SCARE STORY
AN 'Anti-vaxxer' mum has bragged about how she infected 'trick-or-treaters' lollipops with CHICKEN POX in order to give kids 'natural immunity'.
The woman, who purported to be a nurse from Queensland in Australia, shared the news over an anti-vaccination Facebook page on Thursday.
2
In the post, the unidentified woman writes: “So my beautiful son (name redacted) has the chickenpox at the moment and we’ve both decided to help others with natural immunity this Halloween!
“We have the packaging opening and closing down pat and can’t wait to help others in our community.
"If anyone else would like some for their children happy to send via post for $1 plus postage to your location.”
So my beautiful son ... has the chickenpox at the moment and we’ve both decided to help others with natural immunity this Halloween!
Facebook post
The post was shared by Light For Riley, a Facebook page advocating for vaccination after the parents of Riley Hughes lost their son to whooping cough.
Grey Hughes said the post “instantaneously” made his “skin crawl”.
“How’s this,” he wrote.
“1. Get excited by your child being infected with the chickenpox virus.
“2. Formulate a plan to intentionally infect other people’s children unknowingly by distributing contaminated lollipops to the community on Halloween
“3. Proceed to gloat about it on a Facebook anti vaccination group.
“It’s not often I’m lost for words but this just about does it.”
The post since has been shared more than 1,000 times.
The woman who made the original post identifies herself on Facebook with a name ending in RN — standing for registered nurse.
Her profile descirption claims she works as a staff nurse at the “Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane”.
However Queensland Health refuted the woman’s claim and cautioned that the risk of chicken pox transmission from the lollipops would be extremely low.
A spokesperson from Children’s Health Queensland also confirmed she was not a nurse at the hospital, saying: “There are no current or former employees by that name that have worked for Queensland Health as a registered nurse.
“This is a serious issue and has been referred to police, who are investigating.”
A spokeswoman for Queensland Police confirmed they were aware of the post and were investigating.
However it has not been confirmed whether the post is genuine.
FIGHTING BACK
The mother has reportedly continued to claim she’s a nurse.
Fighting back she wrote: “Dear internet trolls. You think you’re right by judging me and my trying to report me and get me fired. I don’t care. The health and wellbeing of my baby is far more valuable than any job," news.com.au reported.
“You say I’m vile and gross like I have done something that hundreds of thousands of parents haven’t already done.
“How many times do you see children dropped off to day care or school when they’re clearly sick and contagious? Exactly!
“And I’m offering life long immunity for the price of a couple of blisters and a few days off school.”
ANTI-VAXXER MOVEMENT
The anti-vaxxer movement was identified as one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019 by the World Health Organisation.
Public debate around vaccine hesitancy has previously included issues relating to the safety of the treatment.
And ethical objections have been made on civil liberties grounds against mandatory vaccination programmes.
But anti-vaccination as an ideology is seen as contradicting the overwhelming medical and scientific consensus and has historically led to deaths from outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
Celebrity mums are peddling the dangerous anti-jab message too, with the likes of Melinda Messenger, Jenny McCarthy and Kristin Cavallari choosing not to vaccinate their children.
2
What the NHS says
All medicines have side effects. But vaccines are among the safest, and the benefits of vaccinations far outweigh the risk of side effects.
As a parent, you can refuse any of your child's recommended vaccinations. This will be recorded in your child's medical notes.
But deciding not to vaccinate your child puts them at risk of catching a range of potentially serious, even fatal, diseases.
In reality, having a vaccination is much safer than not having one.
They're not 100% effective in every child, but they're the best defence against the epidemics that used to kill or permanently disable millions of children and adults.
Source: NHS.uk
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.