The mother of a toddler with measles has revealed how she thought he would “die in my arms” after the little boy fell ill with the extremely infectious disease.
Jessica Colleti of Chicago said her 3-year-old son, Vincent, developed a bright red rash on his face in early March that quickly spread “all over his body.”
Within a few days of feeling sick, he had a “super empty” and vacant look in his eyes and almost stopped moving and talking completely.
“I honestly thought he was going to die in my arms,” she said. “I kept telling her that ‘Mom is getting help and you’ll be fine.'”
‘I did not think that [this] it would happen to us. She would never have thought he would test positive for measles.
Vincent is one of about 130 Americans affected by measles this year, amid warnings that falling vaccination rates and increased immigration are leaving American children more vulnerable to the disease than ever.
The family, who say their 10-month-old son also became ill, does not know where Vincent contracted the virus, but they live in the same city as the Pilsen migrant center believed to be the source of the outbreak in Chicago.
Vincent Coletti, 3, pictured above, was admitted to the hospital with measles. His mother said she was worried he wouldn’t survive.
The images above show Vincent’s rash as it spread across his chest and arms. They are the little red marks on his body.
Migrants photographed at a makeshift shelter in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, where many are being transferred. There has been an outbreak of measles and tuberculosis linked to the shelter.
Coletti said she took her son to the hospital on Monday after a neighbor who was a nurse checked on him, where doctors quickly confirmed the infection.
He spent a night in the emergency room and received fluids, before doctors discharged him with medication, and Ms. Coletti told her to bring him back if he got worse.
At home, he battled a 105°F (40°C) fever for five days before finally recovering from the infection.
Mrs Coletti pictured with her son Vincent before diagnosis. It is not clear where she became infected.
Vincent had received his first dose of the measles vaccine, his mother said, but had not yet received the second because he was too young. He is said to be up to date on all other vaccinations.
The CDC says babies should receive their first dose of the measles vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age, and their second dose between the ages of four and six years.
Studies show that the first dose is 93 percent effective against the virus, while the second is 97 percent effective.
Vaccinated people can still get sick, doctors say, but they have a much milder infection because they already have immunity.
The mother was worried about her young daughter Vanna, who was too young to receive vaccines against the disease when Vincent was diagnosed.
“I know that in our specific case, my son’s, I have never seen him sicker,” she said. WGN Chicago.
“I have never been more worried, scared or tired. After fighting the fever for five days and just trying to figure out how to make it better… I felt like I couldn’t make it better.’
In Chicago, many immigrants have been crammed into buildings in the Pilsen neighborhood seeking refuge, which have been completely overrun after more than 25,000 immigrants arrived in the city in the last 16 months, including 2,400 who were housed in shelters.
A total of 31 cases of measles have already been diagnosed at the shelter, while authorities also say some residents have tested positive for tuberculosis.
The surge in immigrants comes as Chicago continues to pride itself on being a “sanctuary city,” or a place where people can ask city services for help without revealing their immigration status. Officials also do not ask residents if they have a legal right to be in the United States.
Measles cases have increased in the US in recent months, which has been linked to falling vaccination rates against the virus.
Chicago is at the epicenter of the measles outbreak in the US, with 58 cases recorded so far
Coletti said city health department workers had tried to trace her son’s infection to the Pilsen immigration center, but had been unsuccessful.
‘We were not for the 12 cases [at the migrant center at the time],’ she said WGNTV‘and they still can’t link us to the 12 cases.’
He added: “I was surprised, honestly, I didn’t think that would happen to us.”
Experts say it is possible for people to contract the disease in many places because it is one of the most infectious known to man.
Dr. Claudia Hoyen, a pediatrician at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said cnn: ‘Measles is terribly contagious. You could be in line at a grocery store with someone who’s had measles and get it and you’d never know it, because the measles virus stays in the air for a long time.’
Measles infections are most dangerous for children under five because they are less likely to be vaccinated and have immature immune systems.
Complications that the disease can cause include pneumonia and encephalitis (or inflammation of the brain), and the CDC says that up to three in every 1,000 infected children die from the disease.
In the current outbreak in the United States, almost half of the patients (46 percent, or 57 people) were under five years old.
This group also had the highest hospitalization rate, with 65 percent, or 37 people, hospitalized.
For comparison, among people 20 years of age or older, 40 cases (or 32 percent of the total) have been detected and 53 percent, or 21 people, have been hospitalized.
She said: ‘It looks much better. He is sitting next to me. He has chocolate on his face, but he is much better.
“I never would have thought we would test positive for measles, and now I’m scared and worried about my 10-month-old son.”
Vanna appeared sickly in mid-March, shortly after Vincent’s diagnosis, and had tested positive for Covid and adenovirus.
Both Mrs. Coletti and her husband were tested and found to have antibodies to measles.
But the entire family had to quarantine for 21 days to minimize the risk of transmitting the disease to others.
He also battled a fever for five days, his mother said, before recovering. She is now worried about her 10-month-old daughter Vanna.
MS Coletti also described her son as having a “super empty” expression due to the infection.
He appears in the photo above after recovering and looking happier, and Ms Coletti says he had some chocolate on his face.
Dozens of migrant families are seen arriving from Texas at the New York Port Authority bus terminal in September 2023.
They also had to provide a list of where they had been and who they had been in contact with for tracing purposes to prevent other cases.
As millions of migrants rush to the United States under Joe Biden’s policies, experts have warned that overcrowded shelters and low vaccination rates in other countries could leave the United States vulnerable to outbreaks.
They have said asylum seekers could be bringing infectious diseases across the southern border and that “open border” policies are leading to drug-resistant diseases.
And city leaders have said migrants are arriving in their areas in “concerning” and “very, very unhealthy” conditions.
Immigrants themselves have said that diseases are rampant in shelters due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
Chicago’s latest outbreak joins a growing list across the country, which has seen clusters of tuberculosis, chickenpox and an unidentified disease that killed a 5-year-old boy in December.