Marin mom lashes back at 'measles party’ media furor

Julie Schiffman enjoys a group hug with her boys in the play room of her home Thursday February 12, 2015. Julie Schiffman is upset about the measles-crazed media mania over her comments which were misinterpreted about her home schooled children who have not been inoculated in Marin County, Calif. less Julie Schiffman enjoys a group hug with her boys in the play room of her home Thursday February 12, 2015. Julie Schiffman is upset about the measles-crazed media mania over her comments which were ... more Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Marin mom lashes back at 'measles party’ media furor 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Julie Schiffman is furious.

For the past week, the 43-year-old Marin County woman has been savaged as the mom whose comments launched a national furor over “measles parties” — her life turned upside down by a media happy to stereotype Marin as a hippy-dippy haven, and her reputation turned into a social-media plaything for people eager to blow hard about a rumor that turned out to be pure baloney.

She wants to set the record straight.

First, what really happened was this: Schiffman told a radio reporter a week ago that a friend had offered to connect her with another woman whose child had the measles. The friend’s idea was Schiffman’s sons, ages 8 and 5, who have not been vaccinated for measles, could be exposed to the disease and develop immunity that way.

The offer was made in passing, Schiffman says, and she rejected it immediately.

But what resulted was this: The KQED radio reference was picked up by national media, which reported that Marin families were throwing measles parties instead of doing the sensible thing and having their kids vaccinated. Schiffman, widely attributed as the source of this information by reporters who didn’t contact her, was called an “idiot” in online forums, with some suggesting that all “antivaxxers” like her be jailed for child abuse.

Schiffman, who holds a master’s degree in special education, was speechless with pain. But not anymore.

'It’s offensive’

“It’s ridiculous how this has blown up and been taken out of context,” she told The Chronicle. “People have been speaking about me, writing things about me, in ways that are untrue, unsubstantiated and ignorant. They know nothing. It’s offensive.

“It’s all been very upsetting. It really needs to stop.”

The brouhaha that broke with KQED’s Feb. 6 piece is still billowing, propelled by outpourings on the comments sections of websites that featured stories condemning measles parties.

Typical of the tone is a story on Salon.com. It ran Tuesday with the headline, “We have hit peak crazy,” and proclaimed — based on the KQED story — that “Marin County is allowing its residents to have measles parties” in a “bananas trend.”

It castigated the county as “the odd hippie commune in the college that is the United States.”

The story later acquired a disclaimer at top, saying, “It turns out reports of 'measles parties’ are largely unsubstantiated. ... We apologize for the error.” But the damage had already been done, Schiffman said.

Commenters are still on the attack by the hundreds. One on Salon.com said those opposing vaccinations “need to be locked up,” and another asked, “When your child kills mine because you decided not to get your kid vaccinated, are you willing to accept a murder charge?”

On the website Newser, commenters called Schiffman’s opinions “beyond ridiculous,” and mocked her as “this idiot woman” for not having her sons vaccinated.

Doctors’ advice

Schiffman said her sons have not gotten measles shots on advice of her doctors because of the family’s medical history, and she said people have no business knowing anything more. The KQED story, she noted, made it clear from the outset that she had rejected the offer of a measles exposure for her sons, “and careful readers saw that. But most people are not so careful.”

“The hysteria got out of hand, and how the national, local and online media outlets have run amok with this story is appalling,” said Schiffman, who teaches her children at home and is on the leadership team of Marin Homeschoolers. “All but a couple of them never even bothered to contact me to confirm the story. It’s beyond egregious, and it’s wrong.”

If the firestorm has had any positive effect, it’s been to prod health officials to weigh in on the very concept of measles parties.

California public health officials said they haven’t heard of such kiddie bashes taking place anywhere in the state. And Dr. Matt Willis, the Marin County public health officer, confirmed he hadn’t heard of any parties in his area. Given that there have been only two reported cases of the disease in the county — in sibling children — he doesn’t believe any parties could be happening without his knowledge.

'Off the radar’

“If there were any measles parties happening, they’re so far off the radar screen they’d involve a case we don’t even know about,” Willis said. “And we don’t have any signs of new infections.”

Willis added that the concept of such parties is a terrible idea. Aside from the fact that measles can cause serious illness, “we would certainly not want to be inviting measles into our community,” he said.

“It’s a highly communicable disease, and it’s difficult to control its spread,” Willis said. “Anyone who’s intentionally infected represents a risk to the whole community.”

'Natural’ immunity

Even before the past week’s dustup, modern measles parties had been mostly an urban legend. They haven’t always been bunk, though. Before the measles vaccine was licensed in 1963 and went into wide use, parents would sometimes hold such parties or play dates.

The idea was to infect children at a young age when they were considered less likely to suffer complications. Parents staged similar parties for chickenpox — a less serious disease — before a vaccine for it was licensed in 1995.

Now, though, public health experts say the parties are dangerous and nonsensical.

Some parents opposed to vaccines argue that “natural” immunity to a virus — which occurs when a person is exposed to the pathogen and gets sick — is stronger and more effective than vaccine-generated immunity.

There may be some truth to that, infectious disease experts say, but the risk of developing complications such as blindness or encephalitis from measles is far greater than the risk for healthy children of mild side effects from the vaccine. Plus, the shots already are very effective, providing 95 to 99 percent protection from measles.

As for Schiffman, don’t look to her to change her mind anytime soon about exposing her sons purposely to the disease — anywhere.

“People just don’t do that,” she said. “There’s too much liability, for one. But it’s just not something we do.”

Kevin Fagan and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: kfagan@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.com