Parents in Ireland are being urged to familiarise themselves with the symptoms of bacterial meningitis.

Over a third don't know what to look out for when it comes to the potentially deadly infection, according to a new survey of 375 Irish parents by pharmaceutical company GSK. Vomiting, seizures and cold hands and feet were some of the least-known symptoms among respondents. As GSK Medical Director Dr Philip Cruz points out, bacterial meningitis can come on rapidly.

"It can be very devastating the terms of how the symptoms can progress, from being just symptoms like the flu whereby progressing to a more sick patient and can be really devastating leading to death in a matter of 24 hours," he told the Irish Examiner.

Young children and babies are most susceptible to the infection. Dr Cruz says that the symptoms can often resemble the flu.

"For babies its worthwhile to note that they can be a decrease in appetite in feeding, they can be drowsy most of the time, and when you carry the baby there's this floppy muscle tone, especially in infants of one year of age."

GSK is highlighting the symptoms this World Meningitis Day.  

What should I look out for?

Here are the main symptoms that could mean your child has bacterial meningitis. Note that many children won't show all of these symptoms.

• An aversion to bright lights
• A temperature of 38°C or higher
• Headache and neck stiffness
• Aches or pains in the body
• Vomiting and/or a lack of appetite
• Confusion, tiredness or irritability
• A pale or blueish skin colour
• Unusual breathing/ breathlessness
• A especially soft or bulging soft spot on the top their head
• Seizures
• Rash

 

Rash test

Look for tiny red or brown pin-prick marks on the skin. These may later change into larger red or purple blotches and into blood blisters. You can test whether a rash is dangerous by pressing the bottom of a glass tumbler to it. If it doesn't fade, it may be meningitis. You can read the HSE's advice on meningitis in children here.