The Shocking Reality Of Not Vaccinating
Tetanus is one of the most horrifying preventable diseases on this earth. Everyone has experienced a muscle cramp, spasm or “charlie horse” one time or another in their lives and is well aware of the indescribable pain that comes with it. Now imagine every single muscle in your body doing this for weeks, sometimes with enough force to fracture bone and pull tendons from their origins. In addition to all of this, without modern medical interventions, your diaphragm, like the rest of your muscles will fail to relax and you will suffocate to death.
I mention this because the CDC has just released a case study of the first pediatric case of Tetanus in over 30 years in the united states (link below). This case study describes in detail how a child was forced to endure the same hell described above for 57 days because his parents refused to protect him from this nightmare by simply vaccinating him.
This child sustained a simple laceration to the forehead and because of his parents delusions, almost died one of the most miserable deaths imaginable. After 57 days (and $800,000 in medical bills), when offered a TDap booster and other vaccinations, the parents again refused. Why are parents that starve their children to death sent to prison but parents that continually fail to protect their children from these horrifying fates are allowed to continue to place their children in harm’s way?
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6809a3.htm?s_cid=mm6809a3_e
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EDIT: I did not think this needed to be said but since my inbox has been flooded with people thinking they have uncovered some grand conspiracy, the top photo is not of the child in the case (obviously), it is an image from the article Opisthotonus (arc de cercle) in anti-NMDAR encephalitis- Guillermo Delgado-Garcia, Vanessa Cano-Nigenda, et al.
I used this image to show opisthotonus which is the keystone symptom of tetanus. I chose this image because while the underlying cause of the opisthotonus in this image is of a different etiology the presentation is identical. Additionally I chose not to include photos of dead children with actual tetanus for obvious reasons.
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Shameless plug EDIT: I figured that along with the overwhelming positive impact this post has had facilitating the difficult discussion of vaccination, I feel I could also use the exposure to promote an organization that I personally support. After watching my best friend battle Hodgkins lymphoma throughout our childhood, I have seen firsthand the devastation of childhood cancer. It is because of this that I am shaving my head for the St. Baldricks foundation next week and humbly ask anyone that is still following this post to consider donating a dollar or two to my page
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(https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/1003203/2019).
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I have absolutely no financial affiliation with this organization and include this shameless request only because it is for a cause that I personally fight for so adamantly.
Credit Drew Matthews
