Some people are willing to suffer for their medical delusions. They refuse conventional medical treatment and that is their right.
Some people are willing to let their children suffer for their medical delusions. That’s child abuse.
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]No mother has the right to make her child suffer for her medical delusions.[/pullquote]
How much to those children suffer?
Last year I wrote about Heather Dexter, the mother who boasted about her children’s near deaths from pertussis, whooping cough.
It’s not surprising that Dexter’s children got pertussis. It’s a relatively common bacteria that causes mild illness among older children and adults. It can be deadly to infants and small children and killed many before the advent of vaccines. Now it’s made a comeback and threatening children because their parents are in the grip of a medical delusion that vaccines, one of the greatest public health achievements of all time, are purportedly harmful.
And now courtesy of a different mother, Genna Graham Stead, tetanus is back. According to the mother’s GoFundMe page:
“Remy” is a 9 year old sweet and caring girl … She contracted tetanus, her case is a medical anomaly, she had no wounds, scratches or injuries of any kind. Initially, she was misdiagnosed with TMJ and tetanus was dismissed by 5 other doctors, before finally there was a confirmed diagnosis by the pediatric infectious disease specialist. Tetanus cannot be tested for, it is a clinical diagnosis and with its rarity and only showing minimal symptoms it was difficult to properly diagnose.
No, Remy is NOT a medical anomaly. Everyone is routinely vaccinated against tentanus, with boosters every ten years in adulthood PRECISELY because everyone is at risk of exposure at all times. Chlostridium tetani, the bacteria that causes tetanus, lives in the soil. Although tetanus is typically associated with puncture wounds, the bacteria can get into the body from abrasions that are too small to see.
Early tetanus is a difficult diagnosis in the best of times; it’s made even more difficult by the fact that most doctors have never seen a case of tetanus. It was nearly non-existent before parents were gripped by vaccine delusions. That’s why when Remy developed “lockjaw,” she was thought to have TMJ, joint pain in her jaw.
Tetanus is a terrible disease.
Tetanus … is an infection characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. These spasms usually last a few minutes each time and occur frequently for three to four weeks.Spasms may be so severe that bone fractures may occur.Other symptoms may include fever, sweating, headache, trouble swallowing, high blood pressure, and a fast heart rate. Onset of symptoms is typically three to twenty-one days following infection. It may take months to recover. About 10% of those infected die.
Remy’s suffering is intense. She is awake but paralyzed.
Remy is on a ventilator to control her breathing, as the muscle spasms can restrict her airway. She is in a twilight paralyzed state, she is conscious and can hear everyone around her. She can squeeze our hand to answer questions and nod yes or no. The spasms are triggered by bright light, loud talking or excitement so she wears an eyemask and earplugs to subside the surroundings. She has a “projection” of 6 weeks in this state depending upon the control of the muscle spasms. When the doctors determine they can wean her off of the sedation, they will determine if she is still having the muscle spasms, if she is not then we can remove the ventilator and proceed with recovery and rehabilitation.
And that’s just the acute phase of the illness. She will probably need 6 months of rehabilitation to fully recover.
How is Remy being treated?
The treatment is extensive, they administer Tetanus Immune Globulin to isolate the toxin …
In other words, Remy is receiving antibiodies made by someone else; she can’t make enough of her own antibiodies fast enough because her mother wouldn’t allow her to get the tetanus vaccine. So much for natural immunity.
Her stepmother is furious.
…[I]f she would have been vaccinated like we asked and we’re battling you on she wouldn’t be in this position. None of us would. Now her father who has a 5 day old baby has to make a decision on whether he sits in the hospital and watches his precious, innocent daughter suffer a preventable disease or be at home helping his wife and bonding with his brand new baby… I’m devastated for my husband and step daughter. Yet you haven’t even shown any remorse and declined the vaccine they recommended as part of this treatment. Sorry but people need to know the truth. Yes Remy is the main focus here and we want to get her better. Thanks for everyone’s prayers. She’s in God’s hands which is the best place to be. We love you Remy. ❤❤
Anti-vaccine advocacy is a form of child abuse. Ignorant adults suffering from the delusion that they are “educated” about vacciness deprive their children of basic health care and those children suffer and die as a result.
There should be no exemptions for vaccination of children except if the children themselves have a medical contraindication. No mother has the right to make her child suffer for her delusions.
