinated are far fewer.

That's because developed nations exist in a bubble where, until recently, the standard of behavior was to be vaccinated. Those who argue against it, as Parker explains, are taking advantage of their good fortune that the majority of people around them are vaccinated. It's ultimately incredibly selfish to not vaccinate your child, if you are lucky enough to live in a country where you even have the opportunity to do so. "If you have a healthy child, then your healthy child can cope with vaccines and can care about those unhealthy children who can't," Parker writes, essentially making the argument that vaccinations are a class issue as much as a health issue.

There should be a real fear of the anti-vaxxer movement. According to a thorough article on the fad in The Verge, 18 states in the U.S. allow parents to sign a "personal belief exemption" or PBE that allows their child to enroll in kindergarten without getting the required vaccines, while 22 states allow the same thing based on held religious beliefs.

That same article discusses the changing tides of "herd immunity." Herd immunity has, for many years, prompted most people to vaccinate, resulting in low levels of people in the U.S. developing once life-threatening illnesses. But now, it's turned around on itself, encouraging new generations of parents to believe their children will be safe even though they're not vaccinated. Author Lessley Anderson spoke to one doctor who pointed out that it's often the same parents who encourage "green" activities (biking, recycling, etc.) that are focused on considering the world outside yourself that also believe in the anti-vaccine lifestyle, which is entirely centered on an individual's personal health.

Certain communities, like in several counties in Northern California, have some the highest rates of people choosing not to vaccinate their children in the country. As an article from KQED demonstrates, over 50 schools in the state have kindergarten classes where half of the grade has a PBE on file. According to KQED, a new law goes into effect this month in California will require parents who want a PBE to talk to a doctor about vaccines before receiving an opt-out. A similar law passed in Washington dropped the opt-out rate about 25%.

As Parker explains in her piece, this actual data is the stuff people should be paying attention to. But if she has to, she'll use her own anecdotal story to get attention to the cause in the same way anti-vaxxers do:

Anecdotal evidence is nothing to base decisions on. But when facts and evidence-based science aren't good enough to sway someone's opinion, then this is where I come from. After all, anecdotes are the anti-vaccine supporter's way. Well, this is my personal experience. And my personal experience prompts me to vaccinate my children and myself.

Link: https://jezebel.com/woman-who-was-n...source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

 

[staralfur]

Love this. At first I found the anti-vax movement interesting (though I never agreed with it). At this point I'm just sick and fucking tired of people discrediting science or believing in bad science.

I think the last paragraph in the original article was bang on. The more people they convince that vaccines are bad, the sooner their kids are going to get hit by the return of these diseases. Makes NO freaking sense whatsoever.

 

[emyandpotato]

I have felt awful in the past about vaccinating Rory as it was something I did just because I was told to, and then I ended up obsessing over attachment parenting and of course for many mothers in that circle vaccinations are practically abuse. I've read on both sides of the argument and honestly it just confuses me, and I have no scientific or medical expertise so I can't even begin to know anything for certain. I do think, though, that I did the right thing in vaccinating him. He's one of those kids who gets very ill quite often and I really wouldn't want to risk him getting a serious illness or putting other children at risk. Thinking about it, our generation was mostly vaccinated, and although there are some supposed horror stories of the effects, the majority of people seem to be fine. Oh, and the article comment about relying on herd immunity as a reason not to vax; I totally agree! Ridiculous.

 

[sandilion]

A even more detailed version of her story:

I am the ’70s child of a health nut. I wasn’t vaccinated. I was brought up on an incredibly healthy diet: no sugar till I was 1, breastfed for over a year, organic homegrown vegetables, raw milk, no MSG, no additives, no aspartame. My mother used homeopathy, aromatherapy, osteopathy; we took daily supplements of vitamin C, echinacea, cod liver oil.

I had an outdoor lifestyle; I grew up next to a farm in England’s Lake District, walked everywhere, did sports and danced twice a week, drank plenty of water. I wasn’t even allowed pop; even my fresh juice was watered down to protect my teeth, and I would’ve killed for white, shop-bought bread in my lunchbox once in a while and biscuits instead of fruit, like all the other kids.

We ate (organic local) meat maybe once or twice a week, and my mother and father cooked everything from scratch—I have yet to taste a Findus crispy pancake, and oven chips (“fries,” to Americans) were reserved for those nights when Mum and Dad had friends over and we got a “treat.”

