When Ashlee Dahlberg\u2019s 8-year-old son, Liam, came home from school with just a headache, she never imagined it would be the last evening they\u2019d ever share.<\/p>\n
By the next morning, Liam was barely responsive. The Indiana family rushed him to the hospital, where doctors made a horrifying discovery: Liam\u2019s brain and spinal cord were covered in invasive bacteria.<\/p>\n
He had contracted a rare and aggressive infection known as Haemophilus influenzae \u2014 commonly referred to as Hib.<\/p>\n
It can cause upper respiratory tract infections, but it can also lead to serious and potentially life-threatening conditions like meningitis and sepsis.In Liam\u2019s case, the bacteria quickly developed into deadly meningitis.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point in time, that\u2019s when there was nothing they could do,\u201d Ashlee told WHTR. \u201cAnybody that contracts it usually dies within 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Liam being fully vaccinated, doctors believe he may have contracted the infection from an unvaccinated child\u2014 something that\u2019s becoming more common as vaccination rates decline across the U.S.<\/p>\n
A silent, fast-moving killer
\nHib is not the flu, despite its name.<\/p>\n
In Liam\u2019s case, it moved rapidly \u2014turning a simple headache into a fatal brain infection overnight.<\/p>\n
Doctors performed an MRI and found that the bacteria had already spread too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey discovered the amount of bacteria that was covering his brain and his spinal cord,\u201d Ashlee said. \u201cThat\u2019s when there was nothing they could do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have sat there and listened to the doctor say, \u2018You did everything right, but there was just nothing we could do,\u2019 and then to lay there with him as they took him off life support. And I could feel his little heartbeat just fade away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFeel I have failed my Child\u201d
\nAshlee is now channeling her grief into a mission: urging parents to make sure their children are fully vaccinated against Hib and similar illnesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no words that can describe that pain,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel I have failed my child because I could not protect him from everything that would cause harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to pediatrician Dr. Eric Yancy, Hib was \u201cabsolutely devastating\u201d before the vaccine was introduced in 1985.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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