How much do you know about Infant Meningitis? Did you know it is a leading cause of preventable infant death in the US? At least 50-60% of these cases are vaccine preventable. One out of 16 infants who contract the disease will not survive, and of those that survive, many will live the rest of their lives with seizures, learning disabilities, amputation, blindness and paralysis. There are more deaths from this disease than there are from measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis and rotavirus disease each year. Those diseases all have vaccinations. The disease starts with non-specific flu-like symptoms, and can kill within as little as four hours. FOUR HOURS. There are five groups of meningococcal bacteria that can cause meningitis. Of those five, four of them are vaccine preventable.
Vaccines have made significant progress in the spread of infant diseases throughout the years. Some of these diseases include Small Pox and Polio. Now that Infant Meningitis is on the rise, there is one FDA approved vaccine on the market. What we need is for the CDC (Center for Disease Control) to recommend it to pediatricians to include in routine vaccinations. Watch this video to learn more about Protect Infants Now
Meningitis