When Cayden Smith, age 3, developed a low-grade fever and congestion one Thursday evening in December 2014, her family first thought it was a cold. The following day, they visited an urgent-care center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did let them know that she had been scheduled to get a flu shot a couple weeks before, but she had an ear infection,\u201d Jessica Richman, Cayden\u2019s mom, 41, from Newport News, Virginia, told CIDRAP News. \u201cShe had a little fever at the time, so they said we needed to reschedule the flu shot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Urgent care staff didn\u2019t test Cayden for influenza; instead, they treated her cold symptoms and advised the family to return if the toddler didn\u2019t improve. \u201cWe actually took her back three different times, because she was getting very progressively worse,\u201d Richman recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From lack of concern to a 911 call<\/p>\n
Cayden was Richman\u2019s first child, born May 18, 2011. The outgoing, bubbly girl, who never met a person who would remain a stranger, loved the color pink and her 130-pound Bernese Mountain dog. \u201cIt was cute to see this tiny, small girl and this big, huge dog,\u201d Richman said. \u201cShe had a great personality.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Cayden had always received her vaccines, she missed her flu vaccine in 2014 because of that ear infection. At the time, Richman didn\u2019t know how serious flu could be. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize it was super dangerous, so I didn\u2019t urgently reschedule her flu shot,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each time the family took Cayden back to urgent care that December, they mentioned she had not received her flu shot. Still, staff never tested her for flu. \u201cThey just didn\u2019t seem that concerned that that\u2019s what it was,\u201d Richman said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure why.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By Friday evening, Cayden\u2019s breathing had become labored. She\u2019d take deep breaths in but still didn\u2019t seem to get much air. Unlike other times when she was sick, Cayden wasn\u2019t playing with her toys and behaved lethargically. Finally, her dad called 911.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was not moving, wasn\u2019t asking for anything. She didn\u2019t want to eat or drink,\u201d Richman said. \u201cWe had first responders show up to the house. Unfortunately, she had passed at the house.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The family felt stunned. They had no idea how their previously healthy daughter could simply not be there anymore. While the autopsy provided answers as to how Cayden died, the family struggled to understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I did get the information that it was influenza A that caused pneumonia, I was like, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d Richman said. \u201cAt the time, I felt like flu was similar to a cold. In no way did I believe that it would take someone\u2019s life, not a small, healthy child. My child had no immune issues. She didn\u2019t have any medical issues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n