It's every parent's nightmare: a young girl died of a flue even if she had received her flu shot.
Five-year-old Kiera Driscoll was a vibrant, happy kid of Peter and Tiffany from Clark County, Las Vegas, when she succumbed to flu only three days after she showed initial symptoms.
She developed a low-grade fever on the morning of Sunday and was immediately treated with ibuprofen that's meant for children. She soon returned to normal routine including playing in the afternoon. However, as night time fell, her fever came back.
It got worse in the early morning the next day when she seemed to have some trouble breathing and producing cough with phlegm. She had to be provided with nebulizer to help her breathe.
Later in the day, when she had already rested, her parents decided to take care to a clinic, but she later lost consciousness and was thus immediately brought to a nearby hospital after her mother performed a CPR.
Nevertheless, the child never woke up. She was placed on life support, and by Tuesday, her parents made the decision to remove it while being surrounded by loved ones. According to the death certificate, she died of cardiac arrest. It turned out too that she had influenza A further worsened by pneumonia.
Her case only raised more doubts and questions as to the effectiveness of the flu vaccine especially since there have already been more than 8,000 reported cases of flu since October 2014. Over 50 children had already died.
Despite the tragic death of Kiera, her family tried to be more hopeful, clinging on to their faith and the presence of their loved ones for support. The school the little girl went to also paid tribute to her with children attending classes wearing purple, her favourite color. Her parents also continued to encourage others to have their children vaccinated.
