The curse of meningitis: ‘I have learnt to appreciate life on a brand new level’

(GETTY IMAGES)

In October 2011 I was unfortunately diagnosed with viral meningitis. I knew very little about the disease but I now feel like an expert. I suffered for three months which as you can imagine was far from fun. I was quite literally stuck in bed every day and my life came to a complete stop as I couldn’t even get down the stairs without my father’s help.

The reason why I am writing this article is to raise awareness, I never thought it would happen to me but unfortunately it did. When I contracted viral meningitis I could barely eat, meaning I lost a considerable amount of weight, I couldn’t look at the light and I could barely walk. Life went by significantly slowly as I had no social life, I couldn’t leave the house and I couldn’t even leave my room.

Both viral and bacterial meningitis can be incredibly serious, someone I knew from school unfortunately passed away from the disease aged 16. However, I am still here so I have learnt to appreciate life on a brand new level.

The Meningitis Trust and I are urging people to look out for the symptoms and act quickly if they suspect the disease. The summer months are considered the ‘peak season’ for viral meningitis, with the majority of cases happening during this time.

Most cases of viral meningitis cannot be prevented by vaccinations and can often be mistaken for more common illnesses like flu. Every year in the UK around 5,000 people contract the disease which can leave people with severe headaches, extreme tiredness, loss of hearing, depression and memory loss, plus many other serious after-effects.

Sue Davie, Chief Executive of the Meningitis Trust says; “Although viral meningitis is rarely life-threatening, it can leave people very ill and in need of lots of rest. The after-effects from the disease can be pretty debilitating.”

Davie continues: “Viral meningitis doesn’t respond to antibiotics but it still requires urgent admission to hospital because until tests confirm that the meningitis is viral, there is every chance it could be the more serious bacterial meningitis which can kill within hours”.

This month the Meningitis Trust has launched a viral meningitis survey on its website in a bid to understand more about people’s experience of the disease. The charity is asking anyone who’s been affected by viral meningitis to log on to www.meningitis-trust.org and take the survey. The results will be used to inform the public and health professionals about the impact of viral meningitis.

For more information on both viral and bacterial meningitis visit www.meningitis-trust.org

You can also call the Meningitis Trust’s 24-hour nurse-led helpline on 0808 80 10 388 or download the free app from www.meningitisapp.co.uk

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• http://twitter.com/ilonacatherine ilona burton

  Thanks for writing this, Darius. My sister had Meningitis when she was 17 and it was absolutely devastating. Luckily, she made a full recovery but there is still no vaccine for the type that she had (B strain) – so raising awareness of charities such as the Meningitis Trust is something really important to me also.

• And789

  My son had meningitis when he was a couple of weeks old. It is a terrifying and devastating disease which needs much more research.

• dourscot

  A more detailed description of the symptoms would have been helpful.

• http://twitter.com/ilonacatherine ilona burton

  Follow the link, my friend.

• dourscot

  Hyperlinks don’t excuse the need to explain basics. Brevity is the soul of all wit.