A one-year-old toddler was admitted to the trauma room of the Children's Emergency Department at Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center in serious condition, with his life in real danger.
The baby was diagnosed with epiglottitis - a life-threatening and very rare emergency in children. The baby, who was not vaccinated with routine vaccines, was infected with the Haemophilus influenzae type B bacteria, the most common cause of epiglottitis.
Following rapid treatment and an accurate diagnosis by multidisciplinary medical teams, which included pediatricians, otolaryngologists, anesthesiologists, and a reinforced nursing team, Hassaut's life was saved, after he was hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit under the direction of Dr. Jacques Brown and, after stabilizing his condition, he was transferred to the pediatric department under the direction of Prof. Orly Meged.
The reports received by MDA initially raised suspicions that this was a case of swallowing a foreign object, based on the toddler's father's statements. Therefore, the teams first conducted an examination using a special endoscopic camera for rapid extraction of foreign bodies, but no evidence of swallowing a foreign object was found.
Following this, the team conducted another interview with the father, which revealed that the toddler had not been vaccinated with routine vaccines. In addition, in combination with the identification of the acute edema and extreme swelling that threatened to block the toddler's airways, the suspicion arose that the toddler had contracted epiglottitis, which was confirmed by laboratory tests when it was found that he had been infected with the Haemophilus influenzae type B bacteria.
The massive swelling that blocked the trachea led the anesthesiologists to use a tiny, extremely thin tube (tubus) that is usually used to breathe for premature babies immediately after birth.
Thanks to great skill and advance preparation, the team was able to insert the tube and save the toddler from suffocation. Alongside the doctors, a nursing team from the pediatric department also took part in providing the treatment.
Dr. Efrat Blankenstein, a pediatric specialist who took part in the treatment: "The baby was just minutes away from death. This is a very rare case that has not occurred at Shaare Zedek in decades, according to the testimonies of veteran doctors. Until now, this was mainly an emergency case that we learned about theoretically.
""If the child had been vaccinated, the entire incident would have been avoided. If we hadn't been prepared in the trauma room with the special equipment and reinforced teams, the story could have ended completely differently. I urge parents - vaccinate your children. No child should die or suffer from a serious illness from a preventable disease.".
""The incidence of epiglottitis has decreased significantly over the years following the inclusion of the Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine in routine vaccinations," adds Dr. Shani Messner-Peyreisen, another specialist in the pediatrics department who also treated the baby. "This infection causes an infection in the cartilage tissue that prevents food from entering the trachea, causing it to swell and potentially block the airways. The symptoms appear suddenly and worsen rapidly.".
Dr. Moriah Pfizer-Rosenberg, a specialist in the ENT department, concludes: "The initial report was that the baby choked on nuts he swallowed. But we realized that this was a completely different event after we performed a fiberoptic examination to examine the baby's upper airways and see if there was a foreign body causing them to be blocked.".
""I am happy that we were able to save the baby's life thanks to multidisciplinary cooperation and the provision of life-saving medical treatment immediately upon admission.".
