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Rudolf and Katherine Kalovsky, NAHLAS, Czech Republic
Our youngest son - Ondra, who is now 5 and a half years old, was at 22 month of age, seriously ill with pneumococcal meningitis. We can say that it was fortunate, because he survived, yet he will bear the consequences this insidious disease all of his life - hearing loss.
At the end of July 2006 we were with little Ondra visiting a family doctor in Kromeriz, who found him to have otitis media. During the visit to the hospital the physician advised us to give him small droplets. Ondra felt good until the evening. At night he began to vomit and had a fever. Since his condition did not improve, next morning we went to the hospital in Prerov but the doctor prescribed only Panadol and sent us back home.
But Ondra felt worse, the fever did not decline and we noticed that he didn't move his head. We went to the hospital again because we suspected meningitis, one of whose symptoms are a stiff neck. In the hospital they decided that Ondra was only dehydrated. Then the doctors agreed to do lumbar puncture to confirm or not meningitis. The sample confirmed the presence of inflammation and Ondra received antibiotics.
We spent a few months in the hospital and then were sent to the spa. There we became suspicious, because although little Ondra felt much better, he had lost his hearing as a result of inflammation. Before the disease he had learned to say words that suddenly he could not speak. Again we went through all sorts of examinations, but again ran our own initiative. Alone we searched for information. We insisted that Ondra be examined by specialists who recommended us to Motol in Prague, where they introduced cochlear implants for children.
These very demanding operations, which may return hearing, are recommended only for children under three years of age and our time was running out. Fortunately, we had all the necessary tests for them and all indications were that in the autumn Ondra would have a cochlear implant. We have learned sign language with him and Ondra is excellent, although it is very difficult.
We know that this dramatic story would not necessarily have happened if we had known of the existence of a vaccination against pneumococcal infections and had vaccinated our little Ondra. But we did not know about it until it was too late. Therefore we decided to talk about our experiences, to alert all parents to the potential danger to their young children from pneumococcal disease. We formed NAHLAS to inform parents, raise awareness and advocate for the introduction of vaccines because the life and health of our children are for us absolutely most important things.
Two years after his implant Ondra is starting to speak fluently and he makes all of us very happy.
Rudolf and Katherine Kalovsky
