Shared from his mama Tegan Jayne.

EDIT TO ADD**** NO MEDICATION CONTAINING IBUPROFEN WAS USED AS HE WAS UNDER 3 MONTHS OF AGE.

“Its 5 years ago (January 2014) we were in PICU fighting for life against chicken pox.

A fully vaccinated family member who we lived with contracted chicken pox, they passed it on to my baby Zakariah at 16 days old.

Zak had never left the house at that point other then the trip from NICU to home with his twin sister.

This is one reason I ask everyone to NOT preach that vaccines protect our babies and immune suppressed because they DO NOT, Vaccines do not stop you contracting or passing a disease on to ANYONE.

Never rely on someone else’s vaccination status to protect you or your children.

He had no antibodies at all as I had never had chicken pox myself until that same week, I was in fact vaccinated for chicken pox though in 2004 as a child.

I took him to his doctor who advised us to take him home and give him panadol (paracetamol) 4hrly to keep his temp down – if that fails and he was above 39 degrees to go to hospital.

I did this, I kept a log of feeds by mls, wet nappies, medication and gave him panadol 4hrly without fail.

In doing so I almost shut down his liver, his tiny 4kg body couldn’t process the minimum dose that is calculated for 6kgs, not to mention I did this 4hrly for 6 DAYS thinking I was helping him

His body not being allowed to fever lead to the chicken pox infestation and his mouth, throat and lungs became lined with blisters, his skin had became infected and he had viral encephalitis.

6 nights after the first pox he stopped breathing after a feed, we called an ambulance and were rushed to hospital.

We were admitted to PICU and doctors was in utter disbelief at his condition, they called New Zealand, Canada, WA, NSW, infectious disease control and CDC because no one had seen NEONATAL CHICKEN POX this bad – Usually babies this young are admitted day 1 of diagnosis and are treated immediately with antivirals, its never left to fester to this.

After a while sitting in isolation, double doors and our own air filter system, we were given a piece of scrap paper with numbers on it.

That day his chances of survival were 21%, if he made the night it would rise to something like 38% and if he made it again 50% growing for every day he pulled thru.

Hooked up with antivirals, antibiotics and oxygen, seizing and barely breathing I thought my son was going to die in those first 2 days.

The worst part is that all they can do is “support” the immune system as there is no medication that cures it only antivirals that can help your body fight the disease but no one can say who will be okay and who won’t.

He pulled thru and was discharged once new blistered had stopped appearing.

We came home but it wasnt over, he had to have antivirals every 3hrs for 3 weeks, if we forgot a dose we had to go straight to hospital to have IVs because if given the chance the Chicken pox would come back and attack his brain again.

So when people say to me as a non vaxxer:

“I hope you never have to see your baby in hospital dying of a “vaccine preventable disease”

or “I guess you have never seen a baby thats suffering with a disease a vaccine can “prevent” “

Well I have.

I have seen it and been there for it, I questioned my choices, I sat in bed with a seizing newborn, listened to his high pitched screams and watched him gasp for air.

His head pounded, his skin hurt, his joints were inflamed, breathing hurt him.

And vaccines DID NOT protect him.

He was too young to be vaccinated for Chicken Pox – everyone around him who did have chicken pox WAS vaccinated.

Our government pushes and pushes that it is our responsibility as a community to be vaccinated to protect those who can’t BUT the reality is even if you are vaccinated you CAN still contract and pass on that disease to anyone whether vaxxed, unvaxxed or unable to be vaxxed.

I feel no need to vax in order to protect anyone because I know first hand that no one will benefit from my children being vaxxed.