My baby died from Victorian-era disease as vaccination rates for the illness plummet in US

A mother has revealed her heartbreak after losing her baby to a violent coughing condition just weeks after he was born.

Kathryn Alcaide, from Chicopee, Massachusetts, said her son Brady was born healthy at 8 lbs 6 oz in November 2012, but began suffering whooping cough symptoms that ‘looked like a cold’ the following January.

Mrs Alcaide and her husband, Jon, took Brady to the emergency room when his fever spiked to 104 degrees Fahrenheit, and things gradually worsened over the next two weeks. The boy’s lungs failed, then his heart stopped.

He was diagnosed with whooping cough, a Victorian-era bacterial infection. Brady passed away just shy of two months old.

While Brady died a decade ago, his parents are speaking out again as whooping cough makes a deadly resurgence across the US.

Cases of the highly contagious illness, also known as pertussis, 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 Alcaide told Newsweek: ‘The increase in cases reminds us how vital it is for people to stay up to date on their vaccinations, not just for their own health, but to protect those who are too young or medically unable to get vaccinated.

‘No family should have to endure the loss of a child from something that could be prevented.’

The Alcaide family encourages every parent to get their children vaccinated for preventable diseases like whooping cough. Photo courtesy of Kathryn Alcaide

Whooping cough is particularly dangerous for infants and young children, but babies Brady’s age are not eligible for the vaccine. 

The CDC recommends children receive three doses of the Tdap vaccine. The shot protects against diphtheria, pertussis – whopping cough – and tetanus. One dose is given at two months old, one at four months old and one at six months old.

Two additional doses are given to children between 15 to 18 months old and between four to six years old. 

However, vaccination rates among young children fell during the pandemic and never fully recovered. By the time they turned two, around 82 percent of babies born in 2018 and 2019 received all four age-appropriate recommended doses of the vaccine.

That rate fell to 79 percent among babies born in 2020 and 2021.

To reach the herd immunity threshold, an estimated 92 to 94 percent of people have to be vaccinated.  

Parents have their own reasons for abstaining from school-required vaccines, including religious reasons, and they can seek an exemption from the school district in that case. 

Routine vaccination rates fell during the Covid pandemic when school was shifted to remote platforms and children were spending little time with other people. Since then, vaccination rates have struggled to recover. 

Some parents have concerns about vaccine safety, sometimes citing debunked claims that certain vaccines have been linked to autism in children despite extensive evidence to the contrary. 

Whooping cough is not very common, which means many parents see it as a minor threat and therefore not worth vaccinating against.  

Ms Alcaide said: ‘It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to hear that whooping cough cases are rising, especially because this is a vaccine-preventable disease.’

Brady began to experience a debilitating cough in early January 2013. It was so bad he struggled to breathe.

About a week after Brady’s pediatrician diagnosed the infant with a bad cold and sent the family to recover at home, Brady was being admitted to the hospital where his condition improved only briefly.

Brady had periods of being able to breathe without an oxygen tube, and doctors attempted to feed him without using a tube. But after eight days, Ms Alcaide said at the time, Brady was ‘still doing the same.’

Brady is held by his father Jon soon after his birth. Brady became sick in January 2013 and was hospitalized. About a week after going to the hospital, his heart stopped and doctors could not save him

One day before he passed in January 2013, Mrs Alcaide said: ‘We are now at Boston’s children hospital, Brady is in critical condition his heart stopped and they had to give him compressions. 

‘We are waiting to see him. They put him on a heart and lung bypass machine. They are worried about brain injury; please pray he will be a healthy boy playing baseball someday. I will try to update as much as I can.’

She added after he passed away: ‘People don’t think much about diseases like whooping cough these days. I know that before going through this nightmare, I never would have imagined this could happen and even the best medical care couldn’t help.’ 

Whooping cough is most dangerous to infants under two months, who are too young to be vaccinated yet.

Between 15 and 20 percent of babies develop pneumonia, two to four percent experience seizures, and one in 100 die.

Since the death of their son, Kathy and Jon have become advocates for childhood vaccinations – knowing Brady likely got sick because someone in close contact with him was unvaccinated and unknowingly carrying the virus.

A major benefit of widespread vaccine coverage is herd immunity – a phenomenon that occurs when a large number of people have been vaccinated for a virus.

This limits the spread so vulnerable people who are too young or medically unable to be vaccinated are still protected.

The Alcaides are urging people to get their children vaccinated for whopping cough and other preventable diseases like measles: ‘Vaccines are safe, effective, and they’re the best way to protect our loved ones and communities. It’s a choice that makes a real difference.’

She 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.’