Parents of diphtheria-stricken son feel tricked by anti-vaccination groups
Parents of diphtheria-stricken son feel “tricked” by anti-vaccination groups
Jessica Mouzo Quintans, Barcelona 5 June 2015
Health officials say they will not charge family for rare treatment that had to be flown in. The six-year-old continues to fight for his life in intensive care at Barcelona hospital. Diphtheria-stricken child still in serious condition, says hospital
The parents of the six-year-old boy who became the first person to contract diphtheria in Spain since 1987 said they feel “tricked” by the anti-vaccination groups they once admired.
“The family is devastated and admit that they feel tricked, because they were not properly informed,” said Catalan public health chief Antoni Mateu. “They have a deep sense of guilt, which we are trying to rid them of.”
The child remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona.
The child’s parents have now agreed to let their younger daughter get her shots
The health department said that the patient was responding well to the treatment – an anti-toxin that had to be urgently imported from Russia and France as it had not been prescribed in Spain for three decades. Madrid issued an international call for help, and the Russian ambassador to Spain managed to get the first dose flown in from Moscow earlier this week.
“The anti-toxin is doing its job, and we see that in the way things are getting resolved, but we cannot predict how it will progress,” warned Mateu.
The health official rejected the possibility of charging the parents for the treatment their son is receiving.
“In no way are we considering that option. There are two victims here: the child and the parents,” said Mateu.
An investigation is underway to find the original carrier of the bacterium that latched on to the child’s body, but Mateu warned that it would “be difficult to find him, especially if he is asymptomatic.”
Everyone who was in touch with the child in the days prior to his hospital admission is under surveillance for signs of the disease. Classmates at Cor de Maria school, in the town of Olot, had their health records checked for vaccinations. All of them have been taking preventive medication and receiving additional immunizations, health officials said.
There are two victims here: the child and the parents," -- Antoni Mateu, Catalan public health chief
The child’s parents have agreed to let their younger daughter get her shots, Mateu added.
The first symptoms showed up on May 23, but it was not until May 28 that the little boy was admitted to the local hospital. That same day, the national public health agency received an alert that this might be a case of diphtheria.
On Friday, May 29, the National Microbiology Center received the sample, and the diagnosis was confirmed the following day. The minor was transferred to Vall d’Hebron and the Health Ministry began the worldwide search for the anti-toxin required to save his life.
Diphtheria vaccination rates in Spain are between 90 and 95 percent following systematic public health campaigns that began in 1945. Thanks to these efforts, the dangerous disease had been eradicated in the country.
Re: Parents of diphtheria-stricken son feel tricked by anti-vaccination groups
Though my children are grown and my grandchildren's vaccination history is a hodgepodge of some done, some not...I want to respond about this article. I did not vaccinate my children while they were growing up, two of our children (we had six) contracted whooping cough when they were young...they survived (why wouldn't they) and my youngest at the time was 8 months old.
what i find disconcerting about this article is an attitude of these parents that they were misled...misled about What i have to ask and i ask another question..."IF this child had been vaccinated, and still contracted this disease, what would the health officials say then"?...i ask this, because every year, some children, somewhere, WILL contract the disease they were immunized against...it happens...
the fact that the majority of children who are immunized do Not contract the disease, is Not a good argument (for me) for immunizing
EVERY child for every damn immunization health officials deem necessary. for example, Chickenpox...REALLY!!!
Parents can and should educate themselves concerning vaccinations and they should be the ones to decide what is best for their children, for their families. no matter what health officials try to shove down our throats, vaccinations are Not a slam-dunk...they are not without risk whether that be immediate or over long time. If health officials and the public thinks that forcing families to immunize their children that there will be no consequences then we are deluding and lying to ourselves..
peace
beshiva
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
Re: Parents of diphtheria-stricken son feel tricked by anti-vaccination groups
Though any child who dies is sad situation, it seems that the Australian media is portraying this story to push a free pertussis vaccine onto pregnant women, a campaign ongoing for some time now….not unsimilar to what the media did with Disneyland and the measles.
The questions surface as to why there is no concern to inform the public when babies die from the vaccine given to them to supposedly protect against whooping cough? “CA infant dies after 8 vaccines and parents get him back cremated w/o a report”. OR “March 2015 Settlements in Vaccine Court: 117 Vaccine Injuries and Deaths” https://vaccineimpact.com/2015/march...es-and-deaths/
Or from the mothers that lose their child after receiving the vaccine during pregnancy?
Why is there no mention as to whether this mom was vaccinated with TDaP during pregnancy?
Have they actually had someone trace the baby's illness back to a non-vaccinated person?
The one thing that is apparent about whooping cough is that it’s becoming more common, and the those affected are proving to be vaccinated more often than not. That, of course, doesn’t stop the vaccinators from blaming unvaccinated people for the outbreaks—though there never seems to be an adequate explanation for the claim.
