A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy is in intensive care with diphtheria in Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron hospital - the first known case of the highly-contagious disease in Spain since 1987.
Medics say the child's parents, who live in Olot (Girona province) refused to give him his vaccinations as a baby for various serious and preventable diseases and distressing childhood illnesses.
This means authorities now have the difficult task of tracing everyone who may have been in contact with the young patient in the days leading up to his being admitted to hospital.
The little boy, who is Spanish, is on life support with assisted breathing and is said to be in a very serious condition.
Drugs have been brought over from France and Russia to treat him, since the absence of the respiratory disease in Spain since the 1980s means no medication has been held in stock.
The youngster's symptoms started on Monday, May 25, with headaches, fever and difficulty swallowing, but it was not until Friday, May 29 that tests were carried out, the results of which were not known until Saturday, May 30.
He is said to have been at a children's adventure camp with other boys and girls of his age the week before his symptoms appeared, and would also have been in contact during that time with older and younger pupils, from his own and different schools.
About 100 to 150 people, including family members, teachers, medical staff and children are thought to have been within close enough proximity to the boy to be at risk of contagion.
Epidemiologist Dr Antoni Trilla of Barcelona's Hospital Clínic says about one in 10 children and adults in Catalunya alone have not been properly vaccinated.
In some cases, this is because of health scares associated with inoculations at the time - such as the whooping cough jab in the late 1970s and early 1980s - and in others because the infant was allergic to the ingredients of the vaccination.
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