NIE staff and pensioners support local meningitis charity
19 November 2009
A fantastic donation from Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Staff & Pensioners has helped Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) purchase a much needed digital colour copier for the charity's Northern Ireland office. Alexis Totten, Secretary of the NIE Staff and Pensioners Committee, visited the Foundation to find out how the new equipment has been put to good use already.
MRF would like to thank all the Staff and Pensioners at NIE for their generous support in the fight against meningitis and septicaemia.
For further information on meningitis and septicaemia and the work of the charity log on to the website www.meningitis.org or call MRF's Freefone 24 hour helpline - 080 8800 3344, or call the Belfast office on 028 9032 1283.
Media Contact: Marbeth Ferguson 028 9032 1283
Notes to Editor:
- 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 on 128 research projects.
- 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.
Symptoms of meningitis:
Fever; vomiting; severe headache; rash (not present in all cases); stiff neck*; dislike of bright lights*; very sleepy/vacant/difficult to wake; confused/delirious; seizures (fits) may also be seen. (*Unusual in young children.)
Symptoms of septicaemia (blood poisoning form of the disease):
Fever; vomiting; limb/joint/muscle pain (sometimes stomach pain/diarrhoea); pale or mottled skin; cold hands and feet; shivering; breathing fast/breathless; rash (anywhere on the body); very sleepy/vacant/difficult to wake; confused/delirious.
Other symptoms in babies include: tense or bulging fontanelle (soft spot); refusing to feed; being irritable when picked up with a high pitched or moaning cry; a stiff body with jerky movements or else floppy and lifeless.