Catterick Mum Calls For Meningitis Vaccinations
Catterick mum, Melinda Lancaster, whose baby daughter was given 24 hours to live after she contracted meningitis says we need to start vaccinating children now.
She's now written to William Hague MP to ask for his help in ensuring the introduction of the meningococcal Group B (MenB) vaccine.
MenB has for decades been the single largest cause of meningitis in the UK. Young children and adolescents are most at risk. It leads to death in 10% of all cases and to long-term after effects in a further 36%.
Department of Health surveys have consistently shown that it is the most feared of all illnesses by the parents of young children in our country and each year it costs the NHS millions of pounds in medical litigation.
A vaccine against MenB which was recommended by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation on 21 March 2014 to be routinely given to children in the UK, but almost a year on there are no signs that the vaccine will become part of childhood immunisation programme anytime soon.
Meanwhile cases of MenB continue to occur and babies, children and adults are dying and being badly disabled as a result.
Charity Meningitis Research Foundation has launched the #WheresOurVaccine campaign to bring pressure to bear to introduce the life-saving vaccine as soon as possible.
Melinda said: "I'm supporting the #WheresOurVaccine campaign because our daughter Amelia contracted meningitis and septicaemia at 10 months old in 2010 and they told us she wouldn't make it past the first 24 hours.
"She pulled through and we spent two months by her hospital while she recovered. They thought she would lose both her legs and one arm below the elbow but they managed to save everything apart from her fingers. Even though she has recovered it is an almost daily struggle to deal with the after effects of this devastating disease."
Chris Head, Chief Executive of the Meningitis Research Foundation said: “We realise there are many pressures on NHS budgets but this Government claims to want people to be fit for life throughout their life.
"Surely the answer is to protect future generations by vaccinating to prevent disease? We’d also like to see a MenB vaccine for older children introduced and a programme for adolescents. A number of deaths at university at the beginning of the academic term demonstrate meningitis is still a very real threat to this age group."
You can find our more about the campaign here: www.meningitis.org/wheres-our-vaccine