Suffering from acute influenza B, Jade DeLucia, 4, developed brain inflammation. Now blind, she almost lost her life.
The flu virus can kill or leave permanent scars. A 4-year-old American experienced this. Jade DeLucia contracted the virus and suffered violent complications: she had an inflammation of the brain, called encephalopathy. She lost her sight, as explained CNN.
A 4-year-old girl in Iowa nearly died and is now blind because of the flu https://t.co/PO5pEfkUQF pic.twitter.com/EjaFREx6Df
— CNN (@CNN) January 11, 2020
No warning sign
On December 19, Jade’s mother notices that she is not in her normal state. Gradually, its temperature increases. Thanks to medication, the fever subsides and the little girl seems to have regained her form. “There were no signs that could have alerted me to the fact that anything was seriously wrong with her,” recalls her mom, Amanda Philipps. On December 24 in the morning, Jade is unconscious in her bed, her body burning. Her parents take her to the emergency room where she has convulsions. His eyes roll to the back of his head. The doctors decide to transfer her to another hospital by helicopter. For his mother, it’s a shock: “I didn’t expect to see her again one day”.
The team at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital discovered that the little girl was suffering from acute necrotizing encephalopathy, an inflammation of the brain, due to the flu virus. “They told us that her brain had been badly affected, says Amanda Philipps, they told us that our child might never wake up, and if she did, she might never be the same again.”
Consequences that could last
Steroid treatment helped calm brain inflammation and 1er January, Jade woke up. Her health improved day by day, but the doctors and parents saw that something was not quite the way it was before. Her mom brought her her favorite stuffed toy, and the little girl didn’t react. “It affected a part of her brain related to sight and we don’t know if she will ever get it back,” neurologist Theresa Czech told CNN. Doctors have to wait between 3 and 6 months to find out more. Time will also tell the long-term consequences of encephalopathy: it is possible that the girl suffers from cognitive disorders or slowdowns in development. “She is lucky to be alive,” says the neurologist.
One vaccine, one season
Jade had been vaccinated against the flu in March, but the vaccine changes every season as the virus evolves. “We want parents to know that they should vaccinate their children every season,” insists Amanda Philipps. In the United States, 32 children are believed to have died of the flu this year.
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