Measles four-year-old Aliana is fighting for her life

Measles: Four-year-old Aliana is fighting for her life

02/11/2014

Doctors point out that women should definitely check that they have adequate vaccination against measles before they become pregnant. Otherwise, there are health risks for the child. However, some people in Germany have reservations about the measles vaccine. A four-year-old may be fighting for her life due to a lack of vaccination.

Women should be vaccinated before pregnancy
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of measles deaths worldwide has plummeted, but the dangerous infectious disease remains a threat. Now, according to a news agency dpa, the professional association of paediatricians in Germany points out that women should definitely check whether they have sufficient vaccination against measles before they get pregnant.

Newborn protected by mother's vaccine protection
According to the information, in particular women born in the 1970s and 1980s were partially inadequately vaccinated. „Those who have not been twice vaccinated against measles should do so urgently“, explained federation spokesman Ulrich Fegeler. It also gynecologists are required to enlighten their patients early and clarify the vaccination status. A newborn is only protected by a mother with vaccine protection in the first months against the highly contagious disease. Since it is a live vaccine, a vaccine during pregnancy is no longer possible.

Brain inflammation after measles infection is always deadly
In the case of a measles disease, in addition to the typical red spots on the skin, fever, conjunctivitis, colds and coughing usually occur at first. The immune system is usually weakened for weeks and as a result, the disease can also lead to pneumonia, otitis media and diarrhea, sometimes also to encephalitis. As in the case of the four-year-old Aliana. The girl has the chronic measles encephalitis SSPE, which is a long-term consequence of a measles infection and always fatal.

Four-year-old Aliana will die
The four-year-old will die. The Bad Hersfelder pediatrician Georg J. Witte, who looks after the little girl, said: „The decay is frighteningly fast. The child may not experience the end of the year.“ According to her mother Mirella Kunzmann, Aliana was „a happy child“, that jumped and laughed a lot. But at the age of four, the little boy suddenly nods his head off more often while eating, her mother calls it a microsleep. Then Aliana becomes forgetful and falls down more often before finally being diagnosed.

Dark figure of the infections could be higher
According to the professional association of paediatricians, one out of every 150 to 300 infants is at risk of having this fatal late complication after measles. In 2013, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), 86 infants across Germany were infected with measles, 19 so far this year. However, the number of unreported cases could be higher because the disease is not always recognized. Meanwhile Aliana can not stand or sit, does not speak anymore and is fed by a probe. „We did not know that measles can be so dangerous“, Kunzmann.

Maybe the girl would not have been harmed by maternal immunization
Possibly nothing would have happened to the daughter if the now 27-year-old mother herself had had measles or had been vaccinated. In their age group, many fell through the grid, as was in the 70s and 80s partially inadequate or not vaccinated because the measles infections had decreased significantly. The so-called nest protection, which protects the newborn in the first months of life, children can only get from mothers with antibodies. Children are usually vaccinated from the eleventh month of life. Apparently, Aliana had got the measles unnoticed at three months. To enlighten and help other victims, their parents now have the Facebook page „SSPE-ALIANA is fighting for her life“ open.

Pediatrician contradicts vaccine critics
But there are also reservations about the measles vaccine. „I am not convinced of the measles vaccine“, so the controversial vaccine opponent Hans Tolzin. He says that the number of measles infections before the start of vaccinations was significantly reduced and there are alternatives. Other critics often refer to the potential side effects of vaccination, such as fever, fatigue, headache and redness, pain and swelling at the injection site. In addition, the risk of vaccination is not calculable. The pediatrician Witte contradicts: „I've been doing the practice since 1983. We do not really know any side effects from vaccinations. One should not be afraid to do the vaccination.“

Urgent to vaccination
Aliana's mother also urges everyone to have themselves and the children vaccinated. „I can not understand that there are women who decide against vaccination because they endanger not only theirs but also our children“, Sun Kunzmann. The Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) strongly recommends vaccination. This not only protects individuals and family members, but indirectly also infants who can not yet be vaccinated. Unvaccinated mothers who know that they have given their children no nest protection should, according to Witte's advice only vaccinated family members to the child and avoid large crowds. This could save lives - but not Aliana's. (Ad)