A Washington boy battling cancer has been effectively quarantined – having to miss a month of school and unable to go on play dates – because he can’t be vaccinated to protect himself against the state’s measles outbreak, his mother says.
Kai Bonneau, five, of Vancouver, has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer, for more than half of his life.
Until Kai finishes his final chemotherapy treatment, he can’t receive any vaccines because his immune system is compromised.
His mother, Jessica Finchel, told KATU News the fear of her son possibly catching measles is so strong that he has already had to miss a month of school and the family doesn’t go to any public places.
This comes as Washington confirmed more measles cases, bringing the total up to 71, most of which are unvaccinated children.
Kai Bonneau, five (left and right), of Vancouver, has been battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of blood cancer, for more than half his life. He can’t receive any vaccines until he finishes his last chemotherapy treatment
Cancer patients are immunosuppressed due to the chemotherapy drugs they’re taking. Additionally, vaccines need an immune system response to work, which may not be possible during cancer treatment. Pictured: Kai, left, with his mother, Jessica Finchel
‘He doesn’t go to public places, he doesn’t go to playdates, he doesn’t go to people’s houses, we don’t go out to eat, he doesn’t go to the store,’ Fichtel told KATU News.
Almost every patient undergoing chemotherapy becomes immunosuppressed.
According to Natural Medicine Journal, chemotherapy drugs kill rapidly dividing cells and can’t tell the difference between cancer cells and other cells that divide quickly.
Immune system cells are rapidly dividing cells and, therefore, are often targeted by chemotherapy drugs.
Therefore, if a cancer patient gets a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection, their immune system is weaker and less likely to be able to fight it off.
Additionally, vaccines need an immune system response to work, which may not be possible during cancer treatment, according to the American Cancer Society.
Kai’s cancer, ALL, is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many immature white blood cells called lymphocytes.
They crowd out normal white blood cells, causing the body to have a harder time fighting infections.
According to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer. Approximately 98 percent of children go into remission within weeks of starting treatment and about 90 percent of those children
Kai is currently undergoing chemotherapy and can’t be vaccinated – which is a problem because there is an outbreak of measles in his home state.
Officials in Clark County have identified 70 confirmed cases and one case has been confirmed in King County, which is where Seattle is located.
Sixty-one cases are in those who are unvaccinated. Fifty-one are in children aged 10 or younger.
Kai’s mother says he has already had to miss a month of school and the family doesn’t bring him to any public places. She hit back at anti-vaxxers for putting her son’s life at risk. Pictured, left and right: Kai with his father
A measles outbreak driven by anti-vaxxers has hit Washington hard. There are 71 confirmed cases in the state, and most of them are unvaccinated children
Experts say the Portland-area and southwest Washington have become a ‘hotspot’ of the anti-vaccine movement, which has been driving this outbreak.
The measles vaccine is about 97 percent effective. But those who are unvaccinated have a 90 percent chance of catching measles if they breathe the virus in, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Fitchel told KATU News that her son already missed a month of preschool in January due to fears that he’d contract measles.
She says she and her husband live in constant fear, which is why they don’t often leave the house.
‘For us, it’s been pretty oppressive,’ Fitchel told the station. ‘He doesn’t know much. We do a good job of sheltering him, but it’s been hard. And there’s an ordinate amount of fear that goes with that.’
In a Facebook post last month, Fitchel says she doesn’t believe that parents who choose not to vaccinate don’t love their kids, but says she’s angry that her son’s life is at risk because of it.
‘I’m angry…at the ignorant and selfish folks who don’t, or shall I say WON’T vaccinate,’ she wrote.
‘This is way past the “my kid won’t play with your kid” protection factor. It is now to the “your negligence could put lives at risk” phase. This scares me, and it is [an] unnecessary risk!’
So far this year, 206 cases of measles have been confirmed in 11 states, hitting New York and the Pacific Northwest the hardest.
That means more measles cases have been counted in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017.