Aabi, a two -year -old girl, returned home from a family holiday in India on 30 April with her parents. After returning she did not want to return to the kindergarten and showed only mild symptoms of the disease, headache and elevated temperature. A few days later, however, Aabi She suffered brain death. He informed the portal about the tragedy.
The child was not vaccinated against the flu and it was the cause of her death. Initially, it seemed to be just a common virosis. Mother Aabi recalls that on May 2, a few days after returning from her vacation, her daughter was cheerful, sang, played and behaved as usual. But when she bathed it, she seemed to have a fever. She gave her paracetamol syrup and gently massaged her forehead. The fever retreated and the girl seemed to be fine.
The next morning Aabi got up, drank milk, ate biscuits, banana and played again. Mother believed she was recoveringand embarked on ordinary housework. Around 11.00 h. However, Aabi got sick again, the headache returned and the temperature rose. This time the drugs did not work. The thermometer showed 40.6 ° C and the girl was sleepy. In panic, her mother contacted her friend and quickly went to the emergency room. Her husband tried to get home from work as soon as possible.
Aabi was disoriented and returned to the emergency room. Although the staff immediately started to take care of it, the introduction of the infusion took more than half an hour. High fever led to serious dehydration and the general condition deteriorated rapidly. The girl received a seizure before she could give her medications to suspect influenza, sepsis or meningitis.
Blood tests confirmed the flu. Aabi was in high fever and only partially conscious, so it was taken to a unit of intensive care, where it was immediately intubated. Her mother with a heavy heart recalls that she had already felt that they had lost her daughter. The pupils stopped responding, CT did not show the entire range of damage, and even magnetic resonance imaging confirmed complete brain death due to acute necrotizing encephalitis, a serious complication of influenza infection.
The symptoms were at the beginning quite common. Fever, headache, drowsiness, nothing that parents would not know at such an age. But the course of the disease was extremely fast and insidious. AABI’s mother in a letter published by Immunisation Foundation of Australia, shared her feelings of guilt and questions she is still losing around. He realizes that even if Aabi is vaccinated, the vaccine would need 10 days for effect. At the same time admits that the mild symptoms that daughter had the day before hospitalization would Apparently no one evaluated as life -threatening.
Doctors suspect that Aabin’s immune system responded to the virus extremely aggressively, leading to acute inflammation and brain damage. “I wish we should be careful about this because of our children. Aabi was a blessing that we had for too short time. Our lives remain incomplete and we wish no parent never has to bear this exam, ”wrote a broken mother.
According to data from Australian respiratory surveillance 180 people died from January to April 2024, which represents a 73 % increase over the previous year. Among the victims were two children under 16 years of age. President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr. Danielle Mcmullen, therefore It calls on parents not to neglect the influenza vaccination. It recalls that the vaccination rate in the country is still lower than before the pandemic and vaccination can protect the most vulnerable. “It is never too late to vaccinate,” she added.