As healthy as my lifestyle seemed, I contracted measles, mumps, rubella, a type of viral meningitis, scarlatina, whooping cough, yearly tonsillitis, and chickenpox. In my 20s I got precancerous HPV and spent six months of my life wondering how I was going to tell my two children under the age of 7 that Mummy might have cancer before it was safely removed.

So the anti-vaccine advocates’ fears of having the “natural immunity sterilized out of us” just doesn’t cut it for me. How could I, with my idyllic childhood and my amazing health food, get so freaking ill all the time?

My mother would have put most of my current “crunchy” friends to shame. She didn’t drink, she didn’t smoke, she didn’t do drugs, and we certainly weren’t allowed to watch whatever we wanted on telly or wear plastic shoes or any of that stuff. She lived alternative health. And you know what? I’m glad she gave us such a great diet. I’m glad that she cared about us in that way.

But it just didn’t stop me getting childhood illnesses.

I was so crunchy that I literally crumbled.

My two vaccinated children, on the other hand, have rarely been ill, have had antibiotics maybe twice in their lives, if that. Not like their mum. I got many illnesses requiring treatment with antibiotics. I developed penicillin-resistant quinsy at age 21—you know, that old-fashioned disease that supposedly killed Queen Elizabeth I and that was almost wiped out through use of antibiotics.*

My kids have had no childhood illnesses other than chickenpox, which they both contracted while still breastfeeding. They, too, grew up on a healthy diet, homegrown organics, etc. I was not quite as strict as my mother, but they are both healthier than I have ever been.

I find myself wondering about the claim that complications from childhood illnesses are extremely rare but that “vaccine injuries” are rampant. If this is the case, I struggle to understand why I know far more people who have experienced complications from preventable childhood illnesses than I have ever met with complications from vaccines. I have friends who became deaf from measles. I have a partially sighted friend who contracted rubella in the womb. My ex got pneumonia from chickenpox. A friend’s brother died from meningitis.

Anecdotal evidence is nothing to base decisions on. But when facts and evidence-based science aren’t good enough to sway someone’s opinion about vaccinations, then this is where I come from. After all, anecdotes are the anti-vaccine supporters’ way: “This is my personal experience.” Well, my personal experience prompts me to vaccinate my children and myself. I got the flu vaccine recently, and I got the whooping cough booster to protect my son in the womb. My natural immunity—from having whooping cough at age 5—would not have protected him once he was born.

I understand, to a point, where the anti-vaccine parents are coming from. Back in the ’90s, when I was a concerned, 19-year-old mother, frightened by the world I was bringing my child into, I was studying homeopathy, herbalism, and aromatherapy; I believed in angels, witchcraft, clairvoyants, crop circles, aliens at Nazca, giant ginger mariners spreading their knowledge to the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Egyptians, and that I was somehow personally blessed by the Holy Spirit with healing abilities. I was having my aura read at a hefty price and filtering the fluoride out of my water. I was choosing to have past life regressions instead of taking antidepressants. I was taking my daily advice from tarot cards. I grew all my own veg and made my own herbal remedies.

I was so freaking crunchy that I literally crumbled. It was only when I took control of those paranoid thoughts and fears about the world around me and became an objective critical thinker that I got well. It was when I stopped taking sugar pills for everything and started seeing medical professionals that I began to thrive physically and mentally.

If you think your child’s immune system is strong enough to fight off vaccine-preventable diseases, then it’s strong enough to fight off the tiny amounts of dead or weakened pathogens present in any of the vaccines.

But not everyone around you is that strong, not everyone has a choice, not everyone can fight those illnesses, and not everyone can be vaccinated. If you have a healthy child, then your healthy child can cope with vaccines and can care about those unhealthy children who can’t.

I would ask the anti-vaxxers to treat their children with compassion and a sense of responsibility for those around them. I would ask them not to teach their children to be self-serving and scared of the world in which they live and the people around them. (And teach them to love people with autism spectrum disorder or any other disability supposedly associated with vaccines—not to label them as damaged.)

