Meningitis

• The Disease
• The Research
• Help & Advice
  • Awareness resources
  • Bereavement
  • Ask the Expert
    • Questions Feb 2010
    • Meet the experts Feb 2010
    • Questions Nov 2009
    • Meet the experts Nov 2009
  • Friends message board
  • Treatment complaints
  • Useful meningitis links
• Education

Question:

Our baby son lost his life to meningicoccal meningitis in November 2004, aged 9 months. When he was admitted to the hospital he did not have a temperature, but had all the other symptoms. Why was this? Also is it true that in some cases no matter how fast you get treatment, it makes no difference?

Answer:

Professor Michael Levin says:

We were terribly sorry of the tragic loss of your baby son from meningococcal meningitis.  Although fever is usually present in children with bacterial meningitis, occasionally some children do not produce a high temperature in response to the infection.  This is particularly common in very young children and is often a sign of very severe disease.  It sometimes indicates that the infection has spread so rapidly that the body's immune cells which normally fight the infection have not had time to respond and have simply been overwhelmed.

Although the outcome for bacterial meningitis and meningococcal meningitis in particular has improved considerably in the last two decades, unfortunately there continue to be some children in whom the disease progresses extremely rapidly and in whom even the most prompt and appropriate medical care does not prevent death.  It does sound from your description that your son may have had this rapidly progressive form of the disease.

Comments

Emma Cowey
Posts: 2

new comment
Reply #2 on : Sun March 07, 2010, 20:36:26

---

Lindsey, thank you for leaving this comment. Jamie and Sarah's story sound very much the same. It has to be the worst disease and I wish nobody should ever go through it, i just hope that Meningitis UK will some day soon be able to find the vaccine that we all pray for xxx

Lindsey Redman
Posts: 2

new comment
Reply #1 on : Fri March 05, 2010, 21:27:48

---

I was very sorry to read about the loss of your son,my daughter sarah died of meningoccocal meningitis aged 13 months,she did not have a high temperature either.When she woke in the morning she ate very little breakfast and vomitted it back up.she was slightly off colour and i thought she was coming down with something.Sarah deteriorated rapidly and was admitted to hospital around 9.30,despite the best efforts of the staff at our local hospital she died at 12.10 lunchtime before they were able to transfer her to a specialist unit.Unless you have seen it first hand i dont think many people appreciate the speed in which this disease can strike.Her symptoms were common with many minor childhood ailments,the rash appeared almost instantly and her whole body was covered very quickly,within an hour of this happening it was too late to save her.Whilst i have learned to live with the loss of sarah,thanks largely to my other five children.I will never get over the cruel way this disease strikes.x

Write a comment

• Required fields are marked with *.

Name:
Email:
Subject:
Comment: *

Help prevent spam - enter security code above: