If a few days ago we explained the case of a mother who decided to share the photos of her eleven month old son with a skin infection secondary to chickenpox today we bring you an even more serious complication, that of a 4 year old boy who died yesterday for a generalized infection of a bacterium that took advantage of the fact that the boy was studying chickenpox.
It happened at Cruces University Hospital, in Barakaldo, where the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of Bizkaia reported yesterday of the death of the child, who I had chickenpox several days ago.
Apparently, the boy was at home waiting for the virus to disappear (like every child with a normal chickenpox), when suddenly it began to get worse dramatically. He was transferred from home to the hospital where already entered with cardiorespiratory arrest. Once in the hospital, little could be done, and after seeing that the resuscitation maneuvers were unsuccessful, the doctors declared the child's death.
He died from a streptococcal sepsis
The microbiological tests that have been done to know the cause of the sudden worsening of the child indicated that the germ that caused the massive infection was a streptococcus A. Death, then, was because of a streptococcal sepsis.
Health has considered it appropriate to activate a protocol for the prevention of secondary cases of this disease to the child's direct contacts: family members, classmates and teachers, probably in case there were any more cases of chickenpox that could be complicated in the same way.
He streptococcus A It is relatively common in our environment, being a bacterium that is often found in the throat without causing any disease, which is sometimes activated and produces the known scarlet fever, a mild throat infection that it is treated with antibiotics without major repercussions.
And why in the child did the thing go further?
Well, because there was a double infection. Chickenpox alone is a usually mild disease, streptococcus A infection, as well. But the bacterium infected the child at a time when his immune system was weakened by chickenpox and took the opportunity to cause an infection that the child could not bear. When he came to the emergency room there was nothing to do.
Was I vaccinated for chicken pox?
And here comes the big question. Whether or not the child was vaccinated for the chickenpox vaccine. We do not know. This data has not transcended. If it was vaccinated it is a clear sign that a non-selective, but universal, vaccination is needed to control the virus and that it practically disappears, so that it cannot infect even vaccinated children.
We must remember that chickenpox is a mild disease It usually has few complications, but sometimes it gets complicated. It is more dangerous in some risk populations, such as immunocompromised patients and those with pneumopathies or chronic skin diseases, pregnant women (due to embryonic and fetal involvement), children during the first year of life (especially in the neonatal period), adolescents and adults
That is why in many countries all children are being vaccinated after 12 months, not only to protect them, but also, but above all because they are the ones that are most commonly infected and can infect these populations at higher risk than We just commented.
If he was not vaccinated, which is most likely, then he will be one of the thousands of children who could not be vaccinated in Spain for a few years because the government made the pharmacy vaccine disappear, leaving parents without the option to vaccinate their children.
Yes, we are talking at all times of a case of very bad luck: two minor infections that were fatal together; but if the child had been properly vaccinated, or the rest of the children had been, Streptococcus A infection alone could have been controlled as usual, with antibiotics.
What do we know for? Because the residents of Navarra (autonomous community adjacent to the Basque Country) considered that the best for their population was to vaccinate all children since chickenpox since 2007. A study conducted there, published in 2012, showed that vaccination with 2 doses to children at 15 months and 3 years reduced the prevalence of chickenpox in children aged 0 to 14 years by 98.1%, from 50.1 cases per 1,000 population in 2006, to 1.0 per 1,000 in 2012.
By controlling the virus in childhood, not only was the risk of vaccinated children catching the disease reduced, but indirectly they managed to reduce the risk of suffering from the disease to the unvaccinated population (under one year and older), as we can see in the following table:
So once again we must assess the need to vaccinate all children of chickenpox (something that has begun to be done this year in Spain), none, or those whose parents prefer it. If you ask me, it has always been one of those vaccines that have worried me little, but that yes I have recommended when the mother is pregnant and the oldest has not taken chickenpox, to prevent it from becoming infected just when the newborn is born, which would be very bad luck, but it happens: chickenpox of the elderly, infects the baby and running to the emergency room.
Come on, this was the reason we vaccinated ours. The oldest when the medium was going to be born, the medium when the little one was going to be born and the little one was vaccinated because we had vaccinated the elderly.
By the way, I take advantage to join condolences For the terrible event.
