FFF Advocate:

Amy Pisani (mother)

Place of Residence:

Mystic, CT

Survivor:

One-year-old, 2001

Share this Story:

Antonio Pisani 

Antonio wasn’t vaccinated against the flu because at the time it wasn’t recommended for his age. 

Tonio’s Flu Illness
During the fall of 2001, Tonio celebrated his first birthday. Several weeks prior he had been hospitalized with a respiratory illness that made his breathing extremely labored and caused excessive dehydration from fever and vomiting. Tonio spent several days in the hospital, where he was surrounded by an oxygen tent and provided with treatments to aid with his breathing. Fortunately, he responded well to treatments and was able to go home and follow up with his pediatrician.

That November, with flu season on the upswing, Tonio fell ill again and his parents began to realize that he didn’t seem to recover from respiratory illnesses as rapidly as other children (it would be another year before he would be officially diagnosed with asthma and allergies). Tonio’s mother became very concerned and brought him to the pediatrician, who gave the typical advice to hydrate him as best as possible and bring him back if his condition worsened. Throughout that day he continued to vomit and had a very high fever. As the night wore on, he seemed to become more listless, but his fever seemed to have finally broken.

Dangerous Flu Symptoms
When Tonio’s pediatrician called very early the next morning, his mother reported that she thought that perhaps he was over the hurdle. His fever had broken and he now felt cold and clammy, although he also seemed increasingly listless and limp in her arms. Much to her surprise, the pediatrician became very alarmed and directed her to rush Tonio to the hospital where she would meet them. The pediatrician explained that being cold and clammy was not a sign the fever had broken, but a dangerous sign that his blood pressure was too low.

Flu Hospitalization
Once in the emergency room, Tonio was whisked into a treatment room where his mother was asked to hold him down so that a needle could be inserted into his tiny arm to provide intravenous fluids. He was placed in a crib with an oxygen tent and every hour, 24 hours a day, a technician provided him with breathing treatments. Three days later, Tonio was discharged to a very nervous set of parents with instructions to properly assess his breathing function in the event that he became ill again in the future. Fortunately, he made it through the rest of that flu season without any major illnesses.

It wasn’t until the following flu season that his mom was informed that Tonio was hospitalized due to complications from the flu. This was the first time his parents learned that their child’s hospitalization was related to influenza and that children with asthma were at increased risk of serious complications from flu. The only silver lining is that because he was also recently diagnosed with asthma, he was prioritized to receive the flu vaccine.

Expanded Flu Vaccination Guidelines
Today, Antonio is a healthy young adult who gets vaccinated against influenza every year, as does his entire family. At the time that he got sick, children ages 6 months to 4 years of age were only recommended to receive the influenza vaccine if they were considered at high risk of complications from flu.  Before this guideline change, thousands of young children like Tonio were left unprotected from the flu virus each year. It wasn’t until 2010 that guidelines changed to include flu vaccination for all people 6 months and older.

Share this Story: