Be meningitis aware

Children often have niggly symptoms, but could you tell these apart from the early warning signs of meningitis?

If you're not sure, focus on knowing the Red Flag symptoms, which all begin with a P.

These tend to occur five to eight hours before the better-known symptoms of stiff neck, dislike of bright lights and a rash that doesn't fade when pressed.

The Red Flag symptoms are:

• Pain in limbs
• Perishing cold hands and feet
• Pallor/abnormal colour
  

However, not all children will get all these symptoms and they can appear in any order. If you're worried your child has the symptoms, seek medical help immediately.

For more info on symptoms and the disease in general, you can call the Meningitis Research Foundation's freefone 24-hour helpline on 0808 800 3344 or visit www.meningitis.org.

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