General Chat

This week is Meningitis Awareness Week .last year there were over 3000 cases of meningitis and septiceamia resulting in 300 deaths, take a minute to read the symptoms,i could save a life... Meningitis. > stiff neck, dislike of bright lights, fever/vomiting,less responsive/vacant, fits Septiceamia > flu like symptoms, fever/vomiting cold hands/feet joint/muscle pain abdominal pain(sometimes with diarrhoea) drowsey, rash(this starts as little red pin prick but developes into bruise like patches-doesn't fade when pressed). meningitis and septiceamia don't always occur together so please be aware of the signs of both. if you notice a rash developing then check to see if it fades,if it doesn't then keep checking. for more info go to meningitis(.) org. Karen

If you have young people at uni. or college, ask them to look out for one another please. Sadly sometimes young people mistakenly think they have flu..

Thanks for the reminder Karen. I did have a little card with the symptons on. With all the Uni students going back it's a good time to hold the awareness week. Ciao Anna

nudging to keep it on the first page

Thanks Karen, very important info, a friend of mines daughter died of meningitis aged 3 its was devastating to all the family. Roxanne x

My daughter had meningitis when she was a year old, the doctor said there was nothing wrong with her, his exact words were ' Every baby in Croydon is like this, buy a night light, don't smoke in front of her, she'll be alright in the spring' except she was'nt, they did'nt recognize meningitis they also did'nt recognize the hydrocephalus (spelling) that often goes with it, my beautiful daughter was left severly mentally and physcally disabled. Threads like this are excellent in helping people to be aware for themselves, Anne

I had meningococal septicaemia when I was a student nurse in 1972-luckily no side effects, Rosalyn

our daughter,then 2,had septiceamia 8 years ago.we are one of the lucky one--doctors gave her a 10% chance of surviving but she is a very fit and healthy 10 yr old(11 on saturday). so as those of you who have had experience of this know its so important to get medical attention quickly. when Eloise had it she had a rash but it faded,luckily for us the ambulance crew(doctor call out too long a story to go into) said they'd take her in to hospital anyway.half an hour later she was on life support. you all know your children better than anyone else so don't give up if you think something is wrong, Karen

My son (now 5) had meningococal septicaemia when he was 3, thankfuly I recognised it and after 2 weeks in hospital he was fine. But I have to say if I had not been told what to look for by my health visitor when my children were born it could have been a different story. Julia

please keep on the first page--its important Karen

This is very important becx

my sister Ruby had Menigacocal scepticemaia (spelling) when she was 2 (i was 12) she is 10 now and was only given the all clear with her health last year, she suffered so badly, but she was lucky....most children are not as lucky as Ruby, she only escaped the illness with ruined eye sight, most of the other children dont survive at all or end up with brain damage...this is a charity i hold so close to my heart, im always willing to do charity work for them!i used to do quite alot xx

nudge