The parents of a young girl who died after getting measles don’t regret their decision to deny her the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.
Their six-year-old daughter, Kaylee, was the first child in the US to die of measles in two decades when she passed away in February of this year, after ending up hospitalised and on a ventilator.
But the Texas couple, who are Mennonites, believe the child’s death was the will of God.
Mennonites are a group of Anabaptist Christian communities, known for being tight-knit, pacifist and traditional.
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As Kaylee’s death hit headlines in the states amid an outbreak of measles, the parents have done one on-camera interview with the Children’s Health Defense.
That’s the anti-vaccine nonprofit group founded and previously led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now controversially Donald Trump's health and human services secretary.
Between stifled sobs, the pair recalled how their unvaccinated daughter got sick from measles before developing pneumonia in her left lung.
All five of their children became ill with the infection but only Kaylee became seriously ill before dying from related ‘complications’.
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But her visibly upset mum said: "We would absolutely not take the MMR [vaccine]. The measles wasn’t that bad. They got over it pretty quickly."
Speaking partly in English and partly through a German dialect translator, the parents went on to add that it’s 'not as bad as they are making it out to be'.
"The measles is good for the body," they insisted, "because the measles helps to build the immune system in the long run."
When the Children’s Health Defense’s director of programming, Polly Tommey, specifically asked about parents who might be 'rushing out, panicking' to get the MMR vaccine, the mother said: "Don’t do the shots."
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Known for his vaccine scepticism, Kennedy Jr. recently suggested cod liver oil and other alternative treatments that has been 'miraculous' in combating the infection.
He did, however, say the vaccine was ‘recommended’ for the Texas Mennonite community which has been hit by high cases of measles.
Measles is a highly contagious infection that can lead to serious problems if it spreads to other parts of the body, such as pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures.
The standard two doses of the vaccine provides about 97 percent effectiveness against it.
In the UK, the NHS recommends the MMR vaccine for all babies and young children. It gives lifelong protection against measles, mumps and rubella. If you do get mumps after being vaccinated, the symptoms tend to be much milder.
Jess Battison