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Fighting for her life: A baby's battle with meningitis
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Added: 05/17/2004
Type: Summary
Viewed: 931 time(s)
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Fighting for her life: A baby's battle with meningitis
Nicole and Gary Nayman learned about a nasty little bacterium called S. pneumoniae the hard way. Seven years ago, Lauren, one of their 19-month-old twin daughters, became seriously ill with meningitis. While at first she appeared to have nothing more than a cold, in a matter of days she was fighting for her life at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Tests showed that Lauren became ill with meningitis as a result of infection with the bacterium S. pneumoniae.
"The doctors were just as confused as we were trying to figure out what was wrong with Lauren," said Nicole Nayman. "Meningitis symptoms are actually pretty hard to tell apart from a lot of other typical baby illnesses."
Lauren survived her ordeal, but not without a permanent and serious side effect: deafness in both ears. In the short term, Lauren had trouble keeping her balance, and needed six months of occupational therapy to regain the ability to walk properly. Today, she has a cochlear implant, an electronic device that was surgically implanted and helps her to hear and speak. She lives a life very different from her twin sister, Candace, who was not infected.
Symptoms of meningitis closely resemble those of a cold or flu: fever, vomiting, tiredness and loss of appetite. If not caught and treated early, the result can be permanent disability and sometimes death.
At the time of Lauren's illness, the Naymans didn't have a vaccine that they could have given their children. Today, parents can help prevent bacterial meningitis with a vaccine. Prevnar® is a safe and effective vaccine that protects children and infants as young as six weeks old from pneumococcal meningitis as well as pneumonia, blood infections and common ear infections.
Now almost nine years old, Lauren has just started Grade Three with her twin sister, Candace. Although she reads and speaks, it has been as a result of a lot of therapy and a great deal of hard work and adaptation on Lauren's part. Her parents are grateful to have her and to see her doing well in school, but every day they consider the fact that if a vaccine had been available, she might never have become sick.
To find out more about the vaccine, ask your doctor or contact your local Public Health department.
- News Canada
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