A five-week-old infant from the Jerusalem area whose mother refused to get vaccinated for whooping cough during pregnancy died of the disease about a week ago. Two days later, a seven-year-old girl from Netanya, whose parents refused to vaccinate her against tetanus, was hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit at Laniado Hospital after contracting the serious and excruciatingly painful disease. Ynet reported that the lowest vaccination rates against whooping cough are found almost exclusively in Jerusalem and in religious and Chareidi communities outside the capital. The report quoted Dr. Maurit Beeri, a pediatrician and the director of ALYN Rehabilitation Hospital for Children and Youth, who slammed parents who neglect their children by refusing to vaccinate them. “Unfortunately, these incidents can no longer be considered rare,’ she said. “In recent years, we’ve seen a trend where people re-evaluate expert recommendations and make decisions without informed knowledge. When it comes to preventing infectious diseases, we see a decline in vaccination rates, especially within certain population groups.” “We must remember that these things spread and endanger us all,” Dr. Beeri warned. “If we used to call it ‘Dr. Google,’ today it’s ‘Professor TikTok.’ Everyone has their agenda and platform with wide reach. Since COVID, instead of expressing gratitude for vaccines that saved us from lockdowns, people have become more emboldened to refuse vaccinations for other diseases as well.” “People don’t differentiate between new and old vaccines. When we talk about routine vaccinations for infants, these are vaccines with data from millions of children. We’re talking about diseases that have almost disappeared from the world. I’ve been a doctor for 30 years and have never seen a case of tetanus. It’s a terrible disease, causing excruciating pain. Children in developing countries still die from it, and it’s entirely unnecessary. I grew up in a place where there was hysteria over tetanus from every rusty nail, but today we’re in a different place.” “Tetanus is a dreadful disease, causing indescribable suffering, and it’s entirely unnecessary. Have you ever woken up at night with a muscle cramp in your leg? Have you ever pulled a muscle during physical activity? Now imagine your entire body, all at once, cramping up. Everything contorts in different directions. You can’t move. Every finger stiffens to the point of breaking bones. You can’t even scream because your jaw is locked and your tongue is stuck to the roof of your mouth. Breathing is difficult. This is how children died before the tetanus vaccine was invented, with terrified eyes and no ability to call for help. This is a description I read in books. I never saw it because the children who played outside and fell and got injured were vaccinated.” “We see every day that expert opinions no longer mean anything. Everyone’s opinion is considered equally valid, and there is no regard for someone with acquired knowledge compared to anyone else who raises any claim. Conspiracy theories don’t affect only healthcare; they affect everything related to the society around us.” “I grew up in a world where children weren’t strapped into car seats, and most of us survived. But I work in child rehabilitation, and I see the children who weren’t strapped in car seats. I also see the children who come in with various diseases that can’t be prevented. […]