A child who was not vaccinated has died from measles in West Texas, the first death in an outbreak that began late last month and the first from measles in the U.S. since 2015.

The death was a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and had been hospitalized last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Wednesday in a statement. Lubbock health officials also confirmed the death, but neither agency provided more details. A news conference is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

MBFC
Archive

  • hperrin@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    That child died because their parents are fucking morons. They should be held accountable.

    • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      Yup. Or if you don’t vacate yourself or your children you shouldn’t be allowed to travel, go to events, and you get medical care in a tent outside

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    If the child could medically get vaccinated, the parents murdered their own kid. You don’t get to be a parent and get something like vaccines wrong.

  • archonet@lemy.lol
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    I feel sorry for the kid, but at the same time, I hope the funeral is the most painful, drawn out event for their parents, that everyone who comes lets them know exactly whose fault it is that their child is dead. I hope it’s a learning experience for them.

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      Unfortunately, no one in the antiVax is going to change their minds until it hits them very close. That kids first cousins might, maybe, get vaxed. More likely, they’ll blame it on the hospital, or the flu.

      Even if they’re willing to admit that the vaccination would have saved his life they’re going to be torn getting their other children vaccinated because of the possible negatives they think could happen. In their view it’s a slight chance of death versus guaranteed autism.

      I bet if you go ask them right now they’ll point out that colds Have death rates associated with them. Just another avoidable unavoidable tragedy.

      They’ll refuse to be reasoned with or educated. These people were literally taking horse dewormer and an attempt to avoid vaccines.

      I don’t think that wishing them extra pain is particularly useful. We’re all mad at them but realistically they’re just undereducated, obstinate, and programmed.

    • Scrollone@feddit.it
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      People who don’t get vaccines are stupid.

      They’re not going to learn their lesson; they’re going to think that it was a random act of God without explanation.

      • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        It is not an uncommon occurrence for evangelical extremists to tell you to be grateful your child or whoever is dead because they get to be with God. These people are mental.

      • archonet@lemy.lol
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        2 months ago

        So where does it say in the original article that these parents didn’t get their kid vaccinated because they couldn’t afford it? I must’ve missed that. See I’m pretty sure it was because they deliberately chose to leave their kid vulnerable to infectious disease, but if you have evidence proving the contrary (not just an article saying “some people don’t because they can’t afford it” – something actually relating to these specific parents who lost a child, demonstrating that they couldn’t afford it), please, do enlighten me.

        • Podunk@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          2 months ago

          It doesnt.

          It also doesnt say that the kid was the child of anti vax minnonites. It doesnt say that they were poor, or the closest hospital was 45 miles away and they had no car. It doesnt say they were a recent immigrant. That seams like easy ammunition for the right. Would be an easy way to demonize people if it were.

          It doesnt say any of that.

          It could have been. But you dont know. And neither do i.

          See how that works?

          • archonet@lemy.lol
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            2 months ago

            All of that is true.

            However, it does say where this kid died. In West Texas. Where there are large swathes of undervaccinated children because of their anti-vax parents.

            See how that works? Or is the power of inference beyond you?

            • Podunk@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              2 months ago

              Inference in this case is only reinforcing your preconceptions and bias. There is no hard evidence in this article.

              Wait. Hold up… i get what you are saying.

              We dont like “the others” They are “the enemy” “They arent like us.” "They should burn for their beliefs and what they do to the rest of us. " “They hurt our communities.” “They sicken our people.”

              Your inference is reductive and crass. It is the excuse of homophobes and racists and facists across the god damn world.

              But you didnt realize that at all, did you?

              You are so caught up in being right and villifying a community with no actual evidence, that you forgot that there are sick and dying children.

              Infer my ass. Where is your empathy?

              • archonet@lemy.lol
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                2 months ago

                Hold up… i get what you are saying.

                Oh, good, you’re not stupid!

                [proceeds to strawman some bullshit of us vs them into my mouth]

                Ah, nope, nevermind, I had too much hope. See, the time for empathy is before someone starts killing innocent children with their ignorance, not after they’ve already started dying. It’s okay, I forgive your stupidity. Better luck next time, sport, but I have better things to do than try to make random internet strangers less stupid, that’s a you problem and I’m keeping it that way. Bye now! <3

                • Podunk@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  2 months ago

                  I dont see any more straw man arguments in my arguement than you have in yours.

                  When there is evidence for why the kid wasnt vaccinated, i will amend my public opinion. Until the reporters or an agency can say definately that the kid died because the family was antivax, i will withold my judgement. Until then, they are a sad statistic in an embarrasing resurgence of a shitty disease.

                  Odds are very good that you’re right, and im appalled that this is happening. but im not condemning them until i have actual evidence. And there is nothing wrong with withholding that judgement. And that is my point.

  • WHARRGARBL@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    The report states that this was a “school-age child”. Because the outbreak is primarily in rural west Texas Mennonite families, the child was likely homeschooled and with parents who, while not opposed to vaccines, are on the fundamental side of religion. Mennonite is like Amish-lite.

    I believe this may have been a combination of poor education, jesus stuff, and misplaced faith in isolation.

  • NoxAstrum@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Not so loud about their beliefs when they backfire, eh?

    I hope this kid’s parents suffer terribly. This child depended on them to keep it alive, literally the most fundamental part of being a parent, and they failed miserably. It’s the worst form of betrayal: the kind that costs lives. I wonder what Jesus would have to say about that?

    • abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      I don’t wish suffering on them. Their child is dead. They’re suffering enough. They’re likely to just hold stronger to whatever beliefs they have and blame whatever bs reason they can think of.

      I hope they learn. They learn that there are truths and things in this world that are real, and everything isn’t some messed up conspiracy theory. That you can challenge others beliefs as long as you also challenge your own.

      The fact that their choice to not vaccinate contributed directly to their child’s death is a hard pill to swallow, but let’s hope they swallow it all the same.

      • HalfSalesman@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 months ago

        You legitimately have too much patience.

        In so far that anyone can deserve to suffer, these pieces of shit do.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    Sorry for the kid. Maybe the parents will also learn the legal side of “criminal neglect”. They simply murdered their own child.

    • mok0@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      These morons think God’s will controls everything, apparently it didn’t occur to them that God also intended for humans to create vaccines.

    • arc@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      The chances of America charging these parents is zero. And this poor kid is just a herald of of things to come - people dying of preventable, contagious diseases because morons and kooks think vaccines are some kind of left wing conspiracy.

    • DNS@discuss.online
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      They didn’t murder they own kid, it was God simply telling them it was their kid’s time to go. I mean that with 100% sarcasm, but there are people out there who believe just that.

  • aesthelete@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    We did it, America! From the brink of eradication all the way to killing children in Texas in around a decade! We’re number one! We’re number one!

    • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 months ago

      I swear I might actually punch someone if I hear them talking about kids dying “with” measles vs. “from”.

  • SPRUNT@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    What a fantastic thing for the parents to experience! I love that they will have to live with the fact that their child is dead of a completely preventable disease purely because of their own decisions.

    • commander@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      What’s sad is, they won’t even change from this.

      That would require admitting they were wrong.

      Stupidly insecure people are incapable of admitting fault unless they literally have no other choice in order to be accepted by their peers.

  • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 months ago

    The danger of a measles outbreak is especially scary if you have a baby, because they can’t even get this vaccination until 12 months old. Similar if you’re immunocompromised, I’m sure.

    This is why herd immunity is so important.