Mum backs campaign on meningitis awareness
A STRADSETT mother whose son survived meningitis has joined forces with a national charity working to raise awareness of the disease.
Anna Foster's son Thomas was left profoundly deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other after battling meningitis in 1999, when he was just seven months old.
In a Lynn News feature last year, Mrs Foster shared her memories of the day she was told her son may not survive the next 48 hours and encouraged other parents to have their children vaccinated.
Now their story is being used by the Meningitis Research Foundation in its B Aware campaign – part of meningitis awareness week – to make people more aware of the symptoms.
In the UK last year there were more than 3,000 cases of meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning) and this lead to the death of 300 babies, children and adults.
Some survivors are left with serious after-effects, including brain damage, deafness and amputations, and many of these are caused by the Group B disease.
Although there are vaccines which provide protection against some forms of meningitis and septicaemia, there is no vaccine against Group B, meaning it is vital people know what symptoms to look out for so they can get help quickly.
For a free symptoms information pack, call the foundation's 24-hour helpline on freephone 080 8800 3344.
Meningitis awareness week runs from Monday, through to Sunday, September 23. For more information about the disease, visit:
www.meningitis.org
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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