An eight-year-old boy tragically died within hours after catching an infection, his heartbroken mom has said.
Liam Dahlberg from Indiana reportedly passed away from a rare bacterial infection that turned into deadly meningitis - all within a matter of mere hours after contracting the bug.
The eight-year-old had only suffered one symptom, a headache, before his premature death, telling his mom when he returned home from school that day in April how he felt unwell.
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The next day, the family rushed the barely responsive youngster to hospital where medics discovered the bacteria had spread to his brain and spinal cord.
"At that point in time, that's when there was there was nothing they could do," his grief-stricken mom Ashlee Dahlberg said to 13WMAZ
“Anybody that contracts it usually dies within 24 hours."
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Now, the mom is trying to raise awareness about the aggressive illness - and urging other parents to vaccinate their children as doctors believe Liam may have caught the bug from an unvaccinated child at school.
Liam's exact diagnosis was haemophilus influenzae, also known as H. flu or 'Hib', though is not to be confused with the 'typical everyday flu', Ashlee warned.
Haemophilus influenzae is a bacterium - not a virus like the flu - with bacterial infections proving deadly.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Hib infections can be 'invasive', with a mild infection possibly leading to bronchitis while a more severe case can cause septic arthritis, septicemia and meningitis, the latter of which is what happened to Liam.
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Ashlee told the news outlet how she felt unimaginable pain when she was told by doctors that Liam had become brain dead and his life support was going to be turned off.
"I would never wish this kind of pain on my worst enemy ever," she said. "To have sat there and listened to the doctor say, 'you did everything right, but there was just nothing we could do,' and then to lay there with him as they took him off life support. And I could feel his little heartbeat just fade away.”
"There's no words that can describe that pain," she added. “I feel I have failed my child because I could not protect him from everything that would cause harm.”
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The family say they're unsure how Liam, who had been fully vaccinated against H.flu, contracted the bacteria though paediatrician Dr Eric Yancy said how vaccination rates among youngsters have fallen.
Dr Yancy said the disease was 'absolutely devastating' before a vaccine was made available, which was introduced in 1985.
“If it didn’t kill the children within a very short period of time, it left many of them with significant complications,” Yancy added.
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Babies are given three doses of the shot, which is about 95 percent effective at preventing infections.
As per the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), before the vaccine thousands of children across the US would contract the bacteria and either develop serious life-changing symptoms, like becoming deaf, blind, paralyzed or mentally impaired, or it would become fatal.
It is primarily spread through respiratory droplets.
A fundraiser described Liam as a 'kind and sweet' boy 'who touched the hearts of everyone around him'.
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The GoFundMe, which has raised $54,537 at the time of writing, has been set up to cover Liam's spiralling medical costs that the family also have to grapple with while dealing with the loss of their son.
It adds: "Liam was a bright and smart young boy, full of life and potential. His presence brought joy and warmth to everyone he met."
Donations can be made to the fundraiser for the family here.
Liv Bridge