Anti-vaxxer mom says she infected Halloween candy with son's chickenpox to give other children 'natural immunity'
An anti-vaxxer mother has bragged on social media about how she infected the candy she was giving out for Halloween with her son's chickenpox in a bid to give other children a "natural immunity."
Taking to a Facebook group called 'Stop Mandatory Vaccination' on October 31, the mom wrote, "So, my beautiful son [name redacted] has the chickenpox at the moment and we’ve both decided to help others with natural immunity this Halloween!"
"We have the packaging opening and closing down pat and can’t wait to help others in our community", she continued. "If anyone else would like some for their children happy to send via post for $1 plus postage to your location."
The mom, while still unidentified, had a name ending in RN - which stands for registered nurse. She said in her profile that she works as a staff nurse at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane, a claim that has been refuted by Queensland Health.
Addressing the post, a spokesperson from Children’s Health Queensland said, "There are no current or former employees by that name that have worked for Queensland Health as a registered nurse. This is a serious issue and has been referred to police, who are investigating."
Other quarters of social media did not take too kindly to the mother's suggestion that she would infect others' children with chickenpox. Light For Riley, a Facebook page advocating vaccines set up by the parents of Riley Hughes, who succumbed to whooping cough, called her out for spreading misinformation.
Grey Highes, Riley's father, wrote in a now-viral post that has been shared thousands of times that the anti-vaxxer mom had "instantaneously" made his "skin crawl" and that he was "lost for words."
The mom, however, did not take the criticism lying down. "Dear internet trolls. You think you’re right by judging me and my trying to report me and get me fired. I don’t care. The health and wellbeing of my baby is far more valuable than any job", she hit back.
"You say I’m vile and gross like I have done something that hundreds of thousands of parents haven’t already done", she continued. "How many times do you see children dropped off to daycare or school when they’re clearly sick and contagious? Exactly! And I’m offering life long immunity for the price of a couple of blisters and a few days off school."
A spokeswoman for the Queensland Police said they were looking into the woman's post.