Mother Abandons Anti-Vax Movement After Her 3 Children Almost Die Of Rotavirus

Doubling up in pain, my 3-year-old twins, Áine and Lena, screamed out in unison as agonizing cramps raged through their tiny stomachs.

My older daughter, Natasha, then 5, was equally stricken — dehydrated and desperately sick.

All three of my kids had rotavirus, the potentially deadly form of diarrhea that could so easily have been prevented if I’d gotten them vaccinated.

The guilt was overwhelming. But I thanked my lucky stars that they were neither newborn babies nor medically fragile, the type of children rotavirus can snatch from this world in a heartbeat.

At that moment, as my husband, Frank, now 40, and I battled the horrible illness ourselves, I began to doubt the anti-vaccine stance I shared with many of my highly educated friends. I’d been raised in a “crunchy” family that questioned authority and the status quo. So, when Natasha was born in February 2010, I entered motherhood with what I thought was a healthy skepticism regarding vaccination.

And I found a local pediatrician who agreed not to vaccinate Natasha. Two years later, I stuck to my guns and refused all inoculations for my twins.

I got absorbed in the anti-vax culture and secretly thought of myself as being superior to others. Parents who vaccinated didn’t have my special investigative skills. As far as I was concerned, they didn’t stop to question and were just sheep following the herd.

Then, in March 2015, we were struck by the rotavirus. I’ll never forget the look of fear on my daughters’ faces as they suffered intense pain and diarrhea that lasted for three weeks. I’ve no idea where we picked it up, but the horrific experience proved that, even living in a highly vaccinated population, we were vulnerable. Thankfully, we pulled through with a combination of rest and rehydration.

In June of last year, I finally let go of so much fear. Armed with a new perspective and tons of information, I switched pediatricians and was able to trust that vaccinating my girls was the right thing to do. With my consent, she put them on an aggressive catch-up schedule. They are now fully vaccinated. Cont.

Story from - The New York Post