“It's stupid and I've had countless arguments." Teen with anti-vax mum gets vaccinated at 18.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The son of a staunch anti-vaxxer in the US took his 18th birthday as a chance to catch up on the vaccinations he’d missed out on in his youth, defying his mother’s wishes and taking a stand against the anti-vax movement.
Ethan Lindenberger from Ohio never received his vaccinations at school because his mother was convinced by online information that falsely claimed they were linked to autism and brain damage “I grew up not knowing that you go to the health department and get a shot in your shoulder in your upper arm for a bunch of really big diseases that could have a lot of really bad side effects and a lot of bad implications,” Ethan told CNN.
So when he turned 18, he decided to take it upon himself to seek protection against these serious diseases and infections, such as hepatitis. “I was doing it for my safety and the safety of others,” he said.
Ethan’s mum, Jill Wheeler, had become opposed to the idea of vaccinating her now-teenage child after reading a series of blogs and websites, Ethan claimed.
Reaching out on Reddit initially, Ethan had asked the online community whether he needed permission to get vaccinated since turning 18, placing himself firmly in opposition of his parents. “My parents are kind of stupid and don’t believe in vaccines. Now that I’m 18, where do I go to get vaccinated? Can I get vaccinated at my age?,” he asked. “(They) think vaccines are some kind of government scheme. It’s stupid and I’ve had countless arguments over the topic. But, because of their beliefs I’ve never been vaccinated for anything, god knows how I’m still alive,” he posted.
About a month later, the post was updated to announce he had received shots for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza and HPV. “I saw that there were a lot of people with different opinions, and as I explored those opinions, I came to the conclusion that they were good and beneficial,” Ethan explained to GMA of his mature decision. He added that a public health emergency declared in Washington State following a measles outbreak aided his decision, protecting himself and others from the disease which can be fatal for young children.
But while he had often argued about the topic with his mother growing up, Jill was convinced it was merely a "rebellious teen" phase that he would grow out of. “My mum had always known I disagreed with her and figured that was going to pass, but it didn’t. When I started looking into it myself, it became very apparent that there was a lot more evidence in defence of vaccinations, in their favour,” he told NPR , adding that he is booked in to have more shots this month.
Ethan has younger siblings, who he hopes will get vaccinated too. "Obviously, it scares me a little bit, but I'm going to try and do my best to convince my parents that they should and hope that works," he said.
The Australian Government explains that all vaccines are heavily tested and trialled before they become available to the public. They are also closely monitored for safety by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. In addition to this, the Department of Health has produced a fact sheet which explains where the misunderstanding surrounding autism and vaccinations came from.
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Smart kid, the mother not so much
Antivaccers in general seem to be ignorant of vaccines and buy into the negative emotional hype surounding vaccines.
No argument from me on that
Glad he lived to make the right decision
Kudos to this very intelligent young man.
Very impressive young man. That took courage to think for himself.
Perrie that it did, hopefully he can use the knowledge he gained to change his mothers mind (doubtful) and help his siblings.
Good for this young man..... Can we find a place for him in the US Congress? Maybe start a trend?
If he had joined the military he would have rec'd vaccinations with or without his permission (snicker at the Mom).
I suggest he go ahead and get the MMR and a meningitis vax in case he plans on going to college
PS....I'm proud of this kid and I didn't give birth to him
If he goes into the military he will be given vaccines that we don't even know work (anthrax), and for diseases that have been eradicated for decades (smallpox).
That's the truth, in preparation for Afghanistan we all became pincushions.
Even if you believed all that, autism - by definition - is a condition that appears in early childhood , by about age 3. Older children and adults don't develop autism. If they have issues, it's something else. So if these kids are fine by the time they're school age, vaccines aren't going to give them autism even if they could in younger kids. You'd think if a parent was that worried about it, they'd know that.
Measles can cause brain damage and blindness.
Bill Shine's wife claims that measles can fight cancer. I just can't understand how anyone can be that stupid.
And mumps can cause male sterility.
Who is Bill Shine?
Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
thank-you. I knew I could have looked it up but I'm lazy
Bah! What's a little brain damage compared to autism? /s
In my day we just called a little brain damage "growing up."
I never considered that. Thanks, Tacos
People are fucking morons.
That's an understatement.
Lol you'd think that but apparently we'd be wrong
I have a niece who hasn't vaccinated her (9) kids. My son won't let her or her kids come to his house anymore until his baby is old enough to vaccinate.
I don't blame him.
I'd keep all of them out until they are vaccinated.
If you are anti-vaxx you are a selfish asshole.
Not to mention being irrational.
If he wants to travel he will be glad he is doing it.