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A four-year-old boy died in Colorado this week. A few days earlier, her mother followed the advice of members of an anti-vaccine Facebook group and decided not to give her the Tamiflu prescribed by a doctor.
The affair caused a stir in the United States. A four-year-old boy lost his life after his mother decided not to give him the treatment a doctor prescribed. A few days earlier, the child was hot and had convulsions. However, the mother made the decision not to go to the doctor. Indeed, the latter had already diagnosed influenza for two of the four children in the family and had prescribed the Tamiflu vaccine for all members of the family, reports NBC News.
Mother follows advice from anti-vaccine group
Doubting the effectiveness of this treatment, the mother asked for advice on a famous anti-vaccine group which has more than 100,000 members on Facebook. “The doctor prescribed Tamiflu but I did not take it,” she wrote in a publication that has since been deleted. The mother also said that she had tried several natural treatments like peppermint essential oil, vitamin C and lavender before but nothing worked. She therefore asked the group members for more advice.
A 4-year-old in Colorado died from flu this week. Days before, his mom reached out to Facebook’s biggest anti-vaxx group. Members told her not to take the Tamiflu a doctor had prescribed, but give him oils and elderberries and put potatoes in his socks. https://t.co/wHrt1qY898
– Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) February 6, 2020
We recommend thyme and breast milk
Among the 40 or so reactions, no one advised him to go to a doctor or get the flu treatment he had been prescribed. On the contrary, in the comments, he was advised to try thyme, red berries or even breast milk. “Perfect, I will try,” replied the mother. Four days later, the child died.
Facebook reacts
“It is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and their loved ones. We don’t want vaccine misinformation on Facebook, which is why we are working hard to reduce it on our platform, including in private groups, “a Facebook spokesperson said in an official statement. The Colorado State Department of Health and Environment has confirmed that the child died of the flu and that there are no reports that he has already been vaccinated. “While the flu is circulating, it is not too late to get the vaccine and we recommend that all children over the age of six months who have not yet been vaccinated this year do so,” said the ministry. .
Thousands dead in the USA
The flu epidemic is particularly strong this season in the United States and the disease is currently wreaking havoc. According to the latest official statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA, there have been 19 million cases of influenza this season in the country, including 180,000 hospitalizations and 10,000 deaths. Of these, as of January 18, 68 children have died. However, flu season is far from over and the worst is yet to come. In the 2017/2018 season, approximately 61,000 Americans died from the flu.
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