Family tells their story and meets Sarah Boyack MSP

20 September 2009

Katelyn McGrotty from West Lothian met with Sarah Boyack MSP to launch the start of Meningitis in Babies Awareness Week.  Katelyn developed meningococcal septicaemia in December 1999, when she was just four months old, and thankfully survived to tell her story.

Babies run the highest risk of meningitis.  The risk in Scotland is 40^1,2,3 times higher for babies under 12 months of age compared to children older than one and adults.  

Last year 97^1,2,3 babies in Scotland got meningitis and septicaemia*, and one in ten die from the illness. Of those fortunate enough to survive, about a quarter are left with life-altering effects that can be as severe as brain damage, deafness and cerebral palsy. For the youngest babies the picture is even worse - as many as half of babies who develop meningitis in their first month of life have long-term after effects. Many babies are too badly damaged to ever live independently.

Sarah Boyack MSP said, "The figures on baby mortality and long term illness associated with meningitis make it clear that people need to be made aware which symptoms to look out for so that medical help can be sought as quickly as possible.  I am delighted with the cross party support which my motion received after only one day and I am happy to support the Meningitis Research Foundation with their campaign."

Katelyn's grandmother Kathleen Rielly recounts  "My daughter phoned at 9.30am. Through tears - she told me Katelyn was in St John's Hospital at Livingston on a life support machine. The doctor had arrived quickly, injected her and bundled her into his car and into the hospital - it was lucky my daughter lived so close to the hospital.  Katelyn was to be police escorted to the Sick Kids Hospital when she was more stable.  Our nightmare was just about to start..."

Media Contact:  Mary Millar (Scotland Manager, Meningitis Research Foundation) 0131 510 2345

^1. 2008 Meningococcal, Pneumococcal and Haemophilus Influenzae figures:  Health Protection Scotland.
^2. Group B Streptococcal Figures: Estimate based on Research into UK Prevalence and Scottish population in 2008.
^3. 2008 Other Bacterial Figures, Health Protection Scotland, Extrapolation of HPA figures.
S3M-04800

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Scottish Labour):  Meningitis in Babies Awareness Week, 21 to 27 September 2009 - That the Parliament welcomes Meningitis Research Foundation's Meningitis in Babies Awareness Campaign; notes that meningitis and septicaemia are diseases that affect over 97 babies a year in Scotland under the age of 12 months, of whom around one in ten will die and about a quarter are left with life-altering effects that can be as severe as brain damage, deafness, cerebral palsy and multiple amputations; further notes that babies in Scotland under 12 months are 40 times more likely to develop meningitis than children over one and adults and that more young lives can be saved through raising awareness among clinical practitioners and the public of the early warning signs and symptoms, and welcomes a new research project funded by Meningitis Research Foundation to investigate healthcare delivery and look for ways to improve management of meningitis in newborn babies.
 
Supported by: Nanette Milne, Stuart McMillan, Johann Lamont, Rhona Brankin, Ross Finnie, Christina McKelvie, Mike Pringle, John Park, Rt Hon George Foulkes, Dr Ian McKee, Kenneth Gibson, Shirley-Anne Somerville, Karen Gillon, Jackson Carlaw, Jamie Hepburn, Pauline McNeill, Marlyn Glen, Bill Kidd, Joe FitzPatrick, James Kelly, Bill Butler, Dr Bill Wilson, Hugh O'Donnell, Jackie Baillie, Malcolm Chisholm, Dr Elaine Murray, Mary Mulligan, Mary Scanlon, Jim Hume, Dr Richard Simpson, Hugh Henry, Patricia Ferguson, Marilyn Livingstone, Cathie Craigie, Aileen Campbell, Rt Hon Jack McConnell, Ken Macintosh, Angela Constance, Gil Paterson, Sandra White, Liam McArthur, Michael Matheson, Irene Oldfather

Lodged on Tuesday, September 08, 2009; Current



Notes to Editor:

More from Kathleen Rielly and Katelyn McGrotty


Other symptoms in babies include: tense or bulging fontanelle (soft spot); blotchy skin, getting paler or turning blue; refusing to feed; irritable when picked up, with a high pitched or moaning cry; a stiff body with jerky movements or else floppy and lifeless.     

Symptoms of meningitis:
Severe headache; Stiff neck*; Dislike of bright lights*; Fever/vomiting; Drowsy and less responsive/vacant; Rash; Seizures (fits) may also be seen.  (*Unusual in young children)

Symptoms of septicaemia:    
(This form of the illness often starts with non-specific flu-like symptoms):
Rash; fever/vomiting; cold hands and feet/shivering; limb/joint/muscle pain; abdominal pain (sometimes with diarrhoea); pale or mottled skin; rapid or unusual breathing, drowsy and less responsive/vacant.

• Meningitis Research Foundation is currently funding 24 research projects into the prevention, detection and treatment of meningitis and septicaemia. The Foundation has spent £15.6 million on research since its inception in 1989.
• Meningitis Research Foundation operates a Freefone 24 hour helpline - 080 8800 3344 - providing information on meningitis and septicaemia to the general public and health professionals.
•  Information on meningitis and septicaemia is also available on this website in 22 languages. An interpretation service in 150 languages is available through the 24-hour helpline.
• The Foundation offers support for those affected by meningitis and septicaemia. Trained helpline staff are available 365 days a year. A befriender service links people with experience of meningitis and septicaemia to share their experiences and counsel each other.