Most importantly, I want the anti-vaxxers to see that knowingly exposing your child to illness is cruel. Even without complications, these diseases aren’t exactly pleasant. I don’t know about you, but I don’t enjoy watching children suffer even with a cold or a hurt knee. If you’ve never had these illnesses, you don’t know how awful they are. I do. Pain, discomfort, the inability to breathe or to eat or to swallow, fever and nightmares, itching all over your body so much that you can’t stand lying on bedsheets, losing so much weight you can’t walk properly, diarrhea that leaves you lying prostrate on the bathroom floor, the unpaid time off work for parents, the quarantine, missing school, missing parties, the worry, the sleepless nights, the sweat, the tears, the blood, the midnight visits to the emergency room, the time sitting in a doctor’s waiting room on your own because no one will sit near you because they’re rightfully scared of those spots all over your face.

Those of you who have avoided childhood illnesses without vaccines are lucky. You couldn’t do it without us pro-vaxxers. Once the vaccination rates begin dropping, the drop in herd immunity will leave your children unprotected. The more people you convert to your anti-vax stance, the quicker that luck will run out.

https://www.slate.com/articles/life...ifestyle_couldn_t_prevent_many_childhood.html

 

[hayz_baby]

It's good to hear the opinion of someone from that side of the vax arguement. She defo relayed my thoughts on vax'ing I a more stronger opinion and I hope her voice I heard more

 

[Pearls18]

I'm sure her story is very rare, I doubt many people would be so unlucky as to get all those diseases, however if this so called "trend" carries on then I think it could become more common with the amount of people no longer vaccinated. Although I think she is the extreme, it is interesting to hear from the "child" in this scenario. The "anti-vax" trend is one of the most infuriating debates I find on this website, I can't say it's something I have ever had to come across in real life (thankfully).

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Interesting.
I was like a PP and was a bit confused about vaccines at first. I read some of the argument on either side and ended up delaying until about 15 months.
I did actually feel guilty for choosing to vaccinate for a little while but it was speaking to my mum that changed my mind. She has awful health and a weakened immune system after catching measles as a child. She maintains now that it's the most ill she has ever been in her life, her and her brother were so poorly from it. She wasn't immunised because it wasn't out back then (or if it was, it was very young and her mum didn't trust it). Had she been though she'd have likely had a much milder case and been able to fight it of easier.

I do agree that it sounds as if this woman has had very bad luck when it comes to her health but I'd rather not take chances. An old friend once took off at me over vaccinating by telling me "vaccines kill babies!". I asked her who she knew that had been killed or affected at all by a vaccine compared to the people I knew (mum and uncle) who'd been badly affected by measles. Well that was over a year ago and I'm still waiting for a reply Thankfully we're not friends anymore!

 

[pinkpolkadot]

I am not anti vax although I do think vaccines probably cause more problems than claimed. DD has had the vaccinations I deem necessary, she hasn't had the flu vacc for example. I personally chose not to be vaccinated while pregnant either (decided on a risk basis).

I don't think it's ever wise to base decisions on anecdotal evidence and I don't like that the writer insinuates anecdotes are the only reason someone would choose not to vaccinate.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Thank you for posting this OP. I do agree it is rare to catch all these diseases but I'm also tired of hearing the anti-vax sentiment of coming to conclusion they know better than doctors by googling.

I'd say I've never met an anti-vax person in real life, only on BnB.

 

[pinkpolkadot]

Thank you for posting this OP. I do agree it is rare to catch all these diseases but I'm also tired of hearing the anti-vax sentiment of coming to conclusion they know better than doctors by googling.

I'd say I've never met an anti-vax person in real life, only on BnB.

Funny you should say that, when I wanted to speak with my Dr about the flu shot last time I was pregnant she couldn't even tell me the name of it let alone what was in it (not saying all Drs are the same BTW) so a bit of googling was certainly needed on my part on that occasion to get even the most basic info.

 

[staralfur]

I'm not sure 'doctors' was the most accurate term, but I know what Shadowy Lady was getting at. As I understand it, doctors are familiar with vaccination schedules as well as the general information but are not required to be experts. You could probably Google a lot of information that any given doctor wouldn't know off-hand.

The problem is people who think they can gain as accurate and extensive knowledge from the Internet as people who have actually spent lengthy amounts of time in post-secondary school studying vaccines, the immune system, infectious diseases, etc.

I've read literally hundreds of peer-reviewed articles on the subject as I'm a student and have access to a lot of journals which many people don't. I am still very aware that I know nowhere near enough about it to pretend that I'm on the same level of awareness as people who have spent AT LEAST 8 years studying the subject in an academic setting.

