This Doctor’s Brutally Honest Sign About Not Vaccinating Your Kids Is Going Viral
An Australian doctor has gone viral for her message on viruses. Two years ago Dr. Rachel Heap, of the Northern Rivers Vaccination Supporters (NRVS) in New South Wales, posted a rant on her organization’s Facebook page about the importance of vaccinating children which then turned into a meme. Well, that meme now graces the wall of a Colorado doctor’s office and thanks to patient Sunni Mariah, Dr. Heap’s words have spread around the internet like wild-fire.
It all started when Mariah noticed a sign in her doctor’s office with the headline, “Not vaccinating your kids leaves them vulnerable to disease their whole lives.” The sign continued with a series of tough questions such as:
“What do you tell your son when he breaks the news to you that he cannot have kids, thanks to the mumps that he got as a teenager?” Mariah snapped a photo of the sign for Facebook, captioning it as “some serious shade” towards anti-vaxxers and the post took off, racking up 4.8k comments and 191k shares on Facebook.
Dr. Heap says she was “frustrated and emotional” when she wrote the post, but still gave the doctor’s office permission to hang the print. With a growing number of anti-vaccine supporters, Dr. Heap and NRVS fight misinformation and misunderstanding of vaccines in their community as well as encourage a dialogue. With over 20 years as a doctor, ten years in intensive care across rural Australian areas and six months in the kids Intensive Care (PICU), she’s had her fair share of experiences with vaccine preventable diseases.
“It was whilst working in kids ICU that I first heard of the ‘anti-vaccination movement’ and saw directly the impact their misinformation had,” Dr. Heap told Bored Panda;
“On my first day at work, I looked after a baby with pertussis (whooping cough). They survived, but spent nearly 6 months of their life in ICU. The second baby I saw with pertussis did not make it.” She says these patients and their families are “her ghosts,” and drive her to do what she does.
Since the post went viral, Dr. Heap said she and Mariah have been keeping in contact. “No way were we expecting this – I wrote those words 2 years ago – who could possibly have thought that two years later I would be on international news sites and shared by George Takei?”
Scroll down below to read the full sign from Dr. Heap and share your thoughts on the topic! (Facebook cover image: Theerawan Bangpran)
Twenty-six-year-old Sunni Mariah was at the doctor’s office when a sign caught her eye
A print of a meme written by Australian doctor Rachel Heap, aimed at anti-vaxxers explaining the risks of neglecting to vaccinate children
Well her words definitely hit a nerve, because the internet is abuzz with comments
246Kviews
Share on FacebookWon't vaccinate but will take antibiotics if they get an infection somewhere. They'll take drugs to help control epilepsy, diabetes, heart conditions, depression, gastric reflux, migraines. They'll take drugs to treat cancer. They'll have an operation and have anaesthetic, post operative pain killers... Yet, all drugs carry a risk. Diseases carry a MUCH bigger risk and not just to that individual. Oh, and I do wish people would stop raising autism and vaccines. THERE IS NO LINK. Educate yourselves by looking at proper studies. Don't take your information from scare-mongering newspaper articles or some celebrity who doesn't know better.
A lot of anti vaxxers are also anti medicine. They only use holistic, "alternative" treatments.
Load More Replies...Oh and the parent who won't give their child the HPV vaccine? A new review, which involved data from more than 73,000 girls and women, has concluded that it is safe and effective. The analysis by the non-profit, non-governmental organisation, the Cochrane group, examined 26 studies carried out across the world over the past eight years and concluded that they “did not find an increased risk of serious adverse effects”. Regular screening is sensible as HPV is not the only cause of cancer but add in safe sex as well. HPV is very easily communicable and can affect a variety of body parts, so it won't be a 100% guarantee but it will be a very, very good start. The jab would still be better.
I am a super proponent of vaccines. I don't fault anyone for passing on the HPV vaccine right now though. There have been serious side effects caused by the vaccine. The CDC reports that of the side effects reported, 6% are considered serious. I think that the parents should sit down with their pre-teen and let the child be part of the decision making process. If the pre-teen wants the vaccine, then the parent should do it. I personally wouldn't have wanted that one particular vaccine and indeed have chosen not to get it for myself. Everything else though I stay current on.
