4-year-old Dies From Flu After Members Of Anti-vax Facebook Group Advise His Mom To Use Thyme And El

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
This week, the state of Colorado suffered its second pediatric flu death of the season. The first, in January, was a school-aged child outside the Denver metro area. The second, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, was a 4-year-old boy from Pueblo.

Now, just days after his death, questions are swirling about whether more could have been done to save him amid reports that his mother followed misguided advice from members of an online anti-vaccine group.

Four-year-old Najee's mother told CBS affiliate KKTV that her son was a vibrant boy who always made people laugh.


"He was the light of everybody's day," she said. "He's full of joy, full of energy, has the most beautiful smile with his super deep dimples."


4-year-old Najee, known as Junior, who died of the flu in Colorado on Wednesday.CBS DENVER
In early February, two of Najee's brothers tested positive for influenza. And according to a GoFundMe set up by the family, Najee's mother took his 10-month-old brother to the emergency room with a fever of 104 degrees. Upon their return home, she gave the boys baths and sent 4-year-old Najee and his 5-year-old brother to their room to put on pajamas.

Trending News
Minutes later, the 5-year-old came out and told his mother that "Junior," as Najee's family affectionately called him, was asleep. His mother then discovered him lying on the floor, pale, where he had apparently suffered a febrile seizure as a result of a flu-related fever.

She called 911 and started CPR. Najee was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Colorado Springs. According to the family's GoFundMe, Najee was taken off life support on Wednesday.

Now, screenshots from an anti-vax Facebook group called "Stop Mandatory Vaccination" are circulating online, and they appear to show that the week before Najee died, his mother sought advice on how to treat her sons' illness. Members of the group advised giving the boys vitamins, botanicals, and fruits and vegetables rather than the Tamiflu that their doctor prescribed.

In the thread, which has now apparently been scrubbed from the group's Facebook page, the mom wrote, "The doc prescribed tamaflu [sic] I did not pick it up." One user advises, "You're better off taking Vitamin D and C, Elderberry, Zinc, and eating lots of fruits and vegetables."

"Ok perfect I'll try that," she responds.


The posts were first obtained by NBC Newsand the Colorado Times Recorder, which did not publish the mother's name.


THE MONTOYA AND JACKSON FAMILY VIA GOFUNDME
Later in the conversation, which can still be viewed in screenshots published by the Colorado Times Recorder, the panicked mother notes that she has been using the elderberry, peppermint oil and Vitamin C that the group members recommended, but her sons' fevers are still not breaking.

"Any other tips I'm terrified for another seizure," she writes. "Please no hard comments I am a momma freaking out all alone in this with a family who believes in none natural ways so I'm going through alone and they are making me feel bad for not putting him on Tamiflu."

"Boil thyme on the stove," a group member chimes in. "Vit C until diarrhea."

The group, which has more than 178,000 members and 10,000 posts in the last 30 days alone, is run by a self-proclaimed "advocate for natural living" named Larry Cook, whose website slogan is, "Vaccines don't save lives, healthy immune systems do!"


The family did not want to comment to KKTV about whether Najee had gotten a flu shot, but the mother mentioned in the Facebook exchange that two of her other sick children had not. Research has shown that most children who die from the flu had not been vaccinated.

After news of Najee's death broke, Cook took to his Facebook group to put the blame on Children's Hospital Colorado Springs for the tragic outcome.

"Mom says they were treated poorly by the hospital, and of course, never offered any real treatments that would have likely cured her boy," he wrote.

"EXACTLY!!" one of the group's members responded. "You just have to nourish the body which hospitals do not do. They just poison."

The question rippling through social media today, however, is whether the true poison in this case was the misguided advice offered to a very sick boy's mother.


"I'm hurting so bad right now and so is his dad and brothers," Najee's mother told KKTV 11 News on Thursday. "Our whole family is hurting and it feels like we failed him because we did what we had to do."
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
I was saddened to read that story earlier this week.... to lose a child, esp that young. My condolences to the family... Looks like they did all they could to keep him healthy!
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
And another thing, with this Corona-beer virus "scare".. we fail to realize more Americans are dying from the flu each year, with the young being esp susceptible. These are just some of the deaths and illnesses I've found on the Net already. My heart goes out to their families..


