As measles takes toll on kids, anti-vaxxers have change of heart
After measles outbreaks across Texas, South Carolina, Utah and elsewhere, some anti-vaccine parents are having a change of heart and shunning online influencers in favor of vaccinating their children.
Bloomberg News via MSN
Katie Jennings was scrolling on her phone last April when a headline stopped her cold. A second unvaccinated child had died of measles in her home state of Texas.
It was a tipping point for the 40-year-old stay-at-home mom who had grown up in a staunchly anti-vaccine, fundamentalist Christian community. “What are we doing? Why are we doing this?” she remembers thinking. “I wanted to protect my kids.”
She took all six of them to get the measles, mumps and rubella shot. Then she posted an emotional TikTok aimed at the anti-vax crowd she used to be a part of: “You can change your mind,” she said in the video that’s been watched more than 422,000 times.
Measles has been spreading in the U.S., reaching infection levels not seen in decades and threatening the country’s elimination status. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 1,748 infections as of April 17 — a rate that’s far outpacing last year’s total — though public health experts say the national numbers are likely a gross undercount.
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