Measles: this baby caught him because of anti-vaxers

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That's why she is furious that her baby is catching measles. Too young to be vaccinated, Shira Goldschmidt, 8 months old, developed complications from the virus and had to be hospitalized.

The experts in infectious diseases say that the cause is clear: anti-vaxers.

In the United States and in Israel, where Sukenik lives, measles outbreaks began with pockets of people refusing to vaccinate their children. These anti-vaxers can then transmit the measles to babies out of their communities, because even if parents want to vaccinate their children, babies do not get vaccinated for the first time before their first birthday.

"I am so angry and so frustrated," Sukenik said. "On Facebook, I've written to anti-vaxers, you're hurting our kids because of your choice."

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Infectious disease experts say that the same scenario will inevitably occur in the United States: an anti-virus that has chosen not to vaccinate will transmit measles to babies under 1 year whose parents want to vaccinate them but may not because They are too young.

"It's absolutely unavoidable," said Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

The virus is so contagious that a baby under one year old could catch it by entering a room where a person with measles had been two hours earlier, according to the CDC.

"Our babies are no different from Israeli babies," said Dr. William Schaffner, Vaccine Advisor for US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "And the measles virus in Israel is the same virus as here in the United States."

The story of baby Shira

Shira Goldschmidt a week before contracting measles.

Shira became ill in December with a runny nose and a fever of 104 degrees. Her parents took her to the doctor, who told her that her virus was normal and that she would heal soon.

A few days later, when the red spots appeared, her parents understood that it was measles.

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"It was not just points on one part of her body – they were everywhere – in her mouth, between her fingers, between her toes," said her mother. "I am an experienced mother and I have never seen anything like that, I was really scared."

At that time, Shira could not eat and could barely drink, her breathing was superficial and she was so weak that she could not even lift her head.

Sukenik and her husband took Shira to the hospital, where she was put in solitary confinement and received intravenous fluids.

In December, Sukenik wrote an emotional message on Facebook.

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"Let's talk for a moment about freedom of choice for those who believe that vaccinations are Satan and the source of all evil," wrote Sukenik in Hebrew. "It must be said that they have the right to believe in whatever they choose, but we should also talk about the price that others pay."

She suggested that anti-vaxers "stay in enclosed areas or hold a large banner indicating that you are anti-vaccine."

"Are you ashamed not to vaccinate? No, you are not ashamed, so you should wear a sign and let me choose if my children will play with your children," Sukenik told CNN in an interview. .

The American epidemic began in Israel

The largest and longest outbreak of measles outbreaks in the United States began last year when an unvaccinated ultra-Orthodox Jewish child in New York went to Israel and was infected .

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Then he expanded further. Recently, an infected person traveled from New York to Michigan and spread measles to 41 people.

The epidemic in the United States is nowhere near as important as in Israel, where there have been nearly 4,000 cases since March of last year. In the United States, at about the same time, there were fewer than 1,000 cases.

"These measles outbreaks are remarkably persistent," said Schaffner.

The results can be devastating: out of 1,000 children who contract measles, one or two will die, according to the CDC.

"I'm not scared"

Shira was 1 years old this week.

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"Now, Baruch Hashem, Shira is fine, she is happy, she started walking," said her mother, using the Hebrew expression to thank God.

But she is not completely out of the woods. The doctors told her parents that she could still suffer devastating complications from measles in the coming years.

This rarely happens, but about seven to ten years after having measles, a person can develop subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, a disabling and deadly brain disorder, according to the CDC.

Among people who contracted measles during a resurgence in the United States between 1989 and 1991, it was estimated that 4 to 11 out of 100,000 people were at risk of developing the disease.

"For years, I will not be able to rest from this fear," Sukenik said.

Sukenik says his Facebook posting has received more than 4,000 comments, both positive and negative. She said the anti-vaxers had treated her as a bad mother or had hypothesized that Shira had a genetic defect.

But Sukenik will not be discouraged.

"If they want to fight with me, I'm not scared," she said. "I've seen at home what it means for a baby to have measles, and we have the responsibility to make sure that the epidemic goes away and that it does not happen to another baby. "

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