The tragic story of how a four-year-old lost his life has been spreading across the internet and causing severe arguments about the efficacy of allowing the spread of misinformation online.
In recent years, the anti-vaccination movement has gained increasing traction.
The internet has been awash in recent years with stories of increasing numbers of parents refusing to vaccinate their children and spreading false claims regarding the health benefits of said vaccinations.
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Last week, one child felt the impact of this spread of misinformation.
The story of one family who have been left devastated after their 4-year-old son’s death has been spreading across the internet, with many people sharing their condolences for the tragic loss.
4-year-old Najee died in Colorado earlier this month.
Najee is the second child to have died as a result of the flu in Colorado this flu season, according to 11 News . The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released the following statement to 11 News:
“The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment can confirm that a preschool-aged child in southern Colorado has died of flu. The death is the second pediatric flu death in Colorado this season. The department does not have any records that show whether the child was vaccinated against influenza.”
Najee’s mother described her son as being “full of energy”.
Najee also went by the name “Junior” and was an energetic and fun-filled child according to his mother Danielle.
“He was the light of everybody’s day. […] He’s full of joy, full of energy, has the most beautiful smile with his super deep dimples,” she told reporters.
Two of Najee’s had tested positive for influenza earlier in the month.
Najee’s 10-month-old brother had been taken to hospital for registering a fever of around 104 degrees. When the family returned to their home, Najee and his 5-year-old sibling were sent to bed.
However, the 5-year-old returned not long after and informed his parents that Najee was passed out. It turned out that Najee’s flu-related fever had caused him to suffer a febrile seizure.
Najee was airlifted to hospital, however, it was too late.
Tragically, Najee was pronounced braindead at the hospital and was ultimately taken off life support.
However, since the news of Najee’s death has broken, people have been wondering if there could have been more done to help Najee after some of his mother’s Facebook posts were released online.
Najee’s mother had been asking for health advice from an anti-vaxxer Facebook group.
Screenshots that emerged showed that Najee’s mother had been posting in a group called “Stop Mandatory Vaccination” a week before her son’s death asking for help as to how to treat her son’s illness.
The screenshots also show that Najee’s mother told the group that the doctor had prescribed the whole family Tamiflu to prevent the flu from spreading and to fight symptoms.
However, the group fiercely told the mother not to follow the doctor’s advice.
The mother wrote in the group, “Yes it’s scary the doc told me to give my other two children and myself [Tamiflu] so we won’t get it,” in the screenshots recovered by the Colorado Times Recorder .
Other members of the group suggested such alternative remedies as, “You’re better off taking Vitamin D and C, Elderberry, Zinc, and eating lots of fruits and vegetables”, and giving the child “Vitamin C until [they have] diarrhea.”
Other suggestions the group gave her was putting sliced potatoes on Najee’s head.
Najee’s mother also revealed to the group that the children had not previously been vaccinated.
The death of young Najee has prompted people to demand that this Facebook group be shut down immediately.
However, the group’s founder has said that Najee’s death is the fault of the hospital.
Larry Cook, whose website slogan reads, “Vaccines don’t save lives, healthy immune systems do!” took to the group following the death of Najee.
He wrote, “Mom says they were treated poorly by the hospital, and of course, never offered any real treatments that would have likely cured her boy,” despite the fact that the hospital did offer treatment, which the group recommended that the mother avoid.
A petition has since been started to have the group removed from Facebook.
You can find the petition here .A spokesperson for Facebook released the following statement following Najee’s death, saying:
“This is a tragedy and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. We don’t want vaccine misinformation on Facebook, which is why we’re working hard to reduce it everywhere on the platform, including in private groups.”
However, the group is still active, and Facebook has taken little to no meaningful steps to stop people using their site to spread misinformation since Najee’s death.
Hopefully, we will see some changes in this area in the future.
In the meantime, hopefully, Najee’s family will be able to find a way through this difficult time. In his mother’s own words, in a statement to News 11:
“I’m hurting so bad right now and so is his dad and brothers. Our whole family is hurting and it feels like we failed him because we did what we had to do.”
h/t: CBS
