Shawn Crosby, father of a 1 year-old boy Engine Crosby of Santa Monica, California, launched a social media blitz extolling the virtues of “natural immunity” to pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, after Engine was hospitalized with the disease.
Mr. Crosby updated his Facebook page to say, “Sure Engine is having a tough time of it now, but he’ll be fine soon. But I don’t question even for one split second my decision not to vaccinate him. When he recovers from this, he’ll have immunity to last a life time and it will be natural.”
Dr. Stacy Weiss, a pediatric ICU attending, told The Spudd, “I don’t know all the details of his case, but Engine may not be fine anytime soon. This illness has killed several infants in this state this year. Oh, and if he recovers he may have permanent lung damage. Oh yeah, his immunity won’t be for life either.”
Mr. Crosby also expressed gratitude that his son had avoided vaccination, saying that “vaccines contain toxins, which Engine avoided.” Dr. Weiss then noted that pertussis causes symptoms, often referred to as the 100-day cough, via the “Pertussis toxin, a protein-based exotoxin which colonizes the respiratory tract.”
When asked if Mr. Crosby was correct in any part of his Facebook post, Dr. Weiss noted, “He is correct about his immunity being natural. No argument there.”