Load More Replies...I am not ashamed to say I got HPV - it sits in your system for many years then comes out to catch you - I wish they had this vaccine when i was at school
It is extremely common. Which makes the vaccine even more of a sensible thing to have.
Load More Replies...Never was a problem at our house, because neither my wife nor I am stupid. Science people... science. Learn what it is and stop getting your life advice from actors, actresses and religious people.
I am religious and I will vaccinate my kids. Nothing wrong with the combination here.
Load More Replies...A colleague's mother got chicken pox when he was in utero. He got shingles at 4, almost died, almost went blind. I got shingles last year; I'm young and healthy--it almost killed me. They now have a chicken pox vaccine. Take it.
I don't understand how some have left a laughing emoticon on posts like this...Who, on the other hand, is obvious, namelijk anti-Vaxxers.
I'm moved. Seriously. But I got my kids vaccinated. Who is reading these articles? Those who know what the right thing to do is. How do we reach out to those who might not be firmly planted in the anti-vaxx camp, but still leaning that way?? How do we change minds? "the internet is going viral over this one particular post" isn't really doing it.
I've got no problems with the regular vaccines for the likes of MMR etc, but I am honestly not so sure about the HPV vaccine, as it clearly needs more testing as to safety, as young people have fallen seriously ill after being given it, and in some cases, it's mandatory. There is something about the vaccine in some cases, that is affecting people in very debilitating ways, sometimes puts people into coma, or more rarely, even worse, and there is just too many cases. This is not what you expect from a safe vaccine. The flu vaccines has been shown to be little more than sugarpills, actually not working. as the strains mutate too fast, but for the majority of the standard vaccines, could i go without them? Hell no.
My aunt's family didn't have the means to vaccinate her against polio so she got it when she was 9 months old and has struggled with paraplegia her whole life. Her life quality is poor, her mental health is poor, and to see that there's parents out there who risk their children's quality of life in the name of pseudoscience pisses me off. Not to mention that they put other people's health at risk...
I have all or most of my vaccines that are entirely necessary but it's really hard to get vaccines for me because I have trypanophobia
this is why herd vaccination is so important--to protect people like you
Load More Replies...get a load of this preachy b******t. and that emotional blackmail...holy hell, imagine this b******t but about a different thing..white pride, religious dogma, drugs? let's see your applaud then. because it's written in the same nonsensical guilty trippy way. make vaccinations free and you won't have the problem. done
As inhumane as it may sound im at a point that if it wasn't for those that have no fault in all this, i would say, ok, you refuse vaccination? thats ok its your right to do so, but you should be refused any and all health-care services, medicine prescriptions and aid as well and let nature run its course. And if children are involved then the parents or those in charge of them should be considered a social risk and charged with child neglect and unfit to raise said children.
I've found that the bottom like for most american anti vaxxers is that they are not free. They try to find excuses for not having to spend the money, and try to justify it by saying 'well my kids are healthy and none have died so far' without considering the chances they are taking... Not being able to afford it may also mean that the majority are not very well educated either, so any proof scientifically provided is dismissed, because they just don't understand it. Most pro-vaccine places are places where these are provided for free and generally have a standard level of education and healthcare accessible to all.
Whistleblower Dr. Judy Mikovits - 11 Minutes That BLEW ME AWAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZETbXCqCM 25 million Americans, alone, infected through vaccine labs and vaccines. 25 million!!! And antivaxxers are the danger... Jailed, without trial, without hearing, without the opportunity to make a defense, for showing the data. For showing the data. Who's a dangerous idiot? An NPC is a dangerous idiot. Useful, dangerous idiots.
I'm all for vaccines, except the hpv, because I just don't see where the benefit is : you still have to have a papsmear for testing the other cancers, and if a hpv is found with it, it's early enough to get rid of it, so what the heck is it sparing me ? Call me when the hpv vaccine gets me rid of the necessity of having a papsmear...
