MENINGITIS: END THIS AGONY
Parents in call to get jab for ALL children
THE difference between the two pictures is heart-breaking.
In one, chubby-cheeked Faye Burdett gives a toothy grin for the camera. In the other, she is rigged up to hospital drips, as her tiny rash-covered body is ravaged by meningitis.
The second was taken just hours before the two-year-old died from the disease – and has been released by her grieving parents as part of their call to make the meningitis B vaccine available to all children.
It became part of the routine round of jabs offered to babies last year. Older children can have the treatment privately – but their parents have to cover the £450 cost.
Faye’s mother Jenny Burdett, from Maidstone in Kent, said: ‘All children are at risk from this terrible infection. We are campaigning for change in her memory.’
Her daughter developed flu-like symptoms on February 2 and was rushed to hospital. She was released after tests but her condition worsened and she was taken to King’s College Hospital in South London the next day.
Mrs Burdett, 36, a beauty therapist, said: ‘We were given a 1 per cent survival rate but she proved them wrong and carried on fighting.
‘After a few days she seemed to turn a corner but the sepsis [where the immune system over-reacts to an infection] started to affect her and the decision of limb removal was made.
‘The extent of the removal was massive, full leg amputation and one
‘Her little body was being consumed’
arm. But she was getting tired, her little body consumed by meningitis and blood poisoning.
‘We had to make the decision – a massive operation where she may die or we let her go peacefully.
‘We decided the latter and watched our little girl slip away.’ Faye died on Valentine’s Day, less than a fortnight after being admitted to hospital.
Mrs Burdett and her husband Neil, a 37-year- old lorry driver, hope that by sharing the pictures on social media it will put pressure on the government to offer the meningitis B jab to children up to the age of 11.
An online petition has been launched and had attracted more than 340,000 signatures by last night. Petitions with more than 100,000 signatures have to be considered for a debate in Parliament.
Mrs Burdett said: ‘ There needs to be a rollout programme to vaccinate all children, at least up to age 11.’
Family friend Charlene Reed added: ‘ Faye fought for a whopping two weeks and at times we really thought she would come through. Receiving the news [that she had died] was not only heartbreaking but shocking.’
The meningitis B jab has been made available on the NHS to babies born after July 1 last year as part of their routine immunisation schedule.
An injection is administered at two months, followed by two boosters before the child reaches their first birthday.
However this means many older children have missed out on the scheme, leaving them vulnerable to infection.
Meningitis affects the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord causing them to become inflamed, which can lead to nerve and even brain damage. The bacteria can also lead to blood poisoning, or sepsis.
The meningitis B strain of the meningococcal bacteria can kill within hours. Around 30 people die from it each year in the UK, mainly children under five. However ten times as many are left with lifelong health problems, and many have limbs amputated because of the resulting blood poisoning.
Experts urge parents to ‘trust their instincts’ when it comes to spotting the disease, and warn that youngsters can decline rapidly if it is not caught.
The Meningitis Research Foundation says: ‘Trust your instincts. Someone who has meningitis, sepsis or septicaemia could become seriously ill very quickly. Get medical help immediately if you suspect meningitis or septicaemia – it’s a race against time.’
The infection can be identified by a rash appearing anywhere on the body.
Parents are advised to use the ‘ tumbler test’ where a clear glass is pressed against the rash. If the marks remain clearly visible, they should seek urgent medical help.
Other symptoms include a stiff neck, sensitivity to bright lights, confusion or delirium and seizures. Victims may also suffer from severe headaches and fever or vomiting.
Public Health England offered their condolences to the Burdett family. Dr Shamez Ladhani, consultant in immu- nisation at PHE, said: ‘ Our condolences are with this family, who tragically know too well the devastating impact this disease can have.
‘Immunisation programmes are targeted at groups at highest risk from a particular disease. In the UK, infants in the first year of life have the highest incidence of meningococcal B disease, with cases peaking at five months and remaining high in the second half of the first year of life.
‘For this reason, babies are offered the vaccine with other routine immunisations at two months, four months and 12 months of age. By 2017, all children aged under two years will have been offered the MenB vaccine.’
He added that while the jabs ‘ help provide protection’ against both B and C strains of meningitis, they will not shield children from all forms of the disease.
‘It therefore remains important for parents to be alert to the symptoms and seek urgent medical attention if ever there is concern,’ he said.
Sue Davie, chief executive of the charity Meningitis Now, said: ‘ Our heartfelt sympathies go out to Faye’s family and friends – they know we are here to support them in any way we can.’
‘Trust your instincts’