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The Sun
30-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
Mum shares heartbreaking photo of baby boy fighting for life as a warning – after she found him coughing and drooling
A TODDLER was left "coughing up black chunks" then fighting for life after swallowing a button battery from a remote control. The tiny disc got lodged in 16-month-old Asa Allen's throat while he was playing outside with his two siblings. 11 Mum Kasey Allen, 32, who had travelled to visit her husband in Texas, United States, was cleaning the family campervan at the time. She found the camera remote on the floor in pieces and noticed a flushed Asa coughing and drooling 30 minutes later. Thinking he was simply a bit tired, the wedding photographer put the youngster down for a nap. But Kasey says when he woke up he appeared worse and started "coughing up black chunks". Concerned, the mum called a nurse friend who urged her to rush Asa to hospital. Asa had an X-ray at a local health centre, which revealed a button battery was lodged near his collarbone. He was referred to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, where the battery was fished out from his oesophagus around nine hours after he swallowed it before he was put on a ventilator for six days. Kasey is sharing what happened to Asa, now three, in October 2023 as a stark warning to other parents. The parent, from Monroe, Louisiana, said: "He found a camera remote, which was mounted on the steering wheel. "I was in and out [of the campervan] but I never saw him get the remote. I then saw it lying on the floor in four pieces. The 19 surprising choking hazards in your home that are as dangerous as button batteries "I don't know exactly when he swallowed it but it was around 30 minutes after I found the remote that his symptoms started." She described her son as "really flushed and fatigued", adding: "He had started coughing a lot and salivating. "I thought, 'What has happened to you?'" 'It was like a punch in the gut' Kasey put a "tired" Asa down for a nap, but got the shock of her life when he woke up. "His symptoms were worse," she said. "He started coughing up black chunks of the battery coating and I thought, 'Oh my God, his insides are coming out, something is wrong'. "I called my friend who was a nurse practitioner and she asked me if he had access to a button battery. "I said he had dropped a remote and maybe there was one in there, and she told me to take him to the emergency room right away. "Doctors did the X-ray and he had swallowed a battery, which was lodged between his collarbone. "From there, they transported us to a bigger hospital and they needed three doctors to get it out. "By this time my husband was researching button batteries and I thought my son was going to die. "I was shocked, I couldn't even move, I really felt numb. It was like a punch in the gut." 11 11 11 After struggling to remove the battery from Asa's oesophagus, they eventually managed to get it out. "He came out [of surgery] and that was very scary for me to see because he did look dead," Kasey said. "He wasn't moving and he had a thousand tubes going in him." Asa had to do "a lot of physiotherapy" and learn how to swallow and chew again due to the damage from the button battery, which caused his oesophagus to shrink to just 0.1in (3mm). In November, the tot had reconstructive surgery on his oesophagus and was hospitalised for five weeks due to a leak from the organ. A year and a half on from his ordeal, Asa is fully healed and able to eat again. But Kasey, who has banned all button batteries from her house, wants to ensure all mums and dads keep electronics with them away from their kids. She said: "Please watch out for button batteries. "I don't have them in my house anymore. We don't even have toys with them as it's not worth a life. "Make sure everything is screwed in if something has one. I don't want what happened to Asa to happen to another kid. "It was a really scary time but I'm glad we're finally on the other side of it. "We got to keep him with us so we're very grateful." What to do if your child swallows a button battery BUTTON batteries - also known as coin batteries - are small, flat, circular batteries used to power everything from watches to calculators, remote controls to car keys, and electronic toys to LED lights. They can cause severe problems if swallowed. Great Ormond Street Hospital says: "The problems caused by button batteries are not usually due to chemicals leaking from the battery but because the battery itself reacts with bodily fluids, such as mucus or saliva. "This creates a circuit to release a substance like caustic soda, which is a strong alkali that can