 

[pinkpolkadot]

OK yes I do agree to an extent with that but I don't like the generalisations about 'anti-vaxxers', after all there are plenty of Drs who themsleves refuse vaccines on a personal basis and some who even speak out against them.

 

[Shadowy Lady]

Thank you for posting this OP. I do agree it is rare to catch all these diseases but I'm also tired of hearing the anti-vax sentiment of coming to conclusion they know better than doctors by googling.

I'd say I've never met an anti-vax person in real life, only on BnB.

Funny you should say that, when I wanted to speak with my Dr about the flu shot last time I was pregnant she couldn't even tell me the name of it let alone what was in it (not saying all Drs are the same BTW) so a bit of googling was certainly needed on my part on that occasion to get even the most basic info.

I totally didn't mean flu shot which I don't get myself. I meant the neceessary vaccination for babies/toddlers

 

[summer rain]

Hmm, some of the illnesses she mentions it is only very recently they had any type of vaccine for it at all, or an effective vaccine. In the case of some of the illnesses she mentions these are still not vaccinated against in many western countries, for example chickenpox because there is no evidence that most people will be harmed by getting chickenpox as a young child but they may well be harmed if they develop it at an older age (and there is no chickenpox booster). I am not anti-vax, even though two of my kids were harmed by vaccines; but this article isn't all that different in tone to some of the anti-vax scaremongering out there. Xx

 

[JASMAK]

Ive met two anti vax in real life....or that make it known anyways. One had a serious case of whopping cough, the other wanted to go on a exchange student thing, and was denied due to her being a risk for becoming ill and insurance etc. I got all vax's for my kids, and we get yearly flu shots. We are healthy.

 

[Tiff]

Hmm, some of the illnesses she mentions it is only very recently they had any type of vaccine for it at all, or an effective vaccine. In the case of some of the illnesses she mentions these are still not vaccinated against in many western countries, for example chickenpox because there is no evidence that most people will be harmed by getting chickenpox as a young child but they may well be harmed if they develop it at an older age (and there is no chickenpox booster). I am not anti-vax, even though two of my kids were harmed by vaccines; but this article isn't all that different in tone to some of the anti-vax scaremongering out there. Xx

There is a chicken pox vaccine here.

In my life, I've met more people who have been super sick in regards to not getting vaccines, than people who have vaccine injuries. The people in my life who claim vaccine injuries don't actually have proof that it did, they are going on gut feeling. Which of course, is nothing to sniff at... Mother's Intuition is termed for a reason.

But if I'm honest, I'm tired of all these "Big Pharma" conspiracies. At times I feel that people will find something to complain about regardless of the circumstances.

 

[TriChick]

I'm vaccinating both of my children for one reason: I ABSOLTUELY could not live with myself if either one of them contracted a serious disease/illness that was preventable had I chosen otherwise. I'll roll the dice on that one. I had mono at 16, and H1N1 about 3 years ago. With both I (as a full-grown adult) was absolutely miserable, and these pale incomparison to the diseases we vaccinate against. I suppose living 100 miles from the CDC, which houses samples of almost every virus and bacteria known to man, has made me a little more paranoid. Thanks, The Walking Dead...

To the OP who mentioned correlating illnesses and injuries to vaccines without proof: I find it very interesting that there is some speculation that Jenny McCarthy's son may have been misdiagnosed with Autism, which she quickly linked to his vaccines. But I have yet to see a documentary titled "Yeah Guys, I May Have Been Mistaken..." pop into my Netflix queue. I won't hold my breath for that one.

Although it may seem like scaremongering to some, I take it as a good example of an individual who grew up sickly and had issues with the fact that her mother decided not to vaccinate her. Often I see the argument that people don't understand the point of vaccinating for illnesses that are so rare. Regardless of how "rare" they are, this is an honest account of someone who suffered long-term because they were not vaccinted. I think that some people take comfort in the belief that these illnesses are so uncommon that their children will not fall victim to them. I'm guessing this woman's mother felt the same way.

 

[Tiff]

I remember chatting with my friend (before I knew Claire had autism) about my fears with the MMR. It hadn't been disproven at that point, and I was worried. She was going to university at the time to work with Autistic children and she totally helped me out in regards to my fears.

