4-Year-Old Contracts Rare Brain-Eating Condition After Catching H1N1 Flu

A 4-year-old boy contracted a brain-eating illness triggered by a Flu, that has left him wheelchair bound and making him unable to verbally communicate. Andre Carson, of Fresno, California, spent eleven days on life support after he contracted the H1N1 flu virus in 2017.

The flu resulted in the horrific illness called acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE), which is an extremely rare condition that causes lesions to develop in regions of the brain. This results in swelling, bleeding and eventually the death of the organ's tissue.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medical Science, only 59 cases of ANE have been documented so far and one-third of patients with the illness do not survive.

The child's mother, Kamareia Parrish, opened up about the tragedy saying that her child, was unresponsive just hours after he was diagnosed with common cold in March 2017. Doctors diagnosed Andre with ANE and began treating the illness with steroids. However, he had already suffered severe damage to the left side of his brain.

"Andre was a friendly, active and bubbly little boy," Kamareia said. "He was already in preschool when he became sick. He was getting ready to start t-ball and soccer that weekend."

Kamareia said his preschool called to tell her in March 2017, that Andre was feeling sick so she picked him up from school.

"He had a sore throat, a fever, diarrhea and he also chills so I brought him straight to the doctor," she said, adding that the doctor suspected Andre was suffering from a cold, so she treated him with Tylenol and put him to bed. But hours later she found her child was not responding to her.

"I tried to stand him up but he was just limp. He was barely breathing," she said. "I was so afraid I called an ambulance and when I saw it arrive I just ran outside with him straight away."

Kamareia said that a CT scan revealed there were lesions on his brain and that he had contracted H1N1 flu virus. The lesions kept getting bigger so the doctors treated him with steroids.

"The steroids managed to reduce the swelling in his brain but his brain stem and the left side of his brain had a lot of damage," Kamareia said, adding that he was later diagnosed with ANE.

Andre was diagnosed with necrotizing encephalopathy, triggered by the H1N1 flu virus.

“It was my lowest moment. I was so angry with God. I was questioning my religion,” Kamareia told the Daily Mail. “I told my parents that if Andre died, they might as well plan two funerals because I would die too... I had to believe he would live.”

After fighting for his life for 11 days in the intensive care unit, Andre had to spend two months in rehabilitation. During this time, he began to voluntarily move his limbs and track movements with his eyes. He returned home on June 13, 2017.

More than a year since being diagnosed with ANE and receiving treatment, Andre can now only communicate using an electronic device and is working on taking his first steps using a walker.

Kamareia, who has been warning others about the illness, told the Daily Mail: "I was so surprised that this all stemmed from the flu. Andre was vaccinated but it was for a different strain of the virus."

"I was really angry at myself at the beginning because I kept thinking, what if I had brought him to the hospital sooner but my doctor has told me there was no way I could have known," she said. "Vaccinations are so important. I work closely with an organization called the End- FLUenza Project, which was started by a mom who lost her daughter to a strain of this flu."