Samantha Miller urges parents to vaccinate their kids; while GP warns of flu superspreaders

A decade after her baby son’s death from flu, Samantha Miller cannot understand why parents won’t vaccinate their children against deadly but preventable illness.

Samantha Miller was fighting for her life in hospital after contracting a strain of influenza, when she heard an ambulance had been called to her home — this time for her baby boy.

Declan would have been 14 this year. But he passed away at just 77 days old, with doctors unable to revive him after he stopped breathing in his sleep in July 2011.

He was a victim of the deadly flu, despite experiencing nothing more than a runny nose.

A decade after his death, Ms Miller can’t believe children are still dying from the same vaccine-preventable illness.

“I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want to protect their children,” she said.

“When I speak to people about the flu shot they often say they are worried they might get sick after it.

“Well, getting sick is a lot better than dying.”

Little Declan Miller died in his sleep at just 77 days old after contracting the flu.

Declan’s mum Samantha Miller urges parents to vaccinate their children. Picture: Tim Hunter

While Declan looked OK from the outside, the strain of influenza he had contracted attacked his heart. He was too young to be vaccinated.

Ms Miller spent the next two weeks in hospital herself and was put in an induced coma after her influenza developed pneumonia and both lungs collapsed.

She woke remembering her baby had died and, while grieving, was forced to relearn to walk.

“It was horrendous,” she said. “I was in so much pain.”

Ms Miller’s experience with the flu did permanent damage to her lung capacity, and each flu season she worries she, and her children may get sick.

“We are all vaccinated,” she said. “It’s a quick and easy thing to do and it could save someone’s life.

“There’s no excuse not to get the flu shot.”

SUPERSPREADER FEARS AS PARENTS DITCH FLU SHOTS

Kids under the age of nine are being hit hardest by the flu, but parents are failing to vaccinate them, with doctors warning the poor uptake could have deadly consequences.

Just 28 per cent of children got the flu jab last year, and so far this year doctors are finding it increasingly difficult to encourage parents to vaccinate their kids.

Clara Garzon with her daughter Emily James, 7, who received her flu vaccination from Dr Amy Ho. Picture: Tim Hunter

While we’re still relatively early in the 2024 flu season, ONLY 15 per cent of children under five have received their flu shot this year so far — a figure that has experts “really concerned”.

Dr Amy Ho, a GP at Our Health Crows Nest, said despite the availability of free vaccines for kids under five, uptake had significantly declined post COVID-19.

“The message (to vaccinate) isn’t getting out to people, that’s partly immunisation fatigue on the parent’s side, they think ‘Oh there’s too many jabs, I don’t want to do that’. They’re sick of it,” she said.

“Now we have low community immunity so everybody is more likely to get the flu, so all the kids when they go to school, they are superspreaders.”

In Australia last year 39 people died from the flu, and of these, nine were younger than 16 years old. This was higher than the number of child flu-associated deaths in 2022 and in many pre-COVID-19 pandemic years.

This year 9900 kids under nine have been treated for the flu in NSW, and Dr Ho said that number is only going to get worse.

Dr Ho vaccinated seven-year-old Emily James this week, after her mum Carla Garzon brought her into the clinic for her annual jab.

“We know how important it is,” Ms Garzon said.

NSW Australian Medical Association outgoing president Dr Michael Bonning said new strategies such as pop-up vaccination clinics in well-frequented areas such as Service NSW hubs should be implemented to boost the low vaccination rates.

“If people can’t come to us, let’s go to them.” Dr Bonning said.

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