Infant Dies After Being Vaccinated – No Answers for His Family More than a Year Later Vaccine injuries are real. They can cause a myriad of adverse reactions, including death. The research is out there to prove it. Yet somehow, all over the media today, all you will hear about is a small handful of measles cases and how the flu vaccine isn’t effective this year, but you should get it anyway. If only more parents would do their own research and not listen to the media, they might be aware of the dangers, and spare themselves the pain that one mother in California is going through after losing her previously healthy baby boy to vaccination.
By all accounts, Matthew Downing-Powers was a normal, healthy baby boy. He had 3 older siblings that were vaccinated, so his mother, Crystal Downing-Powers, thought she knew what to expect after his vaccinations. Soon after birth, he was given his first round of the Hepatitis B vaccine, which is on the current normal CDC schedule for infants. At his 2 month well checkup, the boy was given a total of 8 vaccines -DTap (3 in 1), Polio, Hep B, Penumococcal PCV and an oral Rotavirus vaccine. Then, he was a little late for his four month checkup, so Crystal brought him in at five and a half months old. This is when things began to go very wrong. At this checkup visit, the Matthew was given 8 more vaccines, including DTaP, Polio, Hib, Pneumococcal, the third around of Heb B, and Hep A. The doctor had mentioned trying to get him caught up on shots since he was a little late for his 4 month check up.
Less than 48 hours later, on October 9, 2013, the infant was gone. He didn’t get a fever after the vaccinations – however, he was fussy and grumpy. His parents checked on him every hour, remembering that their other vaccinated kids had gone through a similar fussiness after their shots. His mother decided to give it one more day before calling the doctor. Sadly, Matthew died in his sleep on the second night after receiving those vaccinations. The family found him lifeless the next morning, and performed CPR on him, then rushed him to the nearest hospital.
At this point, as if things couldn’t get any worse – the hospital was uncooperative in providing answers to Matthew’s family. They confirmed that the infant was dead, and estimated his time of death. They then said they would release the body after an autopsy was performed. Crystal and her husband waited for days, and then weeks, calling every day to try to determine what was going on. Eventually, the hospital informed them that Matthew’s body was in a condition that they would not want to remember him by, and highly suggested cremation. In shock, the bereaved parents agreed.
Now, more than one year after his death, the infant’s parents have very few further answers. For one, the official autopsy report still has not been released to them. The doctors and nurses at the office that Matthew received his vaccinations from have also been uncooperative in providing answers or details. Is this a case of simple mismanagement, or is the information being withheld on purpose?
Crystal has since learned the truth about some of the vaccinations her baby received. The Hepatitis A vaccination is not recommended for infants under 1 year of age. Matthew was less than 6 months old when he received this. Also, the 3rd round of the Hepatitis B vaccine is not supposed to be given until at least 6 months of age. Matthew was five and a half months. While Crystal has reported Matthew’s death to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) but hasn’t heard back from them either. She is being held back from submitting Matthew’s case to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) – however, they require an autopsy report to do anything, and because the hospital has yet to release his autopsy report, it is coming up on two years since his death, at which point they will not be eligible to submit his case to the NVICP anymore.
Matthew’s story is a sober wake up call for our nation. It simply doesn’t make sense for babies to get almost 20 collective vaccines in 1 year. It doesn’t make sense for the media to be bashing those who are trying to make informed, researched choices for the health of their children that may not include vaccines. In the end, vaccines should be a well informed choice, and parents should make themselves aware of the risks.
Poster Comment:
Vaccine are bad news, though I've had quite a few of them.