PADUA – Immunologist Antonella Viola is currently under police protection after she received a threatening letter from an anonymous ‘anti-vaxxer,’ which also contained a bullet, said Il Fatto Quotidiano.

 “Don't worry, no one will die. Two .22 calibre bullets in the stomach and knees do not kill, they only do a great deal of harm,” read the typed note, as reported by Corriere della Sera. The letter arrived on Wednesday in Viola’s office in Padua, at the Pediatric Research Institute of the City of Hope and it was opened by a colleague, who immediately reported it to the local Carabinieri.

 The note demanded Viola to stop saying that children should be vaccinated and instead say they shouldn’t. “Hands off the children,” it read. “If you don't change what you say in interviews, we will be happy to target you and your family.”

 The Padua prosecutor has opened a file for threats against unknown persons and confirmed the contents of the typewritten missive, which has been confiscated along with the bullet.

 Viola has said she is not intimidated by the threat. "I'm fine, I'm on vacation with my family, I trust the police,” she said.

 She continued, “to those who wrote the message, I say that you want children to be ill, you want to make them sick and suffer. I will continue to advise parents to vaccinate their children because that's right.” 

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