4 year old dies of flu in Alabama; little brother recovering

11-year-old dies in Ohio

Flu blinds 4 year old in Iowa

Flu kills healthy NC teen

13 year old SC girl dies from flu complications

16 year 0ld Ohio teen succumbs to flu

Idaho teen dies 2 weeks after flu treatment

2 Utah Military Academy teens die of flu

Dallas teen succumbs to the flu

Massachusetts confirms 1st child death of flu season
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
And another thing, with this Corona-beer virus "scare".. we fail to realize more Americans are dying from the flu each year, with the young being esp susceptible. These are just some of the deaths and illnesses I've found on the Net already. My heart goes out to their families..
I hear you but it's not fair to compare this virus to the flu when it's still unclear how infectious it is and how quickly it's spreading. The numbers could end up being much worse than the flu but we won't know that for awhile.
 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
I don't have a position on vaccines but tend to prefer holistic solutions to health challenges. I remember years ago I started seeing a new doctor and had bloodwork done. The office called the next day and told me they wanted to re-do the bloodwork because they were concerned about the results. It showed I was severely anemic, which I'd been dealing with for awhile, and my levels were dangerously low. My acupuncturist told me not to get a blood transfusion and it was my intention to refuse it once the second set of results came back but seeing the concern and lightweight panic in the doctor's eyes at the office and later at the ER made me change my mind. It's hard to imagine any parent would refuse treatment knowing that death is a possibility. It's different before somebody gets sick but, once they are, I expect people to do what's necessary to save the child.
 

Keen

Well-Known Member
I don't have a position on vaccines but tend to prefer holistic solutions to health challenges. I remember years ago I started seeing a new doctor and had bloodwork done. The office called the next day and told me they wanted to re-do the bloodwork because they were concerned about the results. It showed I was severely anemic, which I'd been dealing with for awhile, and my levels were dangerously low. My acupuncturist told me not to get a blood transfusion and it was my intention to refuse it once the second set of results came back but seeing the concern and lightweight panic in the doctor's eyes at the office and later at the ER made me change my mind. It's hard to imagine any parent would refuse treatment knowing that death is a possibility. It's different before somebody gets sick but, once they are, I expect people to do what's necessary to save the child.

I just feel like seizures from the flu is not normal. At that point it's too serious for homemade tea.
 

Laela

Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
@bolded..my DH told me the same thing. I guess my point is.. the strains in U.S. are just as infectious and as deadly IMO, though I don't know if any of these children had been vaccinated .
Corona is being heavily monitored and scientists are feverishly racing to develop a vaccine

I hear you but it's not fair to compare this virus to the flu when it's still unclear how infectious it is and how quickly it's spreading. The numbers could end up being much worse than the flu but we won't know that for awhile.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
I will say that one reason that people turn to holistic stuff is because our health system fails us so much. I can understand that. And because of this mistrust and the rise of armchair online faux physicians, we need overhauls to our medical care as soon as possible.

I bet this mom was trying to avoid the cost and hassle of going to the doctor with 3 small sick children. I get that and my heart goes out to her in what I know was a difficult situation. But people have got to stop giving medical advice online like this.

too many people are using the internet as a dangerous platform. I saw someone the other day suggest that a person with suicidal tendencies stop their medication and use herbs to treat their mental illness. I mean, cmon. They are playing with peoples lives. And desperate people are grasping at these supposed lifelines.
 

B_Phlyy

Pineapple Eating Unicorn
I really wish Western medicine hadn't demonized ancient holistic and 'alternative' remedies for preventative health and treatment. It is very possible for them to coexist together and for people to use them in tandem.

I just feel like seizures from the flu is not normal. At that point it's too serious for homemade tea.

Agreed. If it was serious enough for you to go to the hospital, the advice and prescriptions should have been seen as just as serious to take.
 

Sosoothing

Well-Known Member
I'm with you on that, especially since the week before, the mother wrote that one of the children had ALREADY had a seizure? How many seizures are enough?

From what I'm understanding, no amount of seizures would have been enough because mom and her online friends did/do not think hospital treatment and/or medication is any good. So even after 20 seizures, she thought all she still needed was more online advice on which oils, herbs and home remedies to try next.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
My heart does not go out to this mother. She should be in jail, imo. She ignored sound medical advice in favor of “remedies” from strangers on the internet, despite SEEING that it wasn’t working. Doing all she could would have been, giving up her BS stance and filling that prescription for Tamiflu. Who watches their child getting progressively worse, and just keeps pouring teas?? She is not fit to parent those other kids.

Since when has peppermint oil and vitamin C been able to cure fevers and seizures? These people are idiots.

I believe in natural holistic living to keep well; keep the immune system healthy. But once you already have something and it’s progressing to the point of seizure, it’s time to use common sense, stop trying to make a point, and do what you have to do to get better.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
From what I'm understanding, no amount of seizures would have been enough because mom and her online friends did/do not think hospital treatment and/or medication is any good. So even after 20 seizures, she thought all she still needed was more online advice on which oils, herbs and home remedies to try next.

