A mother has revealed her heartbreak after losing her baby to a violent cough just weeks after his birth.
Kathryn Alcaide, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, said her son Brady was born healthy weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces in November 2012, but began suffering “cold-like” symptoms of whooping cough the following January.
Mrs. Warden and her husband, Jon, took Brady to the emergency room when his fever rose to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and things gradually worsened over the next two weeks. The boy’s lungs failed and then his heart stopped.
She was diagnosed with whooping cough, a Victorian-era bacterial infection. Brady died when he was just two months old.
Although Brady died a decade ago, his parents are speaking out again as whooping cough is making a deadly resurgence across the United States.
Cases of the highly contagious disease, also known as whooping cough, have more than quadrupled since this time last year, when about 3,500 cases were reported. So far in 2024, the CDC has confirmed more than 19,600 cases.
Mrs. Warden said news week: ‘The rise in cases reminds us how vital it is for people to stay up to date with their vaccines, not only for their own health, but also to protect those who are too young or who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
“No family should have to endure the loss of a child because of something that could be prevented.”
Brady passed away due to complications from whooping cough in January 2013, when he was just under two months old. Photo courtesy of Kathryn Alcaide
The Alcaide family encourages all parents to vaccinate their children against preventable diseases such as whooping cough. Photo courtesy of Kathryn Alcaide
Whooping cough is particularly dangerous for babies and young children, but babies Brady’s age are not eligible for the vaccine.
The CDC recommends that children receive three doses of the Tdap vaccine. The vaccine protects against diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus. One dose is administered at two months, another at four months and another at six months.
Two additional doses are administered to children between 15 to 18 months and four to six years.
However, vaccination rates among young children fell during the pandemic and never fully recovered. When they were two years old, about 82 percent of babies Those born in 2018 and 2019 received the four recommended vaccine doses appropriate for their age.
That rate fell to 79 percent among babies born in 2020 and 2021.
To reach the herd immunity threshold, it is estimated that between 92 and 94 percent of people must be vaccinated.
Parents have their own reasons for refraining from school-required immunizations, including religious reasons, and in that case may request an exemption from the school district.
Routine vaccination rates fell during the Covid pandemic, when school moved to remote platforms and children spent little time with other people. Since then, vaccination rates have struggled to recover.
Some parents are concerned about the safety of vaccines, sometimes citing disproven claims that certain vaccines have been linked to autism in children despite ample evidence to the contrary.
Whooping cough is not very common, which means that many parents see it as less of a threat and therefore not worth getting vaccinated against.
Mrs Alcaide said: “It is heartbreaking and frustrating to hear that cases of whooping cough are increasing, especially as it is a vaccine-preventable disease.”
Brady began experiencing a debilitating cough in early January 2013. It was so bad he had trouble breathing.
About a week after Brady’s pediatrician diagnosed the baby with a bad cold and sent the family to recover at home, Brady was admitted to the hospital where his condition improved only briefly.
Brady had periods when he could breathe without an oxygen tube and doctors tried to feed him without using a tube. But after eight days, Mrs. Warden saying At the time, Brady was “still doing the same thing.”
Brady is in the hands of his father Jon shortly after his birth. Brady became ill in January 2013 and was hospitalized. About a week after going to the hospital, his heart stopped and doctors were unable to save him.
One day before her death, in January 2013, Mrs. Alcaide saying: ‘Now we are at the Boston Children’s Hospital, Brady is in critical condition, his heart stopped and they had to give him compressions.
‘We are waiting to see you. They put him on a heart and lung bypass machine. They are worried about brain injuries; Please pray that one day he will be a healthy boy who plays baseball. I’ll try to update as much as I can.’
After his death, he added: “Nowadays people don’t think much about diseases like whooping cough. I know that before going through this nightmare, I would never have imagined this could happen and not even the best medical care could help.’
Whooping cough is most dangerous for babies under two months old, who are still too young to be vaccinated.
Between 15 and 20 percent of babies develop pneumonia, two to four percent experience seizures, and one in 100 dies.
Since their son’s death, Kathy and Jon have become advocates for childhood vaccines, knowing that Brady likely got sick because someone in close contact with him was unvaccinated and unknowingly carrying the virus.
An important benefit of widespread vaccine coverage is herd immunity, a phenomenon that occurs when a large number of people have been vaccinated against a virus.
This limits the spread, so vulnerable people who are too young or cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons are still protected.
The Wardens urge people to vaccinate their children against whooping cough and other preventable diseases such as measles: ‘Vaccines are safe, effective and the best way to protect our loved ones and our communities. “It is a choice that makes a real difference.”
He added: “We always said that if sharing Brady’s story could save even one life, it would bring a sense of purpose and positivity to our loss.”