--- title: "Man Whose Daughter Died From Measles Stands by Failure to Vaccinate Her: “The Vaccination Has Stuff We Don’t Trust”" description: "The father of the first person to die from measles in a decade does not regret his anti-vaccination stance." date: "2025-03-11" modified: "2025-03-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/measles-father-defends-anti-vaccination" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "anti-vaxxers" - "measles" - "outbreaks" - "vaccines" --- # Man Whose Daughter Died From Measles Stands by Failure to Vaccinate Her: “The Vaccination Has Stuff We Don’t Trust” ![The father of the first person to die from measles in a decade does not regret his anti-vaccination stance.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Thus far, there's only been [one confirmed death]() in the measles outbreak spreading across North America — and the father of the unvaccinated child who died of the preventable disease is expressing no regrets about failing to get her the jab. In a startling [interview with *The Atlantic*](), the father of the six-year-old girl who became the first measles death in the United States [in 10 years]() discussed the beliefs that led up to her dying from an infectious disease that was essentially [eradicated at the turn of the last century](). Identified only as Peter, the father at the heart of this tragedy is, like many others in Seminole, the small West Texas town at the center of the outbreak, a member of the traditional-minded Christian sect known as Mennonites. There's apparently nothing in that group's doctrine barring modern medicine, but like [many other conservative religious groups](), many Mennonites are vaccine skeptics. "The vaccination has stuff we don’t trust," Peter told *The Atlantic*. "We don’t like the vaccinations, what they have these days. We heard too much, and we saw too much." Peter insists that measles is a normal part of life — although for much of the country, [it is not](), and hasn't been for decades in the wake of generations of successful vaccination campaigns against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). "Everybody has it," the man told the magazine. "It’s not so new for us." Those comments echo claims made by new Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who said during president Donald Trump's first televised cabinet meeting at the end of February that it was "[not unusua]()l" for measles cases to spike from time to time. "We have measles outbreaks every year," the political scion claimed — a claim that is only true now because anti-vaxxers like him and the [group he used to lead]() have made people afraid to get them for fear of "injury" from these proven-safe inoculations. Though Kennedy has [since changed his tune]() under [increased scrutiny]() to [handle the outbreak]() taking place on his watch, the father of the six-year-old girl claimed by the disease has not. "Everybody has to die," he told *The Atlantic's* Tom Bartlett. Still, Peter appeared to become emotional after that admission, telling the columnist that it was "very hard" to deal with the "big hole" in his life resulting from the loss of his young child. It's impossible to imagine what the man is going through — if only because it seems cruel to hold onto such regressive beliefs in the face of unnecessary death. **More on measles:** [*Anti-Vaxxers Aghast as RFK Jr. Admits That Vaccines Are Pretty Fantastic*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()