Now, a star of the popular 1970s-era sitcom "The Brady Bunch," Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady on the TV show, is slamming the anti-vaccination movement for using a clip from an episode of the "The Brady Bunch" to further its message.
In the 1969 episode, Marcia Brady and her siblings catch the measles, and Marcia says, “If you have to get sick, you sure can't beat the measles.”
Anti-vaxxers are using a "Brady Bunch" meme to say measles is no big deal.
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 29, 2019
The actress who played Marcia Brady says she's disturbed that her childhood role is being used to spread misinformation https://t.co/drjH4SYq9f
McCormick has faulted movement supporters for using the clip to further their message that it’s better to have the measles in childhood and develop an immunity to it naturally.
"I think it's really wrong when people use people's images today to promote whatever they want to promote and the person's image they're using, they haven't asked or they have no idea where they stand on the issue," McCormick said in an interview with NPR.
She also said she had the measles in real life and that she remembered it as a miserable.
“Having the measles was not a fun thing," McCormick said. "I remember it spread through my family.”
McCormick also said she vaccinated her own daughter against the disease.
The actor who played Marcia Brady has slammed anti-vaxxers for circulating memes and clips from an old episode of the Brady Bunch. https://t.co/RQNeJadDy8
— PerthNow (@perthnow) April 30, 2019
Measles is a viral infection, typically occurring in childhood, which can almost always be prevented with a vaccine, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Also called rubeola, measles can be serious and even fatal for small children.
Symptoms include fever, a dry cough, a runny nose and a rash.
As part of @GwynneFitz’s ongoing measles coverage, she looks at how some opposed to vaccines are citing a 1969 episode of “The Brady Bunch” as evidence that concerns about measles are overblown.
— New York Public Radio Communications (@NYPRPR) April 29, 2019
Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady, weighs in:https://t.co/5uGgNSTmQh
Anti-vaxxers use Brady Bunch episode as 'proof' measles is no big deal.
— Dr. Leah Klungness (@Dr_Leah) April 29, 2019
After all, nothing portrays 'real life' more accurately than the Brady Bunch.https://t.co/kI8D3RoZ6Y
Marcia Brady vaccinated her kids because she remembered that #measles wasn't so marvelous https://t.co/mzhaqiKPal #VaccinesWork #StopTheOutbreaks pic.twitter.com/htv4nKSt6Q
— Vincent Iannelli, MD (@AboutPediatrics) April 28, 2019
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