Two-year-old girl dies from common flu virus as her parents send urgent warning

On April 30, two-year-old Aabi had returned home after a family holiday and was “reluctant” to return to daycare. Mere days later, the toddler suffered "total brain death".

The child, who was unvaccinated, died of influenza. Her symptoms, which included a headache and a slight fever, initially seemed mild, with it wasn't long until Aabi was left unresponsive and "beyond anyone’s help”.

Now, Aabi's devastated family has issued a stark warning to other parents, recalling how the little girl's condition deteriorated at an alarming speed.

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On Friday, May 2, a few days after she and her family returned from seeing relatives in India, Aabi, of Perth, Australia, Aabi Friday, appeared "seemingly fine, enjoying an extended bath time, singing songs, and her usual playful activities".

The very next day, she vomited while eating her banana and milk. In a letter shared by the Immunisation Foundation of Australia, Aabi's heartbroken mother remembered: “I initially thought it was due to her energetic play with her sister. As I cleaned her, I noticed she felt lukewarm.”

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After settling her daughter, Aabi's mother treated her with paracetamol syrup, and, when she mentioned a "slight headache", gave her a "gentle forehead massage". This initially appeared to do the trick, and Aabi's fever subsided.

That night, Aabi's "fever rose significantly," but subsided once more after she had some medicine. The following morning, Aabi's mother was "relieved" when her child "woke as usual, enjoying two biscuits with my tea, her milk, and then a banana. She was playing, singing, and seemed well."

The mum then set about her "regular Sunday household tasks while the girls entertained themselves", hoping that her daughter was on the mend. Then, at 11am, Aabi once again began "warming up", and her headache returned.

After giving her medicine and settling her, Aabi's mother sat with her little girl, who had become "drowsy", waiting once again "for the fever to drop". This time, however, her temperature just "kept climbing", and high-fever medication did nothing to bring it back down. It was then that panic started to set in.

Aabi's mother wrote: "I began tepid sponging. This time, I used a thermometer; it read 40.6°C. Panicked, I immediately called a friend, and we rushed her to the emergency department. My husband, at work, said he would join us as soon as he found a replacement."

By the time they arrived at the hospital, Aabi had vomited and continued to be drowsy. Although she was "attended to immediately", establishing an IV line took more than 30 minutes, with the high fever having resulted in serious dehydration. Aabi's mum recalled: "It felt like she deteriorated significantly and too quickly."

She added: "By the time emergency medications, for suspected flu, sepsis, or meningitis, could be administered, she had a gentle seizure."

Blood tests showed that Aabi tested positive for influenza. It was then decided that Aabi, who was by that point highly febrile and partially unconscious", be transferred to the intensive care unit, where she "had to be intubated". According to the bereaved mother: "I believe we lost her at that point. As soon as she reached the ICU, she had to be intubated. The CT scan wasn't fully indicative of the problem's severity; an MRI would be necessary. But from that moment, her pupils were non-responsive, and she was beyond anyone's help.

"The MRI confirmed total brain death due to acute necrotising encephalitis, a devastating complication of the influenza infection. The virus's rapid progression, with such minimal initial symptoms – just a normal fever and headache, which so many children her age experience regularly – gave us no indication of the extreme seriousness of the situation. We lost our beautiful Aabi at the hands of what seemed like a 'mere virus'."

As explained by Aabi's mum, even if the little girl had been vaccinated at the start of May, the usual time for flu vaccinations in Western Australia, it still would have taken "around 10 days" for the vaccine to come into effect. She continued: "I replay the events endlessly, debating what could have been done better, what could have been done differently to have her with us today. Multiple meetings with the emergency and ICU teams confirmed they would have managed this in the same way every time. If I had brought her in a day earlier, a mild fever, a mild headache, and a single vomit would not have been indicative of anything serious enough for action beyond a prescription for Panadol.

"She did not give us the time to react, to fight, to do anything for her. If only someone had advised me of the genetic predispositions that might have been the cause. Doctors suspect her immune system responded much more aggressively than usual to this infection, leading to acute inflammation and severe damage to her brain. I wish we had known this was something we should be alert to for our babies.

"Aabi was a blessing we had for too short a time. Our lives remain incomplete, and we wish no parent ever has to endure this ordeal."

As reported by ABC News Australia, data from the Australian Respiratory Surveillance report shows that 180 people in the country died from influenza between the months of January and April, marking a 73 per cent rise from the same period last year. This figure includes two children under 16 years of age.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Danielle McMullen emphasised the importance of vaccines, and noted that vaccination rates for flu were still lagging behind figures from before the Coronavirus pandemic.

Dr McMullen urged: "We need to get back to really high vaccination rates to protect the most vulnerable in our community. It's never too late to vaccinate."

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com