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Family's meningitis alert after daughter battles infection
THE parents of a teenager struck down with meningitis days after being diagnosed with swine flu are warning other families with sick children to be on the lookout for other serious conditions.
As the Derbyshire Times went to press, Gemma Drury (17) of Brimington was battling the life-threatening brain infection in the high dependency unit at Rotherham General Hospital, after first taking ill with a violent headache last Tuesday.
With the swine flu virus continuing to sweep across the country, parents Dawn Allen (41) and Kevin Drury (51), of The Crescent, Brimington, say they fear other conditions are being ignored.
And health chiefs are urging people diagnosed with swine flu to seek further medical help if their symptoms get worse.
Dr Bruce Laurence, deputy director of public health at Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust, said: "It is a concern, when a lot of people are coming down with one virus, that other conditions could get missed but our staff are being vigilant and keeping this in mind when assessing patients, particularly children."
Gemma, an A-level pupil at Netherthorpe School, Staveley, was diagnosed with swine flu over the phone last Tuesday and started taking anti-viral drugs.
The diagnosis was restated by a visiting doctor the following day after she collapsed in the kitchen. Gemma then received treatment at Chesterfield Royal Hospital before being sent home in the early hours of Thursday morning and returned to the Royal the next day where she was diagnosed with meningitis and admitted to critical care.
Dawn said: "There's so much about swine flu, other things are being ignored.
"I wouldn't have thought it was meningitis. We're urging parents to look out for other things."
Dr Laurence said when Gemma was assessed by a doctor over the phone she was presenting a number of symptoms of swine flu but not the dangerous symptoms of meningitis.
He added: "The family did the right thing in seeking urgent medical attention when they realised this young woman's symptoms were not clearing up."
A spokesman for the Royal said Gemma's symptoms were indicative of swine flu when she first visited the emergency department and she responded well to treatment before being discharged.
He added: "On return, Gemma's condition had deteriorated with symptoms pointing to meningitis.
"She was immediately diagnosed and treatment commenced straight away."
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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