10-month-old at danger of losing all her limbs in worst case of meningitis in 25 years

Image courtesy: JustGiving

New Delhi: The family of a 10-month-old baby girl is in despair after they were told by doctors that all her limbs may have to be amputated due to a severe case of meningitis C.

The extremely rare strain of meningitis may also cause loss of sight and hearing and severe brain damage to the infant.

Kia Gott has already had her right arm removed and one of her legs will be amputated on Monday.

Hospital doctors have told the family that it is the worst case they have seen for 25 years. Kia was only two months from being give the Meningitis C vaccine on her first birthday when her parents found her covered with red blotches and rash all over her body.

According to a report in the Mirror, Kia’s aunt Donna Gott said Vikki (Kia's mother) had taken her baby to the doctor’s a month ago worried she wasn’t excited as usual when her dad came home from work.

That night her horrified parents found her covered in a rash and dialled 999. Kia was taken to Royal Bradford Hospital.

Needless to say, Kia's parents are traumatised with the fact that she may not be able to hear or see them.

Her parents Paul, 35, and Vikki, 30 – also have son Kayden, eight, and Elsie, four.

As per the report, paramedics who rushed to Kia’s home in Wyke, West Yorkshire, had to drill into her shin to give her drugs because her veins had collapsed.

She then had a mini-cardiac arrest on the way to hospital where doctors confirmed she had meningococcal septicaemia.

The NHS stopped giving the vaccine in July 2016 due to the success of the vaccination programme and almost no cases of the disease in babies and young children.

It now offers a combined Hib infection and Meningitis C vaccine at a child’s first birthday.

The disease is caused by normally harmless bacteria in the throats of one in 10 people. But if it gets into the blood system, it can trigger life-threatening infection.

Donations have been pouring in from people who are raising money for the family to cover the costs of Kia's treatment and have managed to collect over £10,000 on a JustGiving page.

Bacterial meningitis is very serious and can be deadly. Death can occur in as little as a few hours. 

Meningitis vaccines offer excellent protection, but they are not yet available for all forms.

Therefore, it is important to know its symptoms:

Symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia:

• Fever and/or vomiting 
• Severe headache 
• Limb, joint or muscle pain 
• Cold hands and feet and or shivering 
• Pale or mottled skin 
• Breathing fast or feeling breathless 
• A rash anywhere on the body 
• A stiff neck – less common in young children 
• A dislike of bright lights – less common in young children 
• Very sleepy, vacant, or difficult to wake 
• Confused or delirious 
• Seizures or fits may be seen