World Meningitis Day

Today is World Meningitis Day and as part of the lovely group of Irish Parenting Bloggers, I’m participating in one of our (now legendary) blogmarches to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease.

Just because it has never touched our lives, doesn’t mean that we should stop being aware of the symptoms.  I’m no expert but thankfully Keep Watching Ireland have provided me with a list of the most common symptoms.

Symptoms may appear in any order and some may not appear at all. They may include some or all of the following:
Fever
Vomiting
Severe headache
Painfully stiff neck
Sensitivity to light
Very sleepy
Confusion
Seizures
Non blanching rash (doesn’t disappear under pressure)

What I didn’t realise is that Ireland has one of the highest incidences of the disease in Europe, with more than twice the average incidence rate. Those of us with small children are aware that they get vaccinated as part of their infant immunisations against some forms of meningitis but these do not protect against all forms.

Honestly the idea that one of the kids, or adults, in our family could become so seriously ill in such a short amount of time fills me with dread. I know that this is a natural parenting instinct but I do feel it’s very important to be up to speed on the signs of serious illness and I’d highly recommend that all parents do a paediatric first aid course.

Keep Watching Ireland have created a video which you can watch below:

Written in support of World Meningitis Day 2013 and the ‘Meningitis: Keep Watching Ireland’ campaign launched by Meningitis Research Foundation Ireland with support from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Limited, which encourages parents to remain vigilant for the signs and symptoms of the disease.  No payment of any kind was received for this post.