'Thanks, "anti-vaxxers". I hope you get polio' Dad's angry rant to parents who don't vaccinate their children goes viral

A father's Facebook post has been shared more than 35,000 times - after targeting 'anti-vaxxers', who chose not to vaccinate their child.

Neal Cohen, dad to 5-month-old Zara, penned the angry message after finding out that his daughter has the measles. In it, he refers to those who do not vaccinate as 'idiots', 'who graduated from the University of Google', suggesting that they are more influenced by online resources than statistics, which he presents himself, saying that 'Nearly 100% of doctors agree that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh any risks associated with administration of the vaccines'.

According to Neal, 'vaccination is not a choice; it is a social responsibility.'

'Your selfishness (or perhaps more accurately, the fact that you are a f*cking moron) has put an entire new generation of children at risk to contract diseases that had been a non-issue for more than 100 years,' he writes.

Along with his furious post, Neal shared this image of his daughter with evidence of her illness on show:

Image: Facebook/Neal Cohen

Neal's post in full:

'A message to all anti-vaxxers:
Well, today we found out that my 5 month old daughter has the measles. Think about that for a second...my infant child contracted a disease that until recently had been virtually eradicated from our society. She is too young to be vaccinated (they get the MMR vaccine at 12 months) and so she is entirely reliant on the people around her to have the good sense to get theirs. It's called herd immunity.
Here's the thing about herd immunity; it only works if you have an overwhelming number of intelligent people surrounding idiots such as yourself. In other words, your justification of an irresponsible decision is that there are enough people around you being smart that you can afford to be stupid. Unfortunately, your "movement" has given other stupid people the impression that they should have a choice whether or not to vaccinate their children.
Vaccination is not a choice; it is a social responsibility. If everyone were to treat this social responsibility with the same disregard that you have, thousands and perhaps millions of children would be exposed to diseases that cause blindness, meningitis, encephalitis, croup, and other preventable complications. Your selfishness (or perhaps more accurately, the fact that you are a f*cking moron) has put an entire new generation of children at risk to contract diseases that had been a non-issue for more than 100 years.

More:

Mum's furious Facebook post about her son's exposure to measles goes viral

92% of doctors in North America are in agreement that the recent "anti-vax" movement is to blame for the resurgence of diseases like whooping cough and the measles. Nearly 100% of doctors agree that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh any risks associated with administration of the vaccines. Unfortunately, we have an outbreak of physicians who recently graduated from the University of Google that have outsmarted western medicine. Therefore I'd like to THANK YOU, in the most sarcastic tone possible, for the risk you've reintroduced to society's most at-risk, susceptible citizens. If your school age child contracts the measles, and your child infects others, you should be charged with criminal negligence. Of course that won't happen, but a guy can dream, can't he?
So thanks, "anti-vaxxers". I hope you get polio.'

Since sharing his thoughts, Neal has been told that Zara actually has is 'Roseola, otherwise known as baby measles. It is more common with infants and there is no vaccine,' he explains in a comment under the original piece.

'That said, I stand by my post. I've received a number of messages since my original post from parents of children with compromised immune systems due to allergies, chemotherapy, etc. who appreciated the message being circulated. Their children's lives are at risk every day by those who support the ridiculous anti-vaccine argument, so I chose to leave it as is.'

Do you agree with Neal's post? Leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts!