Boy, 8, complains of headache at school then events turn tragic in hours
Ashlee Dahlberg, from Indiana, US, says she felt her son Liam's 'heart fade away' after he suddenly contracted a bacterial infection. She shared the warning signs of the deadly illness
A young boy who suffered a headache at school tragically died of a horror infection just hours after complaining about the symptom.
Liam Dahlberg, 8, from Indiana, US, came home from class in April and felt unwell. But it wasn't until the following morning that his mum became concerned.
His mother, Ashlee Dahlberg, raced him to hospital where she was told that "there's just nothing we could do", after delivering her a devastating diagnosis. Liam had picked up a bacterial infection called Haemophilus influenzae type b, also known as 'H. flu' or 'Hib.'
Most children are vaccinated against the deadly illness as a baby, but it is still possible to become infected by it, warned doctors. His mother spoke to local media and said: 'Anybody that contracts it usually dies within 24 hours."
Shocking test results from an MRI revealed that the infection had worsened, spreading to his brain and spinal cord. "Basically, at that point in time, there was nothing they could do,' his mum said. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the infection can travel through respiratory droplets and can stay dormant in healthy people, reports New York Post.
However, anyone who experiences a low immune system, could see the infection enter the bloodstream - which later can spread to vital organs. Dr. Eric Yancy, a paediatrician in Indianapolis, stressed how quickly Hib can harm patients. 'If it didn't kill the children within a very short period of time, it left many of them with significant complications,' he told 13WMAZ.
Despite Liam being vaccinated against the infection, he could have contracted it from someone who wasn't protected. The poor eight-year-old died less than 24 hours after enduring a headache. His mother revealed how she felt his "little heartbeat fade away" before his death. She added: "I would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever. It's hard.
'To have sat there and listened to the doctors say, 'You did everything right, there's just nothing we could do,' to lay there with him as they took him off life support, I can feel his little heartbeat fade away — there's no words that can describe that pain.'
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Daily Mirror
3 days ago
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Boy, 8, complains of headache at school then events turn tragic in hours
Ashlee Dahlberg, from Indiana, US, says she felt her son Liam's 'heart fade away' after he suddenly contracted a bacterial infection. She shared the warning signs of the deadly illness A young boy who suffered a headache at school tragically died of a horror infection just hours after complaining about the symptom. Liam Dahlberg, 8, from Indiana, US, came home from class in April and felt unwell. But it wasn't until the following morning that his mum became concerned. His mother, Ashlee Dahlberg, raced him to hospital where she was told that "there's just nothing we could do", after delivering her a devastating diagnosis. Liam had picked up a bacterial infection called Haemophilus influenzae type b, also known as 'H. flu' or 'Hib.' Most children are vaccinated against the deadly illness as a baby, but it is still possible to become infected by it, warned doctors. His mother spoke to local media and said: 'Anybody that contracts it usually dies within 24 hours." Shocking test results from an MRI revealed that the infection had worsened, spreading to his brain and spinal cord. "Basically, at that point in time, there was nothing they could do,' his mum said. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the infection can travel through respiratory droplets and can stay dormant in healthy people, reports New York Post. However, anyone who experiences a low immune system, could see the infection enter the bloodstream - which later can spread to vital organs. Dr. Eric Yancy, a paediatrician in Indianapolis, stressed how quickly Hib can harm patients. 'If it didn't kill the children within a very short period of time, it left many of them with significant complications,' he told 13WMAZ. Despite Liam being vaccinated against the infection, he could have contracted it from someone who wasn't protected. The poor eight-year-old died less than 24 hours after enduring a headache. His mother revealed how she felt his "little heartbeat fade away" before his death. She added: "I would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever. It's hard. 'To have sat there and listened to the doctors say, 'You did everything right, there's just nothing we could do,' to lay there with him as they took him off life support, I can feel his little heartbeat fade away — there's no words that can describe that pain.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
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Indiana boy, 8, dies within hours of catching terrifying infection at school that spread to his brain
A mother is sharing her grief to warn others about a rare bacterial infection that killed her son within hours of symptoms starting. Little Liam Dahlberg, eight, from Indiana, complained of a headache after coming home from school last month — the next day he was dead. He was diagnosed with haemophilus influenzae, also known as H. flu, which had spread to his brain and spinal cord. His mother Ashlee said she felt 'indescribable pain' as she lay with Liam during his final moments and the medical team turned off his life support. Despite sounding like the flu, haemophilus influenzae is a bacterium – not a virus – and infections are much rarer and deadlier. It can live harmlessly in the nose and throat of many healthy people, but under certain conditions — like a weakened immune system or another viral infection like a cold — it can get into the bloodstream, spread and cause the body to attack healthy organs. Ashlee told local news station 13wmaz: 'I would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever. It's hard. To have sat there and listened to the doctors say, "You did everything right, there's just nothing we could do." '[And] to lay there with him as they took him off life support, I could feel his little heartbeat fade away — there's no words that can describe that pain.' The family is still unsure how Liam caught the infection — he had been fully vaccinated against H. flu as part of his routine childhood vaccinations. The vaccine — given over three doses to babies — is about 95 percent effective at preventing infections. Yet Liam came home from school unwell in April. When his headache did not subside, his family took him to hospital the following morning. Ashlee told local news: 'They took him to an MRI. That's when they discovered the amount of bacteria that was covering his brain and spinal cord. 'Basically at that point in time, there was nothing they could do.' The infection had spread and caused meningitis, inflammation of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The damage was so rapid and severe he was declared brain dead. In a GoFundMe set up to help cover the medical costs, his family described Liam as 'a bright and smart young boy, full of life and potential.' 'His presence brought joy and warmth to everyone he met,' the page adds. Doctors suspect Liam may have suffered a breakthrough infection after catching it from an unvaccinated child at school who was carrying high levels of the bacterium. H. flu lives in the noses of healthy people and spreads when people sneeze or cough. Until the rollout of a vaccine in 1985, the infection used to cause 20,000 serious infections per year in the US — mostly in children under 5. Today there are fewer than 50 cases per year in young children — nearly all in unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated kids. But uptake of the shot has fallen in recent years, linked to a broader mistrust of vaccines. Ashlee is urging parents to make sure their children are all fully vaccinated.
