3-year-old Nadja from Serbia died of measles for three months. She could not be vaccinated because she was suffering from a rare disease called hypocalcemia. The parents of the deceased girl decided to share this story to warn others about the consequences of not vaccinating their children.
On the website “Light for Riley”, mother of 3-year-old Nadja from Serbia, who died of measles, decided to share her daughter’s tragic story.
The activities of anti-vaccine movements in Serbia are contributing to the continuous increase in measles incidence. This dangerous infectious disease most often affects children. Unfortunately, many of them cannot be vaccinated.
Nadja had extremely low blood calcium levels in the first year of her life. Doctors diagnosed her with hypocalcaemia, which made vaccination against measles impossible. The girl spent most of her time in hospitals. During her stay in one of the medical facilities, she was in a room with a boy, who was later diagnosed with measles by the doctors.
Initially, there was no indication that the girl was infected. However, when she stopped eating and drinking, her parents became worried. There was an immediate deterioration in her health. The tests that the 3-year-old went through showed that she also fell ill with measles.
Little Nadja fought the disease for three months. There was nothing the doctors could do and the girl died in April 2018.
– I am sharing this story to convince parents who have doubts about vaccinating their children. Every child has the right to protection against infectious diseases, wrote the girl’s mother.
Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases in childhood. The virus is transmitted via droplets, i.e. as with flu or strep throat. The infectivity of this disease is very high and it is estimated that around the world one million people die from measles each year.
What is the situation in Poland?
According to the data of the National Institute of Public Health-National Institute of Hygiene (NIZP-PZH), there were 2017 cases in 63 (in 2016 – 133, in 2015 – 48). In 2016, an epidemic broke out in Belarus, as a result of which in Poland we also had an increase in the number of people who came from that region. The disease has also spread to other ethnic minorities who do not vaccinate and are hard to get.
Currently, sanitary services are closely monitoring whether new cases of measles in Poland are still a disease of immigrants from ethnic minorities, or perhaps as a result of anti-vaccination movements and a tendency not to vaccinate children, measles is attacking Polish society. This would mean crossing a fine line of safety and the risk that unvaccinated people will become ill – both those who could not get vaccinated for health reasons, and those who were not vaccinated by their parents.
Based on: edziecko.pl