A cautionary letter written by children’s author Roald Dahl in which he opens up about the death of his eldest daughter from measles, has gone viral, following an outbreak of the disease in the US.
Olivia “Twenty” Dahl, the writer’s daughter with wife Patricia Neal, died in 1962, aged just seven. Twenty-five years later, in 1988, the world-famous novelist agreed to contribute to a leaflet published by Sandwell Health Authority encouraging parents to give their children the controversial measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR).
In the letter, Dahl remembers the awful day the disease took over:
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.
“I feel all sleepy,” she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In 12 hours she was dead.
The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her.”
He continues: “It is not yet generally accepted that measles can be a dangerous illness. Believe me, it is. In my opinion parents who now refuse to have their children immunised are putting the lives of those children at risk.”
The author continues by saying he feels it is “almost a crime” to allow your child to go unimmunised.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the current outbreak, which is believed to have started with an unimmunised woman at Disneyland, originated in California. 102 people are now infected, with the highly contagious disease sweeping 14 states so far.
The anti-vaxx movement is in decline but anti-vaccine misinformation is still rife in Ireland and experts have warned it’s resulting in repeated outbreaks of measles, mumps, whooping cough and TB.
The website I Waste So Much Time has published this cartoon entitled ‘Faces of Vaccine Denialism’. Do you recognise yourself in the line-up? Join the conversation on our Facebook page.
