May 30 — An 8-year-old boy from Indiana died suddenly after contracting a rare bacterial illness, likely from an unvaccinated child, according to his family and doctors.
Liam Dahlberg came home from school in April with a headache. By the next morning, his condition had worsened so severely that his parents rushed him to the hospital. Doctors discovered that he had developed invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a rare but serious bacterial infection that had spread to his brain and spinal cord.
“They discovered the amount of bacteria covering his brain and spinal cord,” said his mother, Ashlee Dahlberg, in an interview with WHTR. “At that point, there was nothing they could do.”
Liam died just 16 hours after showing symptoms.
Hib can cause mild illnesses like bronchitis, but in severe cases it leads to meningitis, septicemia, and other life-threatening complications. It spreads through respiratory droplets and may be contagious even if the infected person shows no symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“This is not your typical flu,” Dahlberg said, describing her final moments with her son. “To lay there with him as they took him off life support—I could feel his little heartbeat fade away.”
Before the Hib vaccine became widely available in 1985, about 20,000 children in the U.S. developed serious infections from the bacteria each year, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Many children were left with permanent disabilities, and some died.
Pediatrician Dr. Eric Yancy told WHTR that Hib was once a leading cause of death among children but is now preventable through routine vaccination. He believes Liam was likely exposed to an unvaccinated person.
Vaccination rates in some communities have declined in recent years, raising concern among health experts about a resurgence of preventable diseases.
“There’s no words that can describe that pain,” Dahlberg said. “I feel I failed my child because I couldn’t protect him from everything.”
Liam’s family described him as a bright, joyful boy who touched the lives of everyone he met. A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family with medical and funeral expenses.
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