The influence of anti-vaxxers is getting stronger and this has led to many health problems in society these days. Despite numerous pieces of scientifically proven evidence that vaccines are good and can prevent many diseases, they persist in spreading their wrong beliefs and have even brought back polio into Malaysia after it was eradicated 27 years ago.
A Malaysian doctor, Dr Yazeed Hair Johari, shared on his Facebook page the devastating effects of anti-vaxxers and their influence on an innocent baby. He remembers an encounter about three years ago when he opened his first private clinic in Kota Damansara.
They were closing up for the day but around 9.50pm, a mother carrying a small baby was desperately knocking on the clinic’s door looking for help. Dr Yazeed allowed her in and asked the nurse to register the mother’s details using a handwritten card as their computers were already switched off.
He was shocked when he saw the mother rush in with the baby because the child was covered in pus-filled sores, with peeling skin and red skin all over the body. He described the baby looking like a burn victim and the pus oozing from the body’s sores were so foul-smelling he could not take it.
The mother said that the baby was only seven months old and 10 days ago, her baby had spots and fever before it deteriorated to this condition. “10 days? In these 10 days did your baby drink any milk? Why didn’t you bring your baby to the hospital?” he asked the mother.
The baby had vomited out everything they drank and the mother didn’t answer when the doctor asked her about bringing her baby to the hospital. “The baby looked like a burn victim, had a 40°C fever, hyperventilation, weak pulse, extreme dehydration, and a very fast heartbeat. I was so afraid of causing pain to the baby when I was taking the blood pressure as the child’s arms were covered in sores as well,” he added.
After checking, he discovered that the infant was suffering from septic shock due to an unknown earlier viral infection and this was highly dangerous. Septic shock can be fatal in adults, and babies with weaker immune systems have it worse.
The baby’s mother explained, “Actually I thought that every sickness can heal itself, I don’t like hospital medicines. I don’t like ‘foreign stuff’ being injected or consumed by my baby.” When asked who told her nonsense like this, she said, “I have a group of friends who are mothers. They told me that hospital medicines are not good for kids. They treat their own kids at home using herbs and plants. They also sell these herbal products so I used it on my baby.” WTF!
Dr Yazeed was shocked and asked her whether her baby was vaccinated since the infant was already seven months old. “I vaccinated the baby when I gave birth but after that, I didn’t bring the baby for any other vaccinations. My friends scolded me, saying vaccines are non-halal. They said that vaccines will destroy the baby’s organs and asked me not to be influenced by modern medicine,” the mother added.
Dr Yazeed told the mother he needed to put the baby on an IV drip and then transfer the infant to a hospital later. The mother just nodded silently. He was so afraid of hurting the baby when finding the baby’s veins and the infant was so weak that they couldn’t even cry out in pain.
Just as he was ready to transfer the baby to the hospital, the mother came back from her phone call and said that she didn’t want to send her child there anymore. “After this IV drip, I’m bringing my baby home. If you don’t allow me to do so I’ll call my husband and we’ll make a police report. This is not your child!” the mother shouted.
The baby’s father arrived at that time and insisted that he didn’t want to bring his child to the hospital. Dr Yazeed said, “I didn’t know what I could do as I was still inexperienced at that time. I’m praying for you, baby. I hope God will protect you because they will only listen to what they want to hear. There’s no use explaining anything else to them.”
He added that based on the baby’s condition, the child could die the latest by the next day. When he checked the mother’s details to lodge a police report and wrote a separate one for the Health Ministry, he discovered that the mother had given all fake details.
“Look at what happens when there are so many anti-vaxxers in the community. Think properly, if the medicines are haram or some big conspiracy then it would not be allowed all over the world. All because of your backward thinking, you are willing to gamble on your child’s life. Your friends tell you not to use proper vaccines but sell you their own products instead. Your child is innocent,” he ended his post.
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