LTV's reporter interviewed the father of the deceased child who defended his actions in removing his other children from hospital despite the fact that they too had contracted diphtheria – a serious bacterial infection, particularly among children.
Despite appearing quite openly on camera and saying that the family lived in Bērzaune parish, LTV referred to the father only as 'Lauris'.
He told LTV that he and his wife decided to remove the children from the Children's Hospital because they had lost trust in the doctors.
"In some matters, we suspected that they were not telling us the whole truth, that they were trying to hide something. Therefore, that was our decision," said Lauris. He did not elaborate on the nature of the supposedly secret information.
After the death of their first child, for which they received an amout of criticism for not vaccinating their children – widespread vaccination has all but eradicated diphtheria in developed countries – the family said they wanted other doctors.
Being unsatisfied with an invitation to put the demand in writing, the parents decided last Friday that it would be safer for the children to leave rather than stay in the hospital.
Lauris admits that the family is skeptical about the use of vaccines in general,saying that they have not received convincing information about the composition of vaccines, and also for religious reasons. The family practices a form of Messianic Judaism.
"There are also religious considerations, beliefs, but one of the main ones is that you don't know what it [the vaccine] is," claims Lauris. However, the death of his child has caused him to now consider "partial vaccination" for his remaining three children.
For now, however, the family cannot decide much about the two children still inefcted with diphtheria – which can be highly contagious – who have been returned for hospital treatment, because their parental rights have been terminated. Madona County Minors' Court has taken custody of the children since September 20. The third child is in the care of a grandmother.
"Taking into account the fact that the children were in life-threatening conditions, that the parents do not provide them with the necessary medical assistance, endangering the children's lives with their actions, the court, and I, as the president of the court, made a decision to terminate the custody rights of both parents," says Olga Elsiņa, the president of the Minors' Court of Madona district .
The Court has asked the hospital to continue treating the children, but does not yet require them to be vaccinated. On October 3, the Madonna County Orphans' Court will decide whether to return the children to their parents' care.
In the period from 2007 to 2023, 122 cases of diphtheria were registered in Latvia, ten of those who fell ill died.
