The Lassie Crisis Measles Episode
Why do anti-vaccine influencers only bring up the Brady Bunch measles episode?
Have you ever seen or heard about the Lassie measles episode?
It’s the one when Timmy gets measles.
Anti-vaccine influencers like to talk about the Brady Bunch measles episode all the time.
For some reason, they never talk about the Lassie measles episode though…
The Lassie Crisis Measles Episode
In The Crisis, a 1958 episode of Lassie, Timmy gets sick after several classmates are diagnosed with measles.
And unlike the Brady Bunch kids who are playing games while sick, Timmy actually looks pretty sick and his parents go into crisis mode.
Why the difference?
The Brady Bunch measles episode aired in 1969, a good six years after we started to use the first measles vaccine.
So by the time the Brady Bunch measles episode aired, measles deaths were already down 90%, from about 400 to 500 deaths a year to 40 deaths in 1969.
Attitudes about measles were already changing.
Contrast this to the 1950s - the pre-vaccine era, when we were seeing 400 to 500 deaths a year from measles!
When Timmy got measles, it was, not surprisingly, seen as a crisis, and was hardly thought of as something mild.
The Lassie Polio Vaccine Episode
In addition to helping Timmy when he had measles, Lassie helped make sure he wouldn’t get polio!
How?
Lassie was brave when she got a shot!
And Doc Weaver did a great job explaining why vaccines are safe and necessary.
They helped Timmy get his polio shot, even though he was scared of needles.
Anti-vaccine influencers like to talk about the Brady Bunch measles episode.
For some reason, they never talk about the Lassie measles episode though…
References
Lassie. S4 E18· The Crisis. 24 min · Jan 5, 1958. Timmy gets measles.
Lassie. S4 E22· Inoculation. 24 min · Feb 2, 1958. Timmy hides in a cave to avoid a polio shot.
You are the liar and will be held accountable for all the injuries and deaths due to the vax someday SOON