burn through tissue. "An alkaline substance is at the opposite end of the pH scale to an acid but is just as dangerous. "Even 'dead' batteries have the potential to release the alkali so should be treated just as carefully as new batteries." If a child has swallowed a button battery, they might: Vomit fresh, bright red blood Cough, gag or drool a lot Appear to have an upset stomach or virus Vomit Point to their throat or tummy Say they have pain in their tummy, chest or throat Be tired or lethargic Be quieter or more clingy than usual, or otherwise 'not themselves' Lose their appetite Not want to or be unable to eat solid food If you think your child has ingested a button battery, take the following steps: Go straight to A&E Tell a doctor Take the battery packaging or product with you Don't let them eat or drink Don't make them sick It's important to get medical help as soon as possible. "The button battery may have caused significant damage to the lining of the child's oesophagus (foodpipe) – in some cases it may have burned through the oesophagus completely to form a hole," GOSH adds. "This may create a passage (fistula) between the oesophagus and the trachea (windpipe). It may also have damaged the vocal cords. "It may have burned through the blood vessels in the chest area, including the aorta (main blood vessel leading from the heart)." She added: "Asa had so much scarring. He couldn't eat real food, he would throw it up. "His oesophagus had shrunk down 0.1in (3mm); for his age it should be around 0.5in (12mm). "In November, he had reconstructive surgery. We were meant to be in hospital for five days but ended up staying for five weeks because there was a leak from his oesophagus. "It is now at 0.6in (15mm) and he is able to eat. "He's made amazing progress. He had never swallowed anything like that before - he wasn't even putting things in his mouth, which kids his age tend to do. "The first thing he put in his mouth was a button battery." 11 11 11 11 11
Medscape
07-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Measles Is Back: A Wake-Up Call
Many still believe that measles is a harmless disease and that vaccinations are more harmful, citing autism as a potential side effect, a claim debunked by numerous studies, including a notable 2015 cohort study in the United States. Vaccine expert Peter Jay Hotez, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, recently highlighted in an interview that outdated beliefs also extend to those endorsing measles parties, budesonide, vitamin A, and clarithromycin as viable treatments. Despite the known complications and availability of effective vaccines, measles continues to pose a significant global health threat. Vaccination Shortfall The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that measles cases in the European Region reached 127,350 in 2024, doubling the figures from 2023 and marking the highest number since 1997. Over 40% of these cases affected children aged under 5 years, with more than half requiring hospitalisation. Preliminary data up to 6 March 2025 recorded 38 deaths. After the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination rates declined, leading to a sharp increase in the number of measles cases in 2023 and 2024. Many countries have yet to restore their vaccination rates to pre-pandemic levels, heightening the risk for further outbreaks. Despite the vaccination mandate introduced in March 2020 under the Measles Protection Act, Germany still faces challenges in controlling measles. The WHO reported 79 measles cases in 2023. The vaccination coverage for the second dose was 93%, which is still below the 95% threshold required to effectively curb the spread of the disease. Case Histories The severity of measles is underscored not only by epidemiologic data and fatalities among the unvaccinated during a recent outbreak in Texas but also by individual case studies. One such case, reported by physicians in the journal Cureus , involved a 24-year-old man who presented myoclonic jerks and sensory symptoms for 3 days, followed by generalised weakness for a day. He also suffered a generalised tonic-clonic seizure, prompting the initiation of anticonvulsant therapy. Key clinical findings at presentation: Vital signs were stable. Myoclonic jerks persisted despite anticonvulsant treatment. