Local Mom Says 1% Isn’t a Big Deal—Accidentally Forgets That’s Still Over Half a Million Kids

Local Mom Says 1% Isn’t a Big Deal—Accidentally Forgets That’s Still Over Half a Million Kids

In today’s episode of “Facebook Comments That Could Kill People,” suburban mom Lucy has declared that measles risks are “overblown” and “only affect 1% of kids.” Math wasn’t consulted before this statement.

Experts—also known as anyone who passed 7th grade—were quick to point out a small detail:

1% of 55 million kids = 550,000 kids.

So yes, Lucy, congrats—you’ve just volunteered half a million children as tribute, all because giving your kid one safe, effective shot felt like a government conspiracy starring Bill Gates and Big Syringe.

But wait—it gets worse.

Lucy’s number? Completely wrong.

The actual case fatality rate for measles in children is about 0.1%, not 1%. But here’s where it gets hilariously dark: even with the real number, that’s 55,000 kids potentially dying from a disease we already had a vaccine for... since the 1960s.

Meanwhile, the risk of a serious adverse reaction from the measles vaccine?

One in a million. That’s 110 cases—not deaths, but any serious reaction—out of 55 million vaccinations.

So Lucy’s big “gotcha” moment is essentially this:

“I’d rather risk 55,000 kids dying than 110 kids maybe feeling bad for a day.”

When laid out like that, it starts to sound less like “parental freedom” and more like a community death wish in Pinterest font.

Also worth noting:

Every unvaccinated child increases the odds that immunocompromised kids, babies too young for vaccines, and elderly adults are left vulnerable in the crossfire.

Because let’s be real—Lucy’s gamble assumes her kid is in the lucky 99%. But if every parent plays that game, someone’s losing it. And spoiler alert: it’s usually not the conspiracy theorist’s kid who gets hit first—it’s someone else’s.

Final math, for those keeping score:

Risk of dying from measles: 0.1%

Risk of serious vaccine side effect: 0.000002%

Risk of Lucy doing the math before posting: 0%