Measles is one of the most infectious airborne diseases.
Controversial Australian anti-vaxxer Taylor Winterstein has launched an attack on the Samoan government because of its response to the measles epidemic.
The WAG, married to Samoan rugby league player Frank Winterstein, took to Instagram to voice her concerns this week, as she campaigns against compulsory immunisation in Samoa.
Taylor Winterstein, wife of Samoan rugby league player Frank Winterstein, runs an anti-vax blog. Photo / Instagram
Winsterstein, who had previously compared Samoa to Nazi Germany, said media are trying to use her family "as a scapegoat for the Samoan government".
"Mainstream media are doing their best to use my family as a scapegoat for the Samoan Government, they want us to carry the blame, they want to distract the public from what is really going on," she said.
"As my family comes under attack from media outlets around the world — I refuse to be quiet or hide as they continue with this relentless, vicious and calculated witch hunt."
The Samoan Prime Minister has ordered a shutdown of all businesses and decreed citizens "tie a red cloth or red flag in front of their houses and near the road to indicate that family members have not been vaccinated".
Samoa has issued compulsory vaccination after losing more than 50 children in a measles epidemic recently - but Winterstein doesn't agree with the move. Photo / Instagram
The two-day shutdown, which starts on Thursday, will allow a "door-to-door mass vaccination campaign", as the death toll from the disease continues to climb on the island.
On Instagram, Winterstein, famous for her anti-vaccination stance, says poor nutrition is contributing to the health crisis.
"It is no secret that poor nutrition is major contributing factor in the Samoan health crisis," she said.
"Samoans are overfed and undernourished, yet the government has been slow to act when it comes to nutrition and the role it plays in preventing disease."
She also said it is not unreasonable to question medical professions "especially in times of crises when decision-making can be rushed".
"I have been made aware that in Samoa at this time, the standard protocol for treatment of measles given to patients in the hospital system is to administer antibiotics for a viral infection, and acetaminophen to reduce the fever," she said.
"You do not need a degree to know this is DANGEROUS for a child already malnourished suffering an infection such as the measles.
"These two treatments alone that will annihilate a child's gut microbiome (which makes up most of their immune system) and inhibit a child's body to naturally clear the infection."
During the Instagram onslaught, she also questioned whether babies were dying because of the type of treatment they were given and called for medical practitioners to review their protocol.
She said the government is using "fascism" tactics to mandate vaccines on the entire population.
"That will see Samoans as young as six months of age suffer for 'the greater good'," she said.
"It is their lack of foresight to see that malnutrition and Vitamin A deficiency in Samoa, which has been carefully recorded and understood by Samoan authorities for years, were precursors to this disaster and that which has led to the unnecessary loss of lives."
Of the more than 4000 cases reported so far, the Samoan government announced on Tuesday, 171 were recorded in the previous 24 hours and 90 of those involved children 4 or younger. Most of the deaths to date are from that age group, too.
Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi promised on Wednesday to bring vaccination coverage up sharply, from about 55 per cent to 90 per cent, the BBC reported.
"Our children and people will never become immune to any future epidemic unless we have almost 100 per cent vaccination coverage," he said on a hospital tour.
