Irish mother of two children who both had meningitis B calls for vaccine programme for teens and adults

Ryan and Sarah Ann Brady

A mother who helplessly watched both her babies battle deadly meningitis, seven years apart, is calling for a catch-up vaccine programme for the disease's B strain for those born before 2016.

Denise O'Rourke from Meath said she would do "anything" to highlight the dangers of the disease and the need for the vaccine for all children, teens and young adults if they want it — especially in the wake of the outbreak in the UK.

A sixth-form pupil and a university student have died in Kent, and up to 20 other cases are being investigated after an outbreak of meningitis.

Hundreds of students at the University of Kent, where one student died, have been queuing to receive antibiotics.

Health authorities have reportedly identified meningitis B as the strain behind at least six of the cases, which is the bacterial form of the disease. Babies, children and young adults are most at risk of this strain.

Meningitis B is the strain that almost robbed Denise of her child, not once, but twice, when she became the second family in Ireland to have both children hit by the deadly disease.

At present, the vaccine for the meningitis C strain is freely available to all children, but parents of those born before October 2016 have to pay up to €300 per child for meningitis B shots.

Denise had to watch while her tiny son Ryan was given the last rites, just seven years before reliving the nightmare with her daughter Sarah Ann.

Both children were born before the 2016 cut-off, and both children, like their friends, are now in the main susceptible group of teenagers and young adults.

In October 2004, Denise became a new mother to one-month premature baby Ryan, who was suffering from colic and acid reflux.

"He cried a lot anyway because of the reflux but this day, he was crying even more, nodding off and not feeding well," she said.

"He had a temperature — which I've since been told babies never get unless it's serious — so I gave him Calpol and rang a friend of mine in Temple Street Hospital who checked him for a stiff nec, but he seemed fine.

"He developed a high-pitched cry that night so the doctor told me to take him to Temple Street the next morning, despite him not really having any of the signs of meningitis.

"However, he went downhill rapidly on the way there, and a lumbar puncture in hospital confirmed our worst fears of meningococcal meningitis."

Ryan is now 21 and is into health and fitness. 

Seven years later, on March 11, 2011, Denise gave birth to Sarah Ann.

"The medical staff knew I was very anxious about meningitis so they gave Sarah Ann a shot of something in the birth canal and then injections for the next two days to try and rid her of any of the deadly bacteria."

But it wasn't enough, and weeks later, Denise noticed her daughter wasn't taking her feed.

"I knew the signs to watch out for so when she developed a temperature and her fontanelle started to bulge. I knew something was really wrong, but in my head, I just didn't believe we could be that unlucky for meningitis to hit again."

Thankfully Sarah Ann made a full recovery and now, at the age of 15, is living life to the full.