This Mom's Story On The Dangers Of Not Vaccinating Your Kids Will Make You Want To Drive To The Doctor Right Now

For years, people have argued about over the value of vaccinating children. Though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that "vaccination is one of the best ways parents can protect infants, children, and teens from 16 potentially harmful diseases," some parents fear that the side effects outweigh the benefits.

Well, one mother was (rightfully) infuriated after her young daughter, who couldn't receive the chicken pox vaccine because she had a kidney transplant at age two, was taken to the hospital after being around catching the virus.

In a Facebook post, Camille Echols writes that though she doesn't know whether her child was around someone who hadn't been vaccinated, the dangerous resurgence of viruses and diseases like measles, whooping cough, and chicken pox are enough to make her fearful for children with organ transplants, like her daughter, who are at a higher risk of organ failure.

"I've been relatively quiet on social media about the "Anti-vax" movement," she captioned the photos of her hospitalized daughter. "I've seen smart-ass memes saying 'why would my unvaccinated kids be a threat to your vaccinated kids if you're so sure they work?' THIS is why."

Echols continued by stating that while her daughter got one varicella vaccine, she couldn't get the second because her immune system was too weak and "she would have contracted the virus." Now, after being exposed to the virus, she was forced to take her daughter to the emergency room for a painful stay.

"She's getting labwork, injections of immunoglobulin and then we have to wait to see what the infectious disease doctor says," Echols wrote. "The incubation period of chicken pox is 7-21 days. So even with all we are doing, she could still become sick in the next 3 weeks. And that would mean an automatic admission to the hospital for IV antiviral meds. She could become very, very sick from this."

Echols ended the post with a plea for parents concerned about vaccines to do some research before making the choice not to vaccinate.

"The people choosing to skip vaccinations put children like my daughter at risk," Echols wrote. "She has been through so much already. And this was avoidable."

For more information on vaccines, their ingredients, and their side effects, please visit the CDC's website.