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rebl1128

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Tragedy started with an ear infection: Fast-moving meningitis claims life of Maine first-grader

BERWICK, Maine — Last Tuesday, 6-year-old Evalise “Evie” McLean had a low-grade fever and an ear infection, but was looking forward to her first cheerleading competition of the year on Sunday.

Last Wednesday morning, she woke up briefly to again tell her parents how excited she was for her competition before falling back to sleep. It was a snow day for many area schools as the previous night’s storm had already dumped several inches of powder and it was still coming down.

Later that morning, Evie’s father, Lenroy McLean, found her unresponsive and having seizures. He immediately called 911.

A medi-flight would have rushed Evie to the Boston Children’s Hospital intensive care unit, but couldn’t fly due to the storm. Instead, a special ambulance with a team of doctors was used to transport the first-grader to Boston.

Although Evie had a low grade fever since Monday, no one could have expected the witty, thoughtful and energetic young girl would never get to put on her puffy snowsuit or her favorite hot pink cowgirl boots ever again.

Evie remained unresponsive, but was left on life support until doctors officially determined she was dead on Sunday. The cause had been the H-flu strand of bacterial meningitis.

Evie’s maternal aunt Brooke Chea said, “It came on suddenly; it was a matter of hours. She had shown some signs, but no one really knew what it was and it was especially fast-moving … And she never looked sick while she was in the hospital. She just looked like she was sleeping.”

Chea said Evie had received the vaccination against bacterial meningitis her whole life, but for some reason it just didn’t take.

“She had an ear infection and she just couldn’t fight it off,” Chea said of the bacteria which led to an infection that spread to Evie’s brain. “Her parents feel like they did something wrong, but if she would’ve gone to the doctor, she would’ve just been diagnosed with an ear infection and sent home with medication because it’s so rare that doctors aren’t accustomed to it.”

Chea said her sister, Patrice McLean, wouldn’t leave her daughter’s side while she was in the ICU.

[...]

Before the family left the hospital on Sunday, they were able to give five others five very special gifts.

Although Evie’s life came to an early end, recipients were found for the donation of her lungs, both of her kidneys, her pancreas and her heart.

“Her heart is still beating in someone else,” Chea said, with tears in her eyes.

[...]
http://bangordailynews.com/2014/02/...ection-maine-first-grader-dies-of-meningitis/
 
This is awful. I am so glad I live within 1 mile of the #1 Children's Hospital in the country!
Seems we're both fortunate, I live within a couple miles of this one, wish every ill child in the world had a place like this
Sorry off track, but I can't rave enough about LCPH and how they treat children, they have daily fun programs to entertain children
play centers, daily live shows with deferent entertainers this place is incredible and staffed like no place I've ever seen

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) is a children's hospital which is part of the Stanford University system. It is located adjacent to the campus at 725 Welch Road, Palo Alto, California. It was founded in 1991. It is staffed by over 650 physicians and 4,750 staff and volunteers.[1] It specializes in the care of babies, children, adolescents, and expectant mothers.[2]
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital was founded in 1991 after a $40 million donation in 1986 from David and Lucile Packard, and since then LPCH has become one of the nation's most prominent children's hospitals.[5] In 1996 LPCH merged with the Stanford University Medical Center, and the Lucile Salter Packard Foundation was established as an independent public charity to ensure a continued source of dedicated funding and support for the health and well being of children.
LPCH has established six clinical Centers of Excellence which include Brain and Behavior, Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children’s Heart Center, Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Diseases, Pregnancy and Newborn Services, Transplant and Tissue Engineering Program.

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital also hosts one of the centers for the study and treatment of Marfan Syndrome in the USA. The hospital hosts the most extensive program for Marfan-related thoracic aneurysm in California and one of the largest in the country.

LPCH has the only exclusive Pediatric Tumor Board in Northern California. The Neuro-Oncology Tumor Board is a multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team that meets weekly to review clinical cases and make recommendations concerning the type of therapy and other services most appropriate for each patient.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucile_Packard_Children's_Hospital
 
Heartbreaking, and frightening. You can't rush your child to the doctor for every tiny thing but you have no way of knowing if something like this will happen. My heart goes out to her family and I applaud them for allowing her organs to go to save five other lives.
 
I wasn't even aware that there was a bacterial meningitis vaccine.

[...] In the United States, the two vaccines that can prevent meningococcal disease are:

  • Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4 or Menactra).Licensed in 2005, MCV4 is the newer version of the two vaccines. It can be given to people between the ages of 2 and 55.
  • Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV4 or Menomune). This vaccine, around since the mid-1970s, can be used when MCV4 is not available. It is the only licensed vaccine for people over age 55.
Each of these vaccines can prevent four kinds of meningococcal disease. They protect about 90 percent of the people who receive them. [...]

Under normal circumstances, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that the meningococcal vaccine be given to children between the ages of 11 and 18. Usually, the vaccine is given at a regular doctor’s visit when a child is around 11 or 12. If for some reason your child didn’t get vaccinated at that age, make an appointment for the vaccination to be done as soon as possible.

The meningococcal vaccine does not work as well in young children and is only given to children who are between 3 months and 2 years of age under special circumstances. The CDC recommends giving these children two doses, three months apart.

If anyone from the age of 2 through 55 is in a high-risk category for bacterial meningitis, they should be vaccinated. Those at higher risk for meningococcal disease include:

  • College freshmen, especially those who live in dorms
  • Scientists (microbiologists) who are frequently exposed to meningococcal bacteria
  • Recruits for the U.S. military
  • Travelers to countries where meningococcal disease is common
  • People whose spleens have been injured, for example in a car accident, or surgically removed
  • People with disorders of the immune system
  • Anyone who may have been exposed to someone with bacterial meningitis
[...]
READ MORE: http://www.everydayhealth.com/meningitis/vaccination.aspx
 
Did the parents refuse the vaccine? I'm just trying to understand why you posted this. I dunno maby you read something that's not posted here.


She posted that because the article mentioned the vaccine. Why in the world would you disagree with someone posting that they didn't know the vaccine existed?
 
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