Meningitis - the disease which can kill (From Penarth Times)

Meningitis - the disease which can kill

MENINGITIS can strike at any age and kill in hours.

With this in mind, and with cases of Group-B meningitis and septicaemia on the up, it has never been more important to know the symptoms and to protect your child.

Last week we looked at a vaccine introduced in November 1999, which protects youngsters from Group-C strain meningococcal meningitis.

Vale of Glamorgan Councillor Chris Franks had questioned the vaccine after faulty jabs were given in the Rhondda area leading youngsters to be less protected.

However, health chiefs at Bro Taf Health Authority stressed the jabs had not been used in the Vale of Glamorgan. The controversy has woken parents up to the threat of meningitis and they now want to know more about it.

Currently, about 40 percent of meningitis cases are Group-C, which the vaccine protects against. As a result, an estimated 500 cases of meningitis C and septicaemia have been prevented since the November 1999 programme - and 50 lives saved.

But 60 percent of cases are of the Group-B type - the strain you cannot vaccinate against. There are many other equally deadly forms of meningitis and septicaemia (the blood poisoning form of the disease) that are not vaccine-preventable. For this reason, it is still crucial to be aware of the signs and symptoms.

So what are they?

As the winter brings an expected increase in cases, The Meningitis Trust has released 12 signs to look out for...

These are fever, headache, stiff neck, light aversion, drowsiness, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, fitting, rash, high-pitched cry (in babies) and a bulging fontanelle (in babies). Symptoms can appear in any order and may not all appear at once.

Often people wait to see if a rash appears, checking to see if it disappears when a glass is pressed against it. If the rash does not go, they may immediately get medical help. But according to experts, by this time it may be too late. Act as soon as you suspect.

Chief executive of the trust, Philip Kirby, said: "From now until spring we traditionally see more cases of meningitis and septicaemia. The symptoms can so easily look like other less harmful conditions.

"Parents and individuals need to look for the symptoms and monitor any changes in the patient's condition."

The ability of meningitis to look like something else, for example influenza, is a common problem.

For 25-year-old Helen Smith, meningitis came to her in 1997 when she was staying with her auntie.

She said: "On the night of December 26, I became really ill with breathing problems, vomiting and diarrhoea, fainting, cold extremities, violent shivering and terrible pains in my arms, legs and stomach.

"Since then I've learned that all of these were the classic symptoms of meningococcal septicaemia. I have been told since that I probably had a rash. However the doctor only diagnosed flu."

It was not until she saw another not one, but two doctors the following evening that she was diagnosed and rushed into hospital.

Helen went into a coma as her body shut down - her breathing, kidneys, and heart all failing.

Fortunately, Helen fought hard, and after intensive care for a month started to recover. But she said: "In this time my legs were amputated at the knee, my left hand at the wrist and the fingers of my right hand.

"Both my arm amputations were at the wrong length for any kind of prostheses, or so I was wrongly told at the time, so I was left with no grip that is the most essential function of a hand. So I decided to have it amputated to the correct length for prosthesis."

As a result, Helen now has prosthetic limbs, thanks to a local businessman who offered to pay for a set of limbs after hearing of her story.

Helen was presented with a Pride of Britain Award by The Mirror, as a result meeting stars including Paul McCartney, Barbara Windsor and Ronan Keating.

She said: "There is not one day when I wish this terrible illness had never happened, but I think that more doors of opportunity have been opened because of this illness than have closed."

Helen's story proves just how important it is to know the signs and symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia.

For more details call the National Meningitis Trust on 0845 600 0800 or Meningitis Research Foundation on 0808 800 3344.