Why is there no mention that vaccines are NOT tested for safety or effectiveness when given to pregnant women? Why do they need to be tested when Merck, Bayer and the other Big pharma vaccine corporations aren’t going to get sued anyways?
Why is there no mention of vaccine failure and other problems that arise from being vaccinated against pertussis?
The risks associated with the DTaP vaccine includes death, straight from the package insert. It also reads it has never been tested for safety in pregnant women.
https://gaia-health.com/conventional...more-frequent/
When we look at the actual data, we see that although many people did die from whooping cough in the early part of the 1900s, by the time the vaccine had been introduced the death rate in the United States had declined by more than 90 percent. Using the source that was referenced to make the statement in the Pediatrics paper, we see that the decline in deaths from the peak was approximately 92 percent before the introduction of the DTP vaccine.
The article in the journal Pediatrics is quite damaging because it would have been read primarily by doctors, leaving many with the impression that vaccines were completely responsible for the decline in deaths. The actual number of deaths by the time of the introduction of the DTP vaccine was approximately 1,200—not the 5,000 to 10,000 often cited. Again, this faulty thinking that vaccines were responsible for the lion’s share of mortality decline is pervasive in all corners of society. https://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2...-humphries-md/
One mother on my FB group wrote, "Why does their child get full coverage when my daughter didn't... she was left disabled after her 1st lot of shots at 8 wks old. The 1st side effect on the insert leaflet says neurological disorders, not headache or fever, yet doctors don't tell you that one. Too many vaccine-injured children or children who die from vaccine never make it on the news. It's no wonder why most parents believe it's rare for kids to be hurt from vaccines."
Is this another ploy to push vaccines? It appears so.
In 2013, New South Wales (NSW) in Australia published this:
"NSW Health will now refocus its whooping cough vaccine strategy after an intense four year vaccination campaign during which the NSW Government made more than 1 million doses of free whooping cough vaccine available.
From July 15, NSW Health will no long provide free vaccine to GPs for vaccination of mothers after they have given birth. And now, it appears:
"EVERY pregnant woman in NSW will receive a free whooping cough vaccine, the NSW government has announced in response to the latest infant death."
Intravenous vitamin C has had great results in curing whooping cough, but doctors stand by and watch these little kids die because they refuse to use anything other than prescription drugs. These drugs can and do actually make the condition worse. Cannabis oil also has been used successfully in the treatment of whooping cough. People are so determined to believe vaccines work and yet with rates at 90% plus in all Australian states; these diseases are on the increase.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
Diphtheria-stricken child still in serious condition, says hospital
Diphtheria-stricken child still in serious condition, says hospital
A six-year-old child diagnosed with diphtheria remained “in a very serious condition” on Wednesday morning, said sources at Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona.
The child is the first recorded case in Spain of the infectious disease since 1987, when the last two patients were treated.
EL PAÍS has learned that the reason the child had not been immunized against the disease is that his parents oppose vaccines.
Vaccination rates in Spain are between 90 and 95 percent following systematic public health campaigns that began in 1945. Thanks to these efforts, the dangerous disease had been eradicated. Diphtheria attacks the respiratory system and several of the body’s organs, and can prove fatal.
"The right to vaccination is for children, it's not for the parents to decide”
Rubén Moreno, general secretary for the health service
Now, Catalan health officials are working to locate all the people who were in touch with the child before he developed the symptoms of diphtheria. Soon before getting sick, he had been to a school camp.
Around 150 individuals are currently under surveillance for signs of the disease and are receiving preventive medication, said the Catalan Public Health Agency.
The child developed the first symptoms on May 23, and by May 28 the local hospital in Olot, his place of residence, informed state health authorities that they had reason to suspect a case of diphtheria. A sample was sent to the National Microbiology Center, which confirmed the suspicions.
At that point, Spanish health authorities were faced with the problem that they lacked the anti-toxin necessary to treat the patient, since it had not been prescribed for three decades.
Spain issued an international alert, and asked the World Health Organization, as well as the US government, for help locating the necessary medication.
In the end, the Russian ambassador to Spain managed to get a dose flown in from Moscow, with more vials expected to arrive on Wednesday night.
Antoni Trilla, an epidemiologist at Clínic hospital in Barcelona, said it will not be easy to find the origin of the contagion, since the original carrier could be someone who suffered a light form of the disease and continued to carry the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae inside his or her throat. Diphtheria is spread by coughing or sneezing near other people.
In recent years, campaigns against vaccinations – due to their perceived health risk – have gained ground among parents, particularly in the United States. General secretary for the health service, Rubén Moreno, called these campaigns “irresponsible.” He continued: “The consequences of not vaccinating a child can be dramatic. The right to vaccination is for children, it's not for the parents to decide.”
