‘My baby survived a meningitis attack’
Mataku-Ariki de Roo vividly remembers the moment she realised her seven-month-old baby had more than just a cold.
It was 13 years ago that her daughter Tamia Nuku survived meningococcal B.
The Rotorua mum was living in Christchurch at the time and had taken baby Tamia to the doctor as she had “fluey” symptoms, but left thinking it was “just a cold”.
A few days had passed when de Roo noticed a small rash on Tamia, she immediately “kicked into gear”.
“I ran to the fridge to check a magnet I had been given from Plunket,” de Roo said.
She said the magnet had warnings for meningitis and she then used the “glass test” to see if the rash would fade under pressure, but the rash was still visible through a glass.
“We were straight in the car and
The glass test ●
Press the side of a clear glass firmly against the skin off to the hospital,” she said.
De Roo said her “mumma’s intuition” told her Tamia had meningitis, and the hospital staff acted quickly to treat her baby once she was diagnosed with meningococcal B.
“The rash spread so quickly. In a matter of minutes, she was covered from head to toe.
“I remember it so vividly, it will stick with me for life,” she said.
Tamia was put into isolation while she was treated but de Roo said knowing an elderly woman in the hospital room next to her baby had died from the same disease was “quite daunting”.
After a few days in hospital the worst was over and baby Tamia had survived.
For the next few months, Tamia was monitored to make sure she would not suffer any side effects, including in her learning and development.
The now 13-year-old had a clean bill of health and de Roo put it all down to the education she received from Aranui Plunket in Christchurch and her early intervention.