Mexborough mum welcomes new meningitis tool at DRI

A Mexborough mum whose little boy died of meningitis hopes lives will be saved by new state-of-the-art equipment in Doncaster.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals have secured the money needed to buy the tool – which can diagnose causes of meningitis and encephalitis within an hour, compared to current testing which can take up to seven days.

People who get meningitis have a 10 per cent chance of dying from it - while some patients are left with permanent side effects like brain impairment, loss of limbs and deafness.

By making use of this device - called FilmArray - patients will be diagnosed much sooner, leading to quicker treatment and a better chance of a full recovery.

“I just don’t want to see what any other parents go through what we went through,” says Sharon Marsh, whose six-year-old son Marc – known as MJ – died of the disease in 2015.

“You can’t explain to anybody what it’s like to lose a child. Losing him has torn our family apart. We were absolutely devastated and we miss him all the time. We just want to make it better for others, that’s what our main goal is.”

Sharon hopes the new machine will help prevent other families going through the same thing: “It wasn’t there for MJ but it’s there for other children now and obviously adults as well. It just speeds everything up.

“If a child or an adult goes in with meningitis, you know you can get treatment within that golden hour. I think it will reduce the amount of deaths, and it could reduce the amount of disabilities that children and adults are left with.”

The cutting edge machine works by testing cerebrospinal fluid for common pathogens that can cause central nervous infections including viruses, bacteria and yeast, completing this investigation in just 60 minutes.

Dr Ken Agwuh, Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the Trust, said: "I am delighted that, with this kind donation, we have been able to purchase this specialist equipment. By making use of FilmArray we will be able to quickly and accurately diagnose cases of meningitis and encephalitis, enabling us to offer treatment much sooner, increasing the chances of a full recovery for our patients.

“I want to thank the trustees of the Fred and Ann Green Legacy for providing the Trust with the essential funds needed to provide this potentially life-saving tool. This crucial technology has been used in a number of other organisations with positive effect and we are proud to be able to offer this device to the people of Doncaster, Bassetlaw and beyond.”

FilmArray will be installed at Doncaster Royal Infirmary in the coming weeks.