Meningitis news: Petition to parliament gathers 600 thousand signatures; Matt Dawson shares his story

Meningitis has been causing an alarm, particularly to parents, since news about a child that died of this disease was reported. Now, people are calling on the U.K. government for more support. 

The mother of Faye Burdett, the 2-year old girl who died from the disease, released a photo of her child covered in rashes 11 days after she was diagnosed with meningitis. She posted the photo as a petition to have the vaccination available to all children. The petition is calling the U.K. government to increase their coverage of vaccinations to older children since they are only covering 2 to 5 month-old babies. This will then be followed by a second dose at 4 months and a booster at 12 months.

In line with the recent posts on social media, former Rugby Union captain Matt Dawson posted on Twitter his experience with his son, Sami.

Luckily, his son survived the dreadful disease after "2 weeks of hell." He also posted a tweet, asking his followers to sign the petition to avoid more kids suffering the same condition. To date, more than 620,000 have already signed. 

Meningitis is a rare infection that occurs in the brain membranes (meninges) that covers and protects the brain and the spinal cord. There are different types such as bacterial, viral or fungal. Bacterial meningitis could be deadly without proper immediate treatment and is contagious; viral meningitis is less severe while fungal meningitis is very rare, occurring only in people with low immune system. It could start as an infection in the respiratory system, such as cough or colds. Bacterial meningitis is likely to spread around the bloodstream, affecting other organs which then causes death. Out of these, Meningitis B is responsible for about 90 percent of meningococcal infections in the U.K., according to the National Health Services (NHS).

Early symptoms may resemble flu, but will worsen the following days. Possible signs and symptoms might include, but not limited to, sudden high fever, stiff neck, severe headache that seems different than normal, nausea or vomiting, confusion or difficulty concentrating, seizures, sleepiness or difficulty waking, sensitivity to light, no appetite or thirst or skin rash.