Despite the recommendations of health authorities, the vaccine against meningitis remains largely shunned by the French. The collective of patient associations “Together against meningitis” has decided to act on World Meningitis Day, this April 24, by launching a countryside communication and awareness campaign called “Let’s protect our children, let’s protect our future”. The goal: to teach parents to react quickly and effectively to the symptoms of the disease and to encourage vaccination.
If most meningitis is viral and not very dangerous, meningitis bacteria is a devastating, contagious and potentially life-threatening disease. “Every ten minutes in the world, a person dies of bacterial meningitis”, recalls the collective. Among the survivors, about 6% show early and serious sequelae such as brain damage, learning difficulties, hearing loss or amputation of a limb. Infants and young children are the most affected. For the campaign, photographer Anne Geddes produced fifteen portraits of child survivors.
Quick hospitalization
In infants, in case of fever, pale complexion, presence of spots, loss of appetite, vomiting, crying or moaning, fontanel slightly bulging outwards, refusal of all physical contact, apathy and sensitivity to light , parents should immediately call 15 or consult as soon as possible. In adolescents, the symptoms are: sudden fever, pale complexion and the presence of spots, nausea and vomiting, headaches, drowsiness and confusion, stiff neck, sensitivity to light and aches.
The first symptoms often resemble those of the flu, which makes early diagnosis difficult to achieve. Still, hospitalization and prompt administration of antibiotics are required to treat the disease. “Given the rapid progression of the infection, the outcome may be fatal despite appropriate treatment and rapid medical intervention”, recall the members of the collective. This winter in Nice, four people died of bacterial meningitis within three weeks.
