A Texas nurse was fired from her job after a parent found her anti-vaccine post in an anti-vaccine Facebook group. In the post she states that she will never change her stance on vaccines.
Measles Case In Texas Hospital
Earlier in the week, Texas Children’s Hospital confirmed that it was investigating reports of a nurse in its facility who reportedly posted an anti-vaccine stance in an anti-vaccine Facebook group. The unidentified nurse is now confirmed to be no longer working at the hospital.
The situation began when a concerned parent posted screenshots of the nurse’s post on the hospital’s Facebook page. In it, the nurse allegedly divulged private information about a young patient who was recently admitted to the hospital with a suspected case of measles. She described how the child was “super sick,” and how it was her and many of her colleagues’ first time to see measles. She also stated that the child might have contracted the disease from overseas and that it was worse than she expected.
Fired For Anti-Vaccine Post
Apart from divulging private information about the young patient’s case, the nurse also affirmed her anti-vaccine stance, stating that they will never change but that she could see why parents would vaccinate out of fear. In one of the screenshots, she even allegedly considered swabbing the patient’s mouth and bringing it home to her own child.
In a recent statement, the Texas Children’s Hospital confirmed that the nurse is no longer working with the facility, that the nurse’s views do not reflect the hospital’s, and that it takes such matters seriously. The patient’s case is now confirmed to be measles, making it the eighth measles case in the state in 2018.
As for the parent who posted the screenshots of the nurse’s post and comments on Facebook, she opted to remain anonymous so as to avoid being threatened, stalked, or attacked by those in the anti-vaccine movement.
Measles In The United States
It was in 1963 that the measles vaccination program was started in the United States and by the year 2000, the disease was already considered eradicated in the country. Before the vaccination program, between 3 and 4 million people got measles every year in the country, only 500,000 of which were reported to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention each year. Of the reported cases, between 400 and 500 died, 48,000 required hospitalization, and 1,000 developed encephalitis or brain swelling.
But despite being considered an eradicated disease in the country, measles continues to persist in other countries where unvaccinated Americans get the disease. It is through these unvaccinated individuals that the disease still manages to get into the United States where it is so easy to infect other unvaccinated people. In fact, it is so easily transmissible that an unvaccinated person may be infected just by walking into a room that an infected person has been in.
As such, the Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine continues to be the CDC's recommendation against the three diseases. It is said to be safe and effective, with one dose being 93 percent effective and two doses being 97 percent effective against measles.
