Withernsea mum warns of the dangers of meningitis after her son fell ill

A Withernsea mum is urging people to look out for the signs of meningitis which can kill within 24 hours.

Gemma Lessell's son contracted the virus at 13 months old when he collapsed in her arms.

A poll by YouGov shows only one in 20 parents know all the symptoms.

We spoke to Gemma who outlined what to look out for:

She told us: "The main one to look out for would be the rash."

"However Matthew didn't develop the rash until day 2 of being in hospital so if we had waited for the rash he potentially might not have been here."

Other symptoms include disliking bright lights, a stiff neck and severe headache.

Gemma has this advice "Check there's a vaccine available. if there is get it and if not make sure you're aware of the signs and symptoms because it does happen."

"Meningitis can kill within 4 hours so speed really is of the essence."

She told us "My son contracted meningitis B when he was 13 months old, we had no idea what it was."

"I thought it was a tummy bug, his only symptoms at that point were a temperature and he was being sick."

"He sat bolt upright and tried to be sick, wasn't sick and then collapsed in my arms and turned blue at the lips."

The poll, carried out for the Meningitis Research Foundation to mark World Meningitis Day, found twice as many mothers (69%) as fathers (33%) were able to recognise at least half of the symptoms of the diseases.

Some 15% of fathers knew none of the symptoms but only 4% of mothers had the same score.

Symptoms can be hard to distinguish from other mild illnesses such as flu, particularly in the early stages of illness.