Anti-Vaxxer Sympathy

[The Valkyrie]

I used to be an anti-vaxxer in my fundie years. That is until my son caught Pertussis from the child of another anti-vax fundie parent who thought exposure to viruses "made kids tough" and there was nothing sniffing some essential oils and popping Shaklee vitamins couldn't cure. I can't explain how scared I was for three fucking months. Doctors could do nothing, because Pertussis can only be treated in the beginning stage, but most parents mistake it for the common cold as the symptoms mimic one another. Three months of that seal bark cough keeping him up all night, miserable, crying, coughing so hard he would puke on himself. Three long and agonizing months of that whooping cough and then another two of him being congested with thick mucus.

After that I realized that all of these illnesses that children commonly spread among themselves, that anti-vaxxers claim just "toughen them up" are serious. They aren't just a little cough or a little stuffy nose and the Measles aren't just a little itchy rash. My husband caught Measles before the vaccine was available and he went blind for a week and now has a degenerative eye disease because of it. He's completely night blind. So I have a very personal reason for saying a big fuck off to anti-vaxxers who are convinced doctors are trying to kill us and that rubbing rosemary on your kid's feet will cure everything from head lice to Norovirus and that people who vaccinate are "raising pussies".

First up, glad your son came through it, Jaxxie.
Also glad you joined our side.

The whole "toughen them up" argument only kinda works if the kids survive.