Blamed for the nation's historic measles outbreak, West Texas Mennonites have hardened their views on vaccines

SEMINOLE — When Anita Froese’s middle daughter came down with fatigue, body aches and the tell-tale sign of measles — strawberry-colored spots splattered across her skin — she waited it out. Two days later, her son developed the same symptoms. After a week, the disease finally reached her youngest daughter, who vomited all night as her fever spiked to 104.

Froese never brought her children to a doctor. Instead, she administered cod liver oil, vitamins, tea and broth. She refreshed their cold compresses and ran them epsom salt baths. She brought them to a holistic health center for an IV treatment used for heavy metal poisoning.

None of her kids are fully vaccinated against measles. She stopped immunizing her first two as infants after hearing stories about others who had bad reactions to the shots, and she approved no shots for her third. Even as an outbreak ripped through her community, Froese preferred that her children contract measles to build natural immunity because to her, measles was on par with the flu.

“It seemed like this was a disease that had come up now and was this big deal,” said Froese, who was vaccinated as a child. “To me, that wasn’t the case.”

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/12/17/texas-measles-mennonite-seminole-aftermath/