In a heartbreaking call to parents to vaccinate their children, Alecia Rankin posted a photo of her hospitalized niece strapped to IVs last week on Facebook. The 7-week-old Aryn contracted invasive Hib, a serious disease that led to a bacterial infection in her bloodstream.
The Tennessee aunt took to Facebook to share “reason #1736493983283763 to vaccinate your kids,” saying that “her doctor hasn’t seen (the disease) in her career because this bacteria caused by Hib flu was all but eradicated by vaccines.”
Hib was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, a dangerous infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord, among children under 5 in the U.S. before the vaccine was approved in the early ’90s. Prior to the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 20,000 kids in the U.S. in that age range got the disease each year. About 3 percent to 6 percent of them died. Since the vaccine was first administered, the number of cases has dropped by more than 99 percent.
Aryn was just under the specified age for vaccination, which, according to the CDC, would be at around 2 months old for the first dose, with a final dose at 12 to 15 months old. Depending on which vaccine used, children will receive three to four doses.
“So before you decide not to vaccinate your children because ‘it’s your choice’ and ‘those who are vaccinated won’t be affected,’ remember that babies can get sick before they have the chance to get their vaccine,” Rankin wrote.
Read more: https://mom.me/news/180886-aunt-shares-sick-babys-photo-another-reason-vaccinate-kids/