A one-year-old infant who had not received routine childhood vaccinations was admitted to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in life-threatening condition. He was struggling to breathe, and doctors initially suspected he had swallowed a foreign object.
Fast testing by the hospital’s teams revealed a far more dangerous diagnosis, epiglottitis, a severe infection that can block the airway within hours. The illness is caused by Haemophilus influenzae type B, a bacterium that has become rare in the West because of widespread vaccination.
Doctors in the children’s department moved quickly, and the child was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit for several days of advanced treatment. The hospital said the rapid diagnosis and intensive care saved his life.
Now that his condition has improved significantly, he has been moved to the general pediatric ward for continued care. Doctors expect he will need a few more days to recover, while warning that routine vaccines in early childhood are crucial protection against preventable and potentially fatal disease.