When I was a teenager I was chosen to be part of the HPV vaccine tests. I could have got the HPV vaccine for free. But I accidentaly threw the unopened envelope that included the invitation to trash and I later I noticed an unopened envelope at my tashcan, opened it and I realized my mistake. Then it was too late to get a free HPV vaccine. I have always taken all vaccines that is possible so missing the HPV vaccine sucked. Nowadays HPV vaccine is free for all 11 or 12 year old girls in my country (Finland). Others have to pay to get that vaccine.
He had contracted a sub clinical case of the mumps.. not vaccinated, and now, he will never be able to have children unless he adopts. Which is awful. Adoption is wonderful, but not being able to become a parent by the normal way? Awful. Now, mom and dad... say your sorry you won’t have any natural birthed grandchildren from him....
If I were a mother, and just had a baby, and your kids who weren’t vaccinated, got some awful childhood disease, and then passed it to my baby? Well, I would sue you out the wazoo, for your irresponsible behavior as a parent, and member of the community. But I’m not a parent. I am a nurse. And I hope I never see an outbreak of small pox, measles etc. they can be deadly. I was born in 1959. I had all the childhood diseases because there were no vaccines at the time. Except polio and small pox. But when as. A nurse I had to get vaccinated for MMR, it was because there was an outbreak of it in the community, and unvaccinated people got it, babies, .. so do yourself a favor, vaccinate your kids, please. Don’t hurt their future, or others futures. Because if one of your kids grows up and wants to travel? They will be a walking billboard for all of those illnesses. And I did take care of a young man who hadn’t had his mumps vaccine, and he was, at 17, found to be sterile from the disease
My son has a deficient immune system because he is on chemotherapy for cancer treatment, and he is kicking cancer's a*s. But let me tell you. If some stupid parent's idiotic "choice" kills him, I have nothing left to lose. I wonder how they would feel if they were in my shoes - how would they REALLY FEEL if their child's life very literally could be ended by another parent's stupid, uninformed, idiotic, senseless choice.
Load More Replies...There's no point in trying to convince or argue with anti vaxxers, they just do the equivalent of 'I know I am, but what are you?' thing that 6 year olds do when they argue.
so medicines were created out of necessity to fix/help/cure/aid the sick, needy, dying. because there was a problem many skilled medical people worked on fixing them, to various levels of success. And people are saying they don't need them? And as if that's not bad enough they put their opinions on their children and speak for them. This is just... why?
We didn't experiment lethal epidemic for a long time. With science, medecine, hygiene, more efficent agriculture, our live expectancy grew. In countries without war in the last 70 years, we mostly die old. And some people just forgot this is not "natural". Without science, medecine and vaccins, people died from flu. What we call in France "Spanish Flu" killed more people in the world that WW1 because it touch us at a time people were not well fed because of the war, doctors were mostly near battlefield... (the people that got the previous flu, less virulent survived... naturel vaccin). I'm sure that people in area Ebola is endemic would love to have a vaccin, idem for the women that got zika virus while pregnant. So big pharma makes money on our sickness. Pharmaceuticals comes withside effects. Even St. John's wort can cause depression. Yet vaccins save life!! They are beneficial for humanity. Point.
Load More Replies...Has it been dropping? You can't go by the posts you see. You don't have access to page visitors and other stats. Vaccinations are vitally important and if this changes the mind of one fool anti-vaxxer then bloody good job too.
Load More Replies...I feel sad for you and your tiny brain.
Load More Replies...Won't vaccinate but will take antibiotics if they get an infection somewhere. They'll take drugs to help control epilepsy, diabetes, heart conditions, depression, gastric reflux, migraines. They'll take drugs to treat cancer. They'll have an operation and have anaesthetic, post operative pain killers... Yet, all drugs carry a risk. Diseases carry a MUCH bigger risk and not just to that individual. Oh, and I do wish people would stop raising autism and vaccines. THERE IS NO LINK. Educate yourselves by looking at proper studies. Don't take your information from scare-mongering newspaper articles or some celebrity who doesn't know better.
A lot of anti vaxxers are also anti medicine. They only use holistic, "alternative" treatments.