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid analyses were unremarkable. The EEG indicated generalised slowing with theta waves. Brain MRI revealed effacement of the sulcal spaces in the bilateral parietal, temporal, and occipital regions with subtle leptomeningeal enhancement, suggestive of meningitis. The results of autoimmune encephalitis tests were negative. During his hospital stay, he experienced multiple brief bouts of abrupt generalised weakness and loss of postural stability. A neurologic examination after 2 weeks found that the paralysis had become flaccid. An elevated titre of 625 immunoglobulin G anti-measles antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid was detected by enzyme immunoassay, raising suspicion of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). Disease Progression and Aetiology SSPE, a rare but fatal complication, typically manifests 4-10 years post-infection, with some cases reported sooner or as late as 27 years. A study published in PLOS One indicates that the risk of developing fatal SSPE may be significantly higher than previously believed. While earlier estimates placed the risk between 1 in 100,000 and 1 in 10,000, the authors reported that for children under 5 years of age, the risk could be as high as 1 in 3300. The disease progresses through four stages, from personality changes and academic decline to myoclonus, seizures, and dementia. In the third stage, rigidity, extrapyramidal symptoms, and apathy develop. In the fourth stage, it progresses to coma, a vegetative state, or akinetic mutism. The time from the onset of symptoms to death was within 1-3 years of symptom onset. The pathogenesis of SSPE is unclear, but its cause is certain: Only wild-type measles virus, never the vaccine strain, has been found in all cases of SSPE. Another recent case illustrating that measles can be severe was reported in Clinical Medicine and involved a 44-year-old man. The patient presented at the emergency department with a week-long history of malaise, myalgia, dry cough, and diarrhoea, followed by a day of fever and extensive rash. He had been in contact with his grandchildren, who had measles 2 weeks prior. He had not travelled abroad recently and had received all the recommended childhood vaccinations in the UK, including the measles vaccination. The following are the findings: Erythematous maculopapular rash Hypoxia and tachypnoea No Koplik spots Elevated inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, 36 mg/L; normal, < 5 mg/L) Lymphopenia (lymphocytes, 0.69 × 10 9 /L; normal, 1-4 × 10 9 /L) /L; normal, 1-4 × 10 /L) Serum liver function tests showed a raised aspartate aminotransferase at 147 U/L (normal, 10-50 U/L) and gamma-glutamyl transferase at 148 U/L (normal, 1-55 U/L) with normal alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin levels Mild thrombocytopenia (platelets, 143 × 10 9 /L; normal, 150-450 × 10 9 /L) but otherwise normal complete blood cell count, coagulation, fibrinogen, and renal function tests /L; normal, 150-450 × 10 /L) but otherwise normal complete blood cell count, coagulation, fibrinogen, and renal function tests HIV serology test result was negative Chest x-ray demonstrated multifocal nodular opacities within both lower zones and right hilar adenopathy, suggesting infective/inflammatory aetiology A mouth swab tested positive for measles virus RNA CT angiogram confirmed no pulmonary embolism but confirmed x-ray findings The patient was diagnosed with measles pneumonitis. After treatment with ribavirin and antibiotics, the patient fully recovered. A few years ago, a measles infection had a fatal outcome for a woman during an outbreak in Hildesheim, Germany. The patient, a mother of five children aged between 4 and 16 years, contracted the disease from her school-aged children. Due to a shortage of vaccine supply, the woman's vaccination was delayed. She developed measles-like symptoms 3 days post-vaccination and was found dead on the eighth day. Molecular characterisation of the virus confirmed that the samples taken at the time of her death and during the autopsy contained the wild-type measles virus variant responsible for the outbreak in Hildesheim, which circulated in Germany from 2018 to 2020. The vaccine virus was not detected. Viral Persistence 'An increase in measles cases is a clear sign of a breakdown in immunisation coverage. As cases of measles continue to surge, we need urgent government action to both strengthen health systems and implement effective public health measures to secure protection for all children from this dangerous but preventable disease,' warned Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF's regional director for Europe and Central Asia. 'Measles is back, and it's a wake-up call. Without high vaccination rates, there is no health security. As we shape our new regional health strategy for Europe and Central Asia, we cannot afford to lose ground. Every country must step up efforts to reach under-vaccinated communities,' said Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe. 'The measles virus never rests — and neither can we.'
