Karl and Christine Laulu continue to cry for two babies lost after vaccinations in Samoa

In the last three years, a young couple from Samoa was blessed with the birth of their two children

They celebrated their first birthdays and, over the past two years, welcomed them to two funerals separated. ] Karl and Christine Laulu continue to face the nightmare of losing two precious babies in two years; Both were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in Samoa

. The couple are now living in New Zealand and are trying to find out exactly how or why their children died

. Herald through the intermediary of her Auckland-based attorney, Leuluaiali's Olinda Woodroffe, the couple revealed their first child – a son whom they named Jamie Ray – was born in March 2015

He died a little more than a year later, on May 3, a few days after receiving a MMR vaccine at Samoa's main hospital: Motorcycle Hospital & Otua

The complications that led to Jamie Ray's death involved a multi-organ failure that at one point could have been appendicitis, his parents say.

On March 30, 2017 – two days after their son's second birthday – they welcomed his daughter Alana-Rae to the world.

In early April, they took their daughter for her The MMR vaccination

"It's just how careful they were.Because their baby died at the Moto & Hospital" Otua, they took the second child to a private clinic in Apia

"It is there that [Alana-Rae] was vaccinated. Then they noticed the difficulty with the child.

The couple pleaded with the Samoan government to help them get urgent medical help from their daughter in New Zealand; They told the officials that they did not want their son to suffer the same fate as their little girl.

Alana-Rae was admitted to the Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland, on April 20th.

Four days later, the family planned a second burial

"It was like living the nightmare Again," Christine Laulu told 1 News

The Cause of Death Alana-Rae is still to be determined and the results of an autopsy are pending. His death was not reported to the coroner.

Woodroffe said that a spacecraft report said that Alana-Rae may have had a genetic condition that was a factor in her death as well.

"Once the MMR injection was given to them their" body's immune system went into hyper-drive and this is not supposed to happen, "Karl Laulu told 1News. [19659002] The couple are staying in New Zealand to do genetic tests to obtain conclusive answers, do not think we have the strength to go back [to Samoa] and pick up millions and millions of coins " , said Karl Laulu to 1 News.

The couple told 1News that they believe that all children should be vaccinated.They acknowledged that they would still like to have another child someday, but they admitted that they had fears.

"They want it, but they are scared and they do not really know what will happen next," said Woodroffe.

L & # The story of the Laulu family comes as a government-led investigation is on Friday. The World Health Organization and the members of Unicef, an international children's charity, are in Samoa.

The Laulu family also requested that his case be included in the investigation.

A police investigation is also underway after the youth families – Lannacallystah Samuelu and Lameko Si – have made an investigation. formal complaints to the authorities

Calls for calm

Health experts continue to transmit the message of safety; calling for serenity as people in the Pacific community and in particular Samoans worry that their children will not be vaccinated.

Helen Petousis-Harris, vaccinologist at the University of Auckland, said this week that deaths were very rare. In New Zealand, the MMR vaccine has been proven for a long time

There have been no deaths associated with the vaccine in the decades it has been administered here, she said [19659002] "Almost all children in the world MMR vaccine or similar: Wherever these vaccines have been used, infant mortality has declined.

"When the MMR vaccine was properly administered, we see events related to the vaccine [adverse] occurring about two weeks later."

She acknowledged that although investigations have continued in the latter cases, two reasons that could have been factors in the deaths were the medical error – the way the vaccine was prepared by nurses or doctors – and contamination

The New Zealand Department of Health also helps its counterparts in Samoa

Dr. Stewart Jessamine, Director of Protection, Regulation and Insurance, has stated that our ministry was We are still in talks with the Samoa staff to find out what support they might need.

What about the MMR in New Zealand?

Jessamine told the Herald the Ministry of Health did not know where Samoa came from, but confirmed that It was not provided by New Zealand

"New Zealand currently uses a brand of MMR vaccine called Priorix. It is manufactured mainly in France and Belgium and tested before being sent to New Zealand.

"He is followed along the way to make sure that it is kept at a constant temperature until it is administered to patients."

The MMR vaccine in New Zealand had an excellent safety profile and had been used without significant problems for several decades.