But they have the nerve to be mad at the hospital for not saving his life, after ignoring all the hospitals advice to keep the child off of his death bed in the first place. Insanity.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
The mother of a four-year-old boy in Southern Colorado who died of the fluWednesday sought advice for “natural” remedies in an anti-vaccine Facebook group while he was ill, which included the use of elderberry, placing potatoes on the child’s forehead, and simply “eating lots of fruits and vegetables.”


In a Facebook group titled “Stop Mandatory Vaccination,” the mother initially posted about her other sons, one 10-month-old and one 5-year-old, who tested positive for the flu virus. She wrote in the group that doctors prescribed Tamiflu to the whole family to ensure the virus didn’t spread among them, but was urged by the anti-vax group members against using the drug.

The mother also noted that her 4-year-old son, the one who eventually died, had a 102-degree fever and had a febrile seizure.




“Yes it’s scary the doc told me to give my other two children and myself [Tamiflu] so we won’t get it,” the mother commented.

“You’re better off taking Vitamin D and C, Elderberry, Zinc, and eating lots of fruits and vegetables,” one commenter replied.

“Ok perfect I’ll try that,” the mother wrote back.




She wrote that she never picked up the Tamiflu, and that “they are making me feel bad” for not administering the antiviral drug to her child, although she doesn’t specify to whom she’s referring.

Another group member suggested putting sliced potatoes and cucumbers on the child’s forehead. Yet another suggested giving the child vitamin C until it caused diarrhea.

She also notes that none of the children received a flu shot.

RELATED: “Bipartisan Bill Cracks Down on Vaccine Exemptions”

The “Stop Mandatory Vaccination” Facebook group is run by anti-vaccine activist Larry Cook, a self-described “advocate for natural living” who aims to educate people about the “dangers of vaccination” and mobilize people against the “medical tyranny” of immunization policies, according to his website. The group has over 139,000 members.

Cook blamed the hospital for not offering “real treatments” to the boy.


“Mom says they were treated poorly by the hospital, and of course, never offered any real treatments that would have likely cured her boy,” he wrote on the page.

“EXACTLY!!” one commenter wrote in response. “You just have to nourish the body which hospitals do not do. They just poison.”

“100%,” Cook replied.

That hospital is apparently Children’s Hospital Colorado Springs, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the family.

All posts related to the incident have apparently been scrubbed by the Stop Mandatory Vaccination Facebook page.

The Colorado Times Recorder received screenshots of the Facebook posts from a source, and redacted the names of all individuals except for anti-vax group founder Larry Cook, who is a public figure.

This story was first broken by NBC.
 

B_Phlyy

Pineapple Eating Unicorn
The mother of a four-year-old boy in Southern Colorado who died of the fluWednesday sought advice for “natural” remedies in an anti-vaccine Facebook group while he was ill, which included the use of elderberry, placing potatoes on the child’s forehead, and simply “eating lots of fruits and vegetables.”


In a Facebook group titled “Stop Mandatory Vaccination,” the mother initially posted about her other sons, one 10-month-old and one 5-year-old, who tested positive for the flu virus. She wrote in the group that doctors prescribed Tamiflu to the whole family to ensure the virus didn’t spread among them, but was urged by the anti-vax group members against using the drug.

The mother also noted that her 4-year-old son, the one who eventually died, had a 102-degree fever and had a febrile seizure.




“Yes it’s scary the doc told me to give my other two children and myself [Tamiflu] so we won’t get it,” the mother commented.

“You’re better off taking Vitamin D and C, Elderberry, Zinc, and eating lots of fruits and vegetables,” one commenter replied.

“Ok perfect I’ll try that,” the mother wrote back.




She wrote that she never picked up the Tamiflu, and that “they are making me feel bad” for not administering the antiviral drug to her child, although she doesn’t specify to whom she’s referring.

Another group member suggested putting sliced potatoes and cucumbers on the child’s forehead. Yet another suggested giving the child vitamin C until it caused diarrhea.

She also notes that none of the children received a flu shot.

RELATED: “Bipartisan Bill Cracks Down on Vaccine Exemptions”

The “Stop Mandatory Vaccination” Facebook group is run by anti-vaccine activist Larry Cook, a self-described “advocate for natural living” who aims to educate people about the “dangers of vaccination” and mobilize people against the “medical tyranny” of immunization policies, according to his website. The group has over 139,000 members.

Cook blamed the hospital for not offering “real treatments” to the boy.


“Mom says they were treated poorly by the hospital, and of course, never offered any real treatments that would have likely cured her boy,” he wrote on the page.

“EXACTLY!!” one commenter wrote in response. “You just have to nourish the body which hospitals do not do. They just poison.”

“100%,” Cook replied.

That hospital is apparently Children’s Hospital Colorado Springs, according to a GoFundMe page set up by the family.

