A Bay of Plenty mother has shared the heartbreaking story of her seven-month-old daughter catching measles, leaving her fighting for her life.
"I was absolutely heartbroken watching her tiny little body fight so hard," Stephanie Peeni told the Daily Mail.
Peeni's seven-month-old daughter, who was too young to be vaccinated, caught the disease from her twin siblings who were both vaccinated.
On August 20, she was taken to the hospital with a temperature of more than 40C, the Daily Mail reports.
Peeni shared her story on social media to raise awareness.
"To be honest, it's left me feeling numb and lost for words," Peeni said in a Facebook post.
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"She refused to breastfeed all week and so I was expressing and force feeding her my milk via a syringe every hour of the day and night."
As of Saturday, there have been 616 confirmed measles cases in Auckland alone this year.
In March, eligibility for the MMR vaccine was widened to help control its spread.
Stephanie said in her Facebook post, she was sick of people saying that "measles does nothing".
She had a message to all parents: "Get educated and stay vigilant".
Newshub.
