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Toddler loses arms and legs to preventable meningococcal B virus at just 5 months old

Mum calls for vaccine to be more available.
Desiree Scofield

Just a few dots of a rash on 5-month-old Robbie Buchan’s back was enough for mum, Desiree Scofield, 24, to rush her baby to emergency.

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‘Robbie rolled over, his shirt came up and his blanket came down and that’s when I saw three small spots on his back,’ the Perth mum explains in an interview with Daily Mail Australia.

The rash spread quickly, and was soon diagnosed as a meningococcal B infection. The blood poisoning caused by the infection could have killed her boy had she waited at little as 20 minutes more.

Unfortunately, the virus claimed Robbie’s arms and legs, which had to be amputated. This hasn’t dulled the toddler’s smile however – and he is now a happy, and virus-free, two-year-old.

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Meningococcal B is a life-threatening infection, however there is a vaccine available which is currently only available privately.

Desiree is determined to see this vaccine available on the children’s immunisation program.

‘We as Australians deserve the confidence that our children will not be struck down by a vaccine preventable disease,’ she says.

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