Case Study

Illyria Carranza

Twin sisters, Illyria and Romina Velasco Carranza entered day-care together at age 9 ½ months.  They were each healthy, playful babies.  As is typical in day-care settings, a number of children were healthy carriers of the pneumococcal bacterium. Both Illyria and Romina became ill after only a short time in day-care.

Illyria, whose infection was especially serious, was treated for pneumococcal meningitis. The treatment, however, would not save her. Three weeks after entering preschool and just a few months shy of her first birthday, with her parents at her side, Illyria died.

A few days later, and still reeling from their loss, Illyria’s parents, Acaceli and Alejandro, were surprised to learn about a vaccine that might have prevented their daughter’s death. Acaceli and Alejandro immediately vaccinated their surviving daughter Romina with the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Since the loss of one of their twin daughters, Acaceli and Alejandro have dedicated their lives to reducing the impact of pneumococcal meningitis in Mexico. The family created the Illyria Velasco Carranza Foundation, providing outreach and education to Mexican parents on the risk of childhood pneumococcal meningitis and the importance of immunization. Alejandro says, “Our lives have changed forever… losing a child is a powerful tragedy that can’t be forgotten. We have had to learn how to live with the loss. We are always thinking about how we can improve our work for the Foundation and what doors we can open to effectively achieve our objectives.”

Although Acaceli and Alejandro have no other children, Illyria’s sister Romina is now a healthy, studious, and caring seven-year old. Her parents say that having lost her sister to pneumococcal meningitis, Romina is interested in health promotion.

For more information on the Illyria Velazco Carranza Foundation started by her parents, please visit: http://fundacionillyria.org.mx/principal.htm

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Stories and photographs of the case studies are courtesy of the families and children with permission to PneumoADIP for use in educational and non-commerical purposes only. Reproduction or translation of the case studies, requires explicit, prior authorization in writing. Applications and enquiries should be addressed to pneuadip@jhsph.edu.