All posts related to the incident have apparently been scrubbed by the Stop Mandatory Vaccination Facebook page.

The Colorado Times Recorder received screenshots of the Facebook posts from a source, and redacted the names of all individuals except for anti-vax group founder Larry Cook, who is a public figure.

This story was first broken by NBC.

Now this is just insanity. You have have 3 kids under 5, including a former preemie under 1 years old, all with fevers over 102F. 2 are having seizures and 2 confirmed with influenza infections. This was way past juice, berries, and vitamin C and she had to know that. Tamiflu is expensive but she would have probably got a discount seeing as she would have been filling 5 prescriptions at once. Even if she had just picked up baby Motrin and Tylenol on her own that could have helped bring down the fevers.
 

dicapr

Well-Known Member
I really wish Western medicine hadn't demonized ancient holistic and 'alternative' remedies for preventative health and treatment. It is very possible for them to coexist together and for people to use them in tandem.



Agreed. If it was serious enough for you to go to the hospital, the advice and prescriptions should have been seen as just as serious to take.

Thank you. I don’t get the either or mentality people have about how to take care of their health. You can use both western and holistic treatments so long as they do not interact with each other.
 

meka72

Well-Known Member
You can use both western and holistic treatments so long as they do not interact with each other.
My daughter had a febrile seizure when she was 4. Between 4 and 10, she had fevers that would come down while she was awake but shoot up when she went to sleep. We used Tylenol and Motrin in addition to putting a potato necklace on her. Lol. I swear by the potato necklace to break a fever but I’d never not use OTC/prescribed medicine to address her fever.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
My daughter had a febrile seizure when she was 4. Between 4 and 10, she had fevers that would come down while she was awake but shoot up when she went to sleep. We used Tylenol and Motrin in addition to putting a potato necklace on her. Lol. I swear by the potato necklace to break a fever but I’d never not use OTC/prescribed medicine to address her fever.

What is the potato supposed to do?
 

RoundEyedGirl504

Well-Known Member
There is some weird obsessive “health” stuff going around in general. When you are dealing with an ongoing fever elderberry ain’t gonna cut it. But people are getting weirder and weirder.

I was in Costco the other day and I had these dark Chocolate mini peanut butter cups in my basket. Random white lady behind me is like those looked good but they aren’t healthy, I mean it says no artificial flavors or additives but if you read the label blah blah. Then she could tell she sounded like a lunatic and stopped talking but the internet has given people information overload to the point of absurdity.
 

Theresamonet

Well-Known Member
There is some weird obsessive “health” stuff going around in general. When you are dealing with an ongoing fever elderberry ain’t gonna cut it. But people are getting weirder and weirder.

I was in Costco the other day and I had these dark Chocolate mini peanut butter cups in my basket. Random white lady behind me is like those looked good but they aren’t healthy, I mean it says no artificial flavors or additives but if you read the label blah blah. Then she could tell she sounded like a lunatic and stopped talking but the internet has given people information overload to the point of absurdity.

I was recently informed over a crudité platter that the cauliflower I was eating is not good for me, according to Dr. Sebi. :rolleyes:

This is health conscious culture colliding with Woke culture, which is colliding with conspiracy theorist culture.
 

Jmartjrmd

Well-Known Member
I will say that one reason that people turn to holistic stuff is because our health system fails us so much. I can understand that. And because of this mistrust and the rise of armchair online faux physicians, we need overhauls to our medical care as soon as possible.

I bet this mom was trying to avoid the cost and hassle of going to the doctor with 3 small sick children. I get that and my heart goes out to her in what I know was a difficult situation. But people have got to stop giving medical advice online like this.

too many people are using the internet as a dangerous platform. I saw someone the other day suggest that a person with suicidal tendencies stop their medication and use herbs to treat their mental illness. I mean, cmon. They are playing with peoples lives. And desperate people are grasping at these supposed lifelines.
Yes daily in heart failure groups someone will suggest not taking meds because THEY experienced a side effect.
Or the ones that get me come on like I'm having arm pain, jaw pain, chest pain. my bp is 200/110 what should I do.
Some of them I learned like the drama and attention they get cause no sane person has all that but thinks the best or first thing they should do is get on facebook.
 
Last edited:

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member
There is some weird obsessive “health” stuff going around in general. When you are dealing with an ongoing fever elderberry ain’t gonna cut it. But people are getting weirder and weirder.

I was in Costco the other day and I had these dark Chocolate mini peanut butter cups in my basket. Random white lady behind me is like those looked good but they aren’t healthy, I mean it says no artificial flavors or additives but if you read the label blah blah. Then she could tell she sounded like a lunatic and stopped talking but the internet has given people information overload to the point of absurdity.

Ummmm... stay out my grocery basket? :look:
 
Top