Know the full range of meningitis symptoms warn UK charities

Make sure you have vaccinated your children and are aware of the full range of meningitis symptoms, warn UK charities for World Meningitis Day.

Three leading UK meningitis charities have united in their message for the event held this Saturday 24 April.

They are stressing how important it is that parents are aware of the full range of symptoms because the disease can kill in less than four hours.

Meningitis is responsible for killing more children under the age of five than any other infectious disease.

Despite the new pneumococcal vaccine, Prevenar 13, being introduced into the Childhood Immunisation Programme and protecting against 13 strains of the disease, there are still around 3,000 cases of life-threatening bacterial meningitis and septicaemia every year.

There is still no vaccine for Meningitis B, which is the most common strain in this country.

Steve Dayman, the Chief Executive of Meningitis UK who lost his son Spencer to the disease, said: “Great advances have been made in the past few decades and World Meningitis Day is an opportunity to remind people of the importance of vaccine uptake and symptoms recognition.

“Together we can help raise awareness, share knowledge and fund research in the hope that one day families will be spared the heartache of losing a loved one to this devastating disease.”