An American mother-of-three who previously refused to vaccinate her children has now changed her views after her kids fell ill with a stomach virus.
Former anti-vaxxer Kristen O’Meara, a teacher from Chicago, has three children under seven and previously refused to have them vaccinated.
“I scoured everything I could possibly find about why vaccines might be harmful. I became pretty convinced,” Ms O’Meara told Good Morning America.
That changed when all three of her children caught rotavirus, which causes acute stomach distress.
“It was awful, and it didn’t have to happen, because I could have had them vaccinated. I felt guilty. I felt really guilty,” she said.
“I put my kids at risk. I wish that I had taken more time to research from both sides before my children were born.”
Now her five-year-old and three-year-old twins are fully up-to-date with their vaccines after a series of catch up treatments.
Ms O’Meara wants to share her story with the world and encourage other anti-vaxxers to vaccinate their children.
“I’m here because I wanted to share my personal story … and if it does help someone change their mind, then that’s great,” she said.
In America, the number of parents who are refusing to vaccinate their children is on the rise, according to one study published last month by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
In 2013, 87 per cent of pediatricians surveyed had seen patients who refused a vaccine for their child, up from 75 per cent in 2006, according to their research.
More than 90 per cent of Australian babies and children are immunized, according to the latest data from the Australian Childhood Immunization Register (ACIR).
As of December 31, 2015, there were 30,092 children with conscientious objection recorded in Australia, or about 1.34 per cent of all Aussie kids. Ten years ago there were only 16,922, or 0.94 per cent of children.
This article was originally published on news.com.au
