Although it's difficult to understand exactly how anti-vaxxer rhetoric has gained as much influence in this country as its community can now boast, it's possible that part of the problem is with our frame of reference on various diseases.
Although it's difficult to understand exactly how anti-vaxxer rhetoric has gained as much influence in this country as its community can now boast, it's possible that part of the problem is with our frame of reference on various diseases.
Vaccines have so effectively protected the population against diseases like measles, rubella, polio, or tetanus, we're less likely to witness the severe effects of these diseases firsthand.
However, when children aren't vaccinated, they become unwitting and tragic reminders of how nightmarish conditions like tetanus can be.
As Oregon Live reported, the boy seemed to recover well at first after his parents cleaned and sutured the wound at home.
These spasms would soon get worse and the boy would start having difficulty breathing. His parents then called for help and he was eventually airlifted to OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the mass-production of the tetanus vaccine has led to a 95% decline is cases since the '40s, but the boy's parents had not vaccinated him against tetanus.
As Oregon Live reported, he also experienced involuntary neck and back arching that worsened for days.
He was connected to a ventilator and given a dose of the tetanus vaccine and a treatment made from donated blood plasma called immune globulins.
This was because his spasms got worse around noise, light, and other kinds of external stimulation.
Doctors also fought to reduce his rapidly escalated blood pressure and high fever.
His hospital stay would end up costing $811,929, but this amount didn't include the cost of airlifting him or his time at the rehab center.
As Oregon Live reported, tetanus is unlike measles in that a person does not develop an immunity once they've contracted it. If they remain unvaccinated, they can be re-infected any number of times.
Because despite the ordeal he had experienced, his parents still refused to give him a second dose of the tetanus vaccinations, as well as the other shots recommended by doctors.
As Livescience reported, any deep, penetrating wound could potentially lead to infection because the Clostridium tetani bacteria behind tetanus can be found anywhere from soil to dust to feces.
h/t: Oregon Live