She talked to a bunch of her professors who worked closely with Autism departments, none of them felt that the MMR caused Autism. They felt it was an unfortunate coincidence as mainly the signs for Autism really start to show around 12 months, which is the same time the MMR is recommended for children.

She did say however that there's a VERY small percentage of kids who the vaccines WILL make it worse. But that was like a percentage of less than 1%, and she said it was rare.

So I suppose that's somewhat of a correlation between vaccines and some sort of "injury"... I won't get into how I feel about Jenny McCarthy.

I find that people nowadays don't find the diseases that scary, as they've never witnessed them. There's a part of me that is also sad that so many people died of these diseases, and so much time and money was spent to find cures for them for people just to take them for granted now.

It sucks too as I don't feel its one of those decisions that one can say "respect mine, and I'll respect yours". Not vaccinating your child exposes other kids who aren't old enough to get them or elderly people to them. So its not just you, iykwim? Its tough because there's a fundamental part of me that feels that as parents, we should respect each others decisions on what they do with their kids.

But it wouldn't potentially hurt my kid if another parent decided to co-sleep or sleep train, formula or breastfeed, pierce ears or not, or any other hot topic that happens along our way.

Its really tough.

 

[Bex84]

I do get my lo vaccinated, and will do same with number 2 done to. I could not live with myself if I put them at risk of these horrible diseases which up until fairly recent history could lead to death of disability. I also had the swine flu vaccine when pregnant with my lo which I didn't question getting after one of my mums friends who was pregnant nearly died as did her baby just before I was asked if I wanted it, and was a pure miracle they survived. I do know a few anti vaxers and to be honest that's their choice. I know there was measles in my village around time when lo had mmr and it was through the children not vaccinated. I would worry with things like that as well not only is your child at risk but those who cant be vaccinated are at risk. There was a programme on ages ago and they had a couple whose young baby had died of whopping cough as was to young for vaccination and it broke my heart

 

[Sarahkka]

I remember chatting with my friend (before I knew Claire had autism) about my fears with the MMR. It hadn't been disproven at that point, and I was worried. She was going to university at the time to work with Autistic children and she totally helped me out in regards to my fears.

She talked to a bunch of her professors who worked closely with Autism departments, none of them felt that the MMR caused Autism. They felt it was an unfortunate coincidence as mainly the signs for Autism really start to show around 12 months, which is the same time the MMR is recommended for children.

She did say however that there's a VERY small percentage of kids who the vaccines WILL make it worse. But that was like a percentage of less than 1%, and she said it was rare.

So I suppose that's somewhat of a correlation between vaccines and some sort of "injury"... I won't get into how I feel about Jenny McCarthy.

I find that people nowadays don't find the diseases that scary, as they've never witnessed them. There's a part of me that is also sad that so many people died of these diseases, and so much time and money was spent to find cures for them for people just to take them for granted now.

It sucks too as I don't feel its one of those decisions that one can say "respect mine, and I'll respect yours". Not vaccinating your child exposes other kids who aren't old enough to get them or elderly people to them. So its not just you, iykwim? Its tough because there's a fundamental part of me that feels that as parents, we should respect each others decisions on what they do with their kids.

But it wouldn't potentially hurt my kid if another parent decided to co-sleep or sleep train, formula or breastfeed, pierce ears or not, or any other hot topic that happens along our way.

Its really tough.

This.
I was blessed with two healthy boys. I see vaccination as not only protecting them from some serious preventable illnesses, but also part of my social duty to other people, especially those who were not blessed with good health. If getting a few sets of jabs means that my newborn niece or the kids with compromised immune systems are safer, then it is unconscionable to me not to do so.
I do have a science background and am on staralfur's "sick to fucking death" train when it comes to the anti-vax movement. I think we are staring at a major public health crisis if we do not start to challenge the absolutely ludicrous allegations perpetrated by the anti-vax movement. There is nothing wrong with questioning and doing research when it comes to health, but the anti-vax movement is based on paranoia and really really bad science. The ignorance is breathtaking and if the trend continues, the effects are going to be devastating.
One of my jobs as a city parks educator last year was a history program in which I took people on tours of our old cemetery. The place is littered with infant and children's graves. My notes always said "died of fever". A hundred years ago, it was common to lose a small child to these diseases. We take our current low disease incidence so much for granted.