Load More Replies...Oh and the parent who won't give their child the HPV vaccine? A new review, which involved data from more than 73,000 girls and women, has concluded that it is safe and effective. The analysis by the non-profit, non-governmental organisation, the Cochrane group, examined 26 studies carried out across the world over the past eight years and concluded that they “did not find an increased risk of serious adverse effects”. Regular screening is sensible as HPV is not the only cause of cancer but add in safe sex as well. HPV is very easily communicable and can affect a variety of body parts, so it won't be a 100% guarantee but it will be a very, very good start. The jab would still be better.
I am a super proponent of vaccines. I don't fault anyone for passing on the HPV vaccine right now though. There have been serious side effects caused by the vaccine. The CDC reports that of the side effects reported, 6% are considered serious. I think that the parents should sit down with their pre-teen and let the child be part of the decision making process. If the pre-teen wants the vaccine, then the parent should do it. I personally wouldn't have wanted that one particular vaccine and indeed have chosen not to get it for myself. Everything else though I stay current on.
Load More Replies...I am not ashamed to say I got HPV - it sits in your system for many years then comes out to catch you - I wish they had this vaccine when i was at school
It is extremely common. Which makes the vaccine even more of a sensible thing to have.
Load More Replies...Never was a problem at our house, because neither my wife nor I am stupid. Science people... science. Learn what it is and stop getting your life advice from actors, actresses and religious people.
I am religious and I will vaccinate my kids. Nothing wrong with the combination here.
Load More Replies...A colleague's mother got chicken pox when he was in utero. He got shingles at 4, almost died, almost went blind. I got shingles last year; I'm young and healthy--it almost killed me. They now have a chicken pox vaccine. Take it.
I don't understand how some have left a laughing emoticon on posts like this...Who, on the other hand, is obvious, namelijk anti-Vaxxers.
I'm moved. Seriously. But I got my kids vaccinated. Who is reading these articles? Those who know what the right thing to do is. How do we reach out to those who might not be firmly planted in the anti-vaxx camp, but still leaning that way?? How do we change minds? "the internet is going viral over this one particular post" isn't really doing it.
I've got no problems with the regular vaccines for the likes of MMR etc, but I am honestly not so sure about the HPV vaccine, as it clearly needs more testing as to safety, as young people have fallen seriously ill after being given it, and in some cases, it's mandatory. There is something about the vaccine in some cases, that is affecting people in very debilitating ways, sometimes puts people into coma, or more rarely, even worse, and there is just too many cases. This is not what you expect from a safe vaccine. The flu vaccines has been shown to be little more than sugarpills, actually not working. as the strains mutate too fast, but for the majority of the standard vaccines, could i go without them? Hell no.
My aunt's family didn't have the means to vaccinate her against polio so she got it when she was 9 months old and has struggled with paraplegia her whole life. Her life quality is poor, her mental health is poor, and to see that there's parents out there who risk their children's quality of life in the name of pseudoscience pisses me off. Not to mention that they put other people's health at risk...
I have all or most of my vaccines that are entirely necessary but it's really hard to get vaccines for me because I have trypanophobia
this is why herd vaccination is so important--to protect people like you
Load More Replies...get a load of this preachy b******t. and that emotional blackmail...holy hell, imagine this b******t but about a different thing..white pride, religious dogma, drugs? let's see your applaud then. because it's written in the same nonsensical guilty trippy way. make vaccinations free and you won't have the problem. done
As inhumane as it may sound im at a point that if it wasn't for those that have no fault in all this, i would say, ok, you refuse vaccination? thats ok its your right to do so, but you should be refused any and all health-care services, medicine prescriptions and aid as well and let nature run its course. And if children are involved then the parents or those in charge of them should be considered a social risk and charged with child neglect and unfit to raise said children.
I've found that the bottom like for most american anti vaxxers is that they are not free. They try to find excuses for not having to spend the money, and try to justify it by saying 'well my kids are healthy and none have died so far' without considering the chances they are taking... Not being able to afford it may also mean that the majority are not very well educated either, so any proof scientifically provided is dismissed, because they just don't understand it. Most pro-vaccine places are places where these are provided for free and generally have a standard level of education and healthcare accessible to all.
