A 6-year-old boy who didn't receive childhood vaccinations nearly died after contracting tetanus in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is Oregon's first pediatric case of this kind in decades. The CDC released a case report Friday, detailing the incident in 2017. While playing outside on a farm, the boy busted his forehead open. The wound was cleaned and stitched at home. Six days later, the boy's muscles were spasming, his jaw clenched and he had trouble breathing. Doctors diagnosed him with tetanus and admitted him to intensive care. He couldn't open his mouth, continued to spasm and developed hypertension. Doctors gave him a variety of medications to control pain, blood pressure and manage his muscle outbursts. On day five in the hospital, doctors opened his neck and gave him a tracheostomy so that he could breathe, the report says. He was placed on prolonged ventilator support. After about 50 days in the hospital, he showed promise: He was able to walk 20 feet with assistance. Days later, he was transferred to a rehab facility. In total, he was in the hospital for 57 days and his care totaled $811,929, according to the CDC. A month after in-patient rehab, he was able to run again. But even after contracting a life-threatening infection that might have been prevented by a vaccine, his family stood firm on their anti-vax stance. "Despite extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians, the family declined the second dose of DTaP and any other recommended immunizations," the case report states. The DTaP vaccine (for diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough) is effective for 8 to 9 in 10 children who get it, according to the CDC. More:What to know about the measles outbreak, affecting 70 in Washington anti-vaccination hot spot His family is part of a small but growing group of adults refusing to vaccinate their children. While the reason behind their decision wasn't made public, some anti-vaxxers cite a discredited belief that vaccines cause autism. Recently, another large-scale study further reinforced that vaccines do not cause autism by looking at any autism connection between the measles vaccine and more than half a million children. More:Teen who vaccinated himself says anti-vaxx Mom gets misinformation from Facebook More:Facebook announces anti-vaxx crackdown, will block ads with vaccine misinformation People choosing not to vaccinate have become a global health threat in 2019, the World Health Organization reported. Follow Ashley May on Twitter: @AshleyMayTweets<doc-sep>The child sustained a cut on his forehead while playing outside on a farm. An unvaccinated 6-year-old boy in Oregon spent 57 days in a hospital, including 47 days in the intensive care unit, and racked up almost $1 million in medical costs after being diagnosed with tetanus, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. The boy was Oregon's first case of tetanus in almost 30 years, according to the CDC, citing the Oregon Health Authority. Tetanus is caused by bacteria found in dirt that can enter the body through breaks in the skin, and vaccines are the best way to prevent it, per the CDC. The child was cut while playing outside on a farm in 2017 and his wound was treated at home, according to the report, which was written for the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report, which was written by members of the Oregon Health and Science University Department of Pediatrics and the Oregon Health Authority's Public Health Division, comes after a large measles outbreak in Clark County, Washington, on the Oregon and Washington border. In that outbreak, 61 of the 70 cases were in non-immunized patients, according to the Clark County, Washington, Public Health Department. The report also comes days after an Ohio teenager spoke to a Senate committee about getting vaccinated after growing up in an anti-vaccine home and after Facebook pledged to fight misinformation about vaccinations. Six days after the Oregon boy got the cut, according to the CDC report, he had "episodes of crying, jaw clenching, and involuntary upper extremity muscle spasms," then had arching in his back and neck as well as more spasms. Once he had difficulty breathing, he was transported by air to a pediatric medical center, where he was diagnosed with tetanus, according to the CDC. The report said the boy had jaw muscle spasms and could not open his mouth for water, requiring doctors to insert a tube in his trachea and a ventilator. He was given a tetanus immune globulin as well as the diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, and then taken to the pediatric intensive care unit to be treated in a darkened room with ear plugs and minimal stimulation due to his spasms, according to the report. He also had his wound cleaned and treated again, the CDC said. The report said after 47 days in the ICU, the boy spent another 10 days in an intermediate care unit, where he was able to walk 20 feet with assistance and have his tracheostomy removed. He was eventually transferred to a rehabilitation center for 17 days, and one month after rehabilitation was able to go back to normal activities, according to the report. The family's total charges for the hospital stay were $811,929, not including air transportation, rehabilitation and follow-up costs, per the report, which noted the average pediatric hospitalization in the U.S. in 2012 cost $11,143. Use of tetanus vaccines and tetanus immune globulin had led to a 95 percent decrease in tetanus cases and 99 percent decrease in tetanus-related deaths since the 1940s, according to the CDC, which recommends that children receive the DTaP vaccine at ages, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15-18 months, and then at 4-6 years old, and that adults receive tetanus and diphtheria (Td) boosters every 10 years. The Oregon family ultimately decided against a follow-up DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) vaccination "and any other recommended immunizations" for the boy after his recovery from tetanus, according to the report.<doc-sep>
A report showed that a 6-year-old unvaccinated boy from Oregon was with tetanus, the state's first case of its kind in nearly 30 years. The young boy contracted the disease after he cut his forehead while playing outside on a farm, according to a report released by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday that details the 2017 case. ADVERTISEMENT The boy’s parents reportedly cleaned and stitched his cut at home. Roughly a week later, the boy began to cry as his limbs involuntarily spasmed and his jaw began to clench tight. After his neck and back began to arch and he started to experience spasms across his entire body, his parents then sought medical help for the child. He was later reportedly airlifted to a medical center nearby, where physicians diagnosed him with tetanus. The young boy was alert and requested water upon his arrival to the hospital, but he was unable to open his mouth. A tube had to be placed in the boy’s windpipe. He was later administrated the tetanus and pertussis vaccine along with tetanus immune globulin. After he was given the medication, doctors placed the boy “in a darkened room with ear plugs and minimal stimulation” as loud noise and light seemed to worsen his condition. In total, the boy required nearly “8 weeks of inpatient care, followed by rehabilitation care, before he was able to resume normal activities,” the CDC said in the report. Excluding the costs of air transportation, inpatient rehabilitation and ambulatory follow-ups, inpatient charges for the boy totaled $811,929. But despite “extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians,” the boy’s parents declined a second dose of the tetanus-fighting medication and “any other recommended immunizations.” The report about the case was part of the center’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which aggregates discussions and field studies about contagious outbreaks across the globe. The report comes as lawmakers in the United States attempt to tackle what has been considered "a growing public health threat” as measles outbreaks continue to grow across the nation.