This is what could happen to a child who doesn't get vaccinated

"Pneumonia struck first. Then tonsillitis spiraled into sepsis. Malaria battered him next, and after treatment, the other illnesses flared back up again. This unvaccinated 2-year-old boy is trapped in a relentless cycle. "I was very sad. I knew these things could be prevented by vaccines," his mother Alzhraa Fadul says through an interpreter. "I feel guilty that I can't do anything to help my son," the 26-year-old adds. "I'm worried about my son every day. I should've gotten vaccines for my son.""

"Her family lives in an abandoned classroom with 10 strangers in Kosti, Sudan, where vaccination campaigns were once hailed as a "remarkable achievement" and earned the country a coveted polio-free status one decade ago. That all changed in April 2023 when civil war broke out. Sudan rapidly rose to the top of the list of countries with the highest proportions of unvaccinated newborns claiming an unwanted leading position last year, with more than half of its babies missing all immunizations."

"'We're really in the eye of the storm here,' Sheldon Yett says. Yett, who is UNICEF's representative in the country, adds that more than 70% of the country's health facilities in conflict-affected areas are in 'ruins.' 'Children who would have otherwise been able to brave the many things that Sudan throws at children are far more vulnerable. Life is pretty grim.'"

Civil war since April 2023 has devastated Sudan's health infrastructure and halted vaccination services, reversing earlier public health gains such as polio-free status. More than half of Sudan's babies missed all immunizations last year, and Sudan joined countries like the Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea and Yemen among the hardest-hit immunization collapses. About 14 million children worldwide receive no vaccinations, with roughly 55% of zero-dose children living in conflict-affected areas. UNICEF reports that over 70% of health facilities in conflict zones of Sudan are in ruins. Preventable illnesses such as pneumonia, tonsillitis, sepsis and malaria are rising among unvaccinated children, deepening parental despair and child vulnerability.

Read at www.npr.org