PORTLAND, OR — An unvaccinated 6-year-old Oregon boy was hospitalized for two months for tetanus and almost died after getting cut while playing on a farm.
A medical paper published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details the 2017 case, which was the first pediatric tetanus case in the state in more than 30 years.
The doctors from Oregon Health & Science University who treated the boy say he was on a ventilator for 44 days and stayed in a darkened room to reduce stimulation that triggered his muscle spasms.
His parents declined a second dose of the tetanus vaccine for their son after he had recovered. Lawmakers in Oregon and Washington are considering bills to end non-medical exemptions for childhood vaccines due to a Pacific Northwest measles outbreak.
