A Mother’s Loss: A Mission to Protect Children from Preventable Illness With Serese Marotta Deputy CEO of Vaccinate Your Family
Episode Description
In this deeply moving episode, I had the honor of sitting down with Serese Marotta, Deputy CEO of Vaccinate Your Family, to discuss the critical importance of protecting our children as we head into respiratory illness seasons. Serese bravely opened up about her own personal tragedy, losing her healthy, five-year-old son, Joseph to H1N1 influence.
Hearing Serese’s story is a powerful reminder of why we do this work and why evidence-based education is so vital. We dove into real-world barriers families face, why even healthy children need protection against preventable illnesses, and how system-wide burnout in medicine can sometimes drive parents away from trusted doctors.
We discuss:
How physician burnout inadvertently fuels vaccine hesitancy
The reality of flu severity in healthy children
Vaccinate Your Family’s mission to improve vaccine access and education
Dr. Mona’s personal experience with vaccine anxiety as a pediatrician and mom
Common flu shot myths and safety misconceptions
The role of social responsibility and herd immunity in protecting kids
Connect with Serese Marotta on Instagram @vaccinateyourfamily and through vaccinateyourfamily.org
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