A Texas woman has described the life-threatening circumstances that led to her getting all of her childhood vaccinations again.
There has been a noticeable decline in the number of Americans who consider childhood vaccines important, with just 40 percent of U.S. adults believing it is extremely important for parents to protect their children this way, according to an August 2024 Gallup poll.
That's down significantly from 58 percent in 2019 and 64 percent in 2001 and comes against a backdrop of online misinformation and skepticism around vaccines sparked by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This view has been difficult to see for people like Marianna De León, a newly graduated college student. So when one person asked on social media platform Threads, "Which Adult is willing to test the current CHILDHOOD Vaccine Schedule on themself. I'll wait," De León replied: "I did it."
De León's decision to do this goes back to fall 2019, when she "started feeling very weak and tired and I was finding large, unexplained bruises on my body," she told Newsweek. "I thought it couldn't be anything serious and ignored it."
By January 2020 things had progressed dramatically, with De León unable to stand or walk without fainting. She ended up being admitted to an intensive care unit. The following month, just days after turning 21, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and told she would need a bone marrow transplant (BMT).
"It was such a shock," De León said. "If you had asked me what my worst fear was at that age, I would have said getting diagnosed with a life-threatening illness."
Despite the diagnosis, De León "felt hopeful" at the time and remembers thinking "things could be worse." But a few weeks after her May 2020 transplant, while recovering at home, De León fell ill with different symptoms.
"I felt sick, and painful lumps the size of grapes appeared on my head and neck," she said. "I was then diagnosed with stage 3 post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), which is a form of lymphoma."
"That broke my heart," she said. "I was starting to feel the weight of facing my mortality."
By then, the pandemic was in effect, which made De León's experience "much scarier and lonelier."
"My immune system was very weak," she said. "So I did not have many visitors. I was living with my parents and my sibling, and they were terrified to run errands and risk bringing COVID home."
Every trip out of the house for tests and treatment felt terrifying, with De León vulnerable to illness. "I had to undergo chemo to destroy my old bone marrow and immune system to prepare for the BMT, and this left me tired and without an immune system for some time," she said.
She recalls getting "nasty comments in person and online" for wearing a face mask and encouraging others to stick to the COVID-19 safety measures. "I felt that my desire to survive was offensive and my life was a burden to many people," she said.
There were months when she felt too weak to move. "I lost track of how many medications I had to take," she said. "It was one huge blur of hospitalizations, procedures, transfusions, infusions, imaging and lab work."
Finally, on December 2, 2020, De León got the news that she was cancer free. "It was the best moment of my life," she said. "I felt a huge weight off of my shoulders, motivated to plan for my future and excited to start getting back into the world."
That process began with De León having all of her childhood vaccines again.
Revaccination 'Essential for Survival'
Dr. Sue Clenton, who has over 20 years experience as an oncologist consultant, told Newsweek this is standard procedure for a patient like De León.
"When a patient undergoes bone marrow transplant, their immune system gets completely reset. Think of it like rebuilding a house from the ground up—we need to lay each brick of protection again, starting with basic vaccines," she said.
"In this case, the patient faced a triple challenge: aplastic anemia, PNH and then PTLD. Each condition weakened her immune defenses further. This makes revaccination not just helpful, but essential for survival."
De León started getting her vaccines in November 2020, beginning with her first doses of the Trumenba and Menactra vaccines against meningococcal disease and meningitis. She then got flu and COVID vaccines in January 2021. Between initial doses and boosters, De León has had 8 COVID vaccines to date.
She has also had doses of Pentacel and MMR vaccines and others against the likes of pneumonia, hepatitis B, HPV, pneumococcal disease and shingles. "I continue to get COVID and flu vaccines and even got a typhoid vaccine in 2023 for a trip overseas," De León said. "My schedule resembles the schedule infants and children follow but on a compressed timeline."
Vaccine Side Effects
In terms of side effects, De León said they have largely been "mild," ranging from sore arms to being "sleepy for a day." The difference they have made to her life has been huge, though.
"I was so excited to get them so that I could safely leave the house for more than necessary medical care and the occasional walk," De León said. "I finally enrolled in university full-time, from which I am now graduating. I also became able to volunteer, work and live on my own."
Addressing vaccine skeptics, De León added: "People think we [vulnerable people] do not exist because often we cannot safely interact with them [skeptics], and this causes them to think that there are not that many people affected by the choices they do or do not make. I wanted people to see we exist, our lives and voices matter."
She hopes people can see past the misinformation and listen to stories like hers. "I can relate to the fear some people feel. I was nervous when I got my first vaccine in my 'new' body that had been through hell and now had a stranger's immune system," De León said.
"I hope people can talk to medical professionals and use that guidance to make the best choices for their health."
English (US) ·