An Indiana family who recently lost their 3-year old daughter is now being placed in the headlines again by ABC News. 3-year-old Alivia Viellieux is said to have ‘maybe’ died from Influenza A yesterday morning. Now ABC News is reporting that the recently passed girl’s grandmother, Tameka Stettler, is regretting not getting the flu shot. Alivia’s parents reportedly passed on the flu vaccine due to its lack of effectiveness.
“Alivia did not have it because they had told us once the flu is going around it’s not going to matter if you got it or not,” Stettler said in an interview with ABC affiliate WRTV on Monday. “We just decided not to put those chemicals and the girl’s body if it’s not gonna help.”
“Nothing anybody says or does is going to bring that little girl back to us,” she added.
A parent or grandparent who loses any child is likely to rethink a number of decisions, it is odd that ABC News would decide to hone in on this one particular quote that offers very little context. They’ve taken one quote and ran a full story on it. The truth remains, many of the recent deaths attributed to flu are people who had a flu shot, yet that’s always left out of the headlines. This is a matter of convenience for increased headline clicks.
Without other details, such as potential preexisting conditions, it seems unfair to take one quote and run with it as a full story that portrays the declined flu shot as the reasoning for the little girl’s death. Health officials have admitted that the flu shot hardly works.
But here’s the worst part, the hospital is not saying that the young girl’s cause of death was flu.
The exact cause of Alivia’s death has not been determined. Representatives at Ball Memorial Hospital, where she was last treated, declined to comment on the specifics of her case but issued a statement that read: “While we can’t discuss any patient’s care, we are very saddened by her passing. Our hearts go out to her family.”
This causes ABC’s headline to be even less responsible and transparent as having an agenda. I doubt the family of the child is happy that their daughter’s death is now being used by the media to extend upon a narrative that everyone needs to get in line for their flu shot. This story is being used to disrupt and distract the herd in a year where the flu shot has come under some very real scrutiny.
Photo by paulswansen 