Whistleblower Dr. Judy Mikovits - 11 Minutes That BLEW ME AWAY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZETbXCqCM 25 million Americans, alone, infected through vaccine labs and vaccines. 25 million!!! And antivaxxers are the danger... Jailed, without trial, without hearing, without the opportunity to make a defense, for showing the data. For showing the data. Who's a dangerous idiot? An NPC is a dangerous idiot. Useful, dangerous idiots.
I'm all for vaccines, except the hpv, because I just don't see where the benefit is : you still have to have a papsmear for testing the other cancers, and if a hpv is found with it, it's early enough to get rid of it, so what the heck is it sparing me ? Call me when the hpv vaccine gets me rid of the necessity of having a papsmear...
When I was a teenager I was chosen to be part of the HPV vaccine tests. I could have got the HPV vaccine for free. But I accidentaly threw the unopened envelope that included the invitation to trash and I later I noticed an unopened envelope at my tashcan, opened it and I realized my mistake. Then it was too late to get a free HPV vaccine. I have always taken all vaccines that is possible so missing the HPV vaccine sucked. Nowadays HPV vaccine is free for all 11 or 12 year old girls in my country (Finland). Others have to pay to get that vaccine.
He had contracted a sub clinical case of the mumps.. not vaccinated, and now, he will never be able to have children unless he adopts. Which is awful. Adoption is wonderful, but not being able to become a parent by the normal way? Awful. Now, mom and dad... say your sorry you won’t have any natural birthed grandchildren from him....
If I were a mother, and just had a baby, and your kids who weren’t vaccinated, got some awful childhood disease, and then passed it to my baby? Well, I would sue you out the wazoo, for your irresponsible behavior as a parent, and member of the community. But I’m not a parent. I am a nurse. And I hope I never see an outbreak of small pox, measles etc. they can be deadly. I was born in 1959. I had all the childhood diseases because there were no vaccines at the time. Except polio and small pox. But when as. A nurse I had to get vaccinated for MMR, it was because there was an outbreak of it in the community, and unvaccinated people got it, babies, .. so do yourself a favor, vaccinate your kids, please. Don’t hurt their future, or others futures. Because if one of your kids grows up and wants to travel? They will be a walking billboard for all of those illnesses. And I did take care of a young man who hadn’t had his mumps vaccine, and he was, at 17, found to be sterile from the disease
My son has a deficient immune system because he is on chemotherapy for cancer treatment, and he is kicking cancer's a*s. But let me tell you. If some stupid parent's idiotic "choice" kills him, I have nothing left to lose. I wonder how they would feel if they were in my shoes - how would they REALLY FEEL if their child's life very literally could be ended by another parent's stupid, uninformed, idiotic, senseless choice.
Load More Replies...There's no point in trying to convince or argue with anti vaxxers, they just do the equivalent of 'I know I am, but what are you?' thing that 6 year olds do when they argue.
so medicines were created out of necessity to fix/help/cure/aid the sick, needy, dying. because there was a problem many skilled medical people worked on fixing them, to various levels of success. And people are saying they don't need them? And as if that's not bad enough they put their opinions on their children and speak for them. This is just... why?
We didn't experiment lethal epidemic for a long time. With science, medecine, hygiene, more efficent agriculture, our live expectancy grew. In countries without war in the last 70 years, we mostly die old. And some people just forgot this is not "natural". Without science, medecine and vaccins, people died from flu. What we call in France "Spanish Flu" killed more people in the world that WW1 because it touch us at a time people were not well fed because of the war, doctors were mostly near battlefield... (the people that got the previous flu, less virulent survived... naturel vaccin). I'm sure that people in area Ebola is endemic would love to have a vaccin, idem for the women that got zika virus while pregnant. So big pharma makes money on our sickness. Pharmaceuticals comes withside effects. Even St. John's wort can cause depression. Yet vaccins save life!! They are beneficial for humanity. Point.
Load More Replies...Has it been dropping? You can't go by the posts you see. You don't have access to page visitors and other stats. Vaccinations are vitally important and if this changes the mind of one fool anti-vaxxer then bloody good job too.
Load More Replies...I feel sad for you and your tiny brain.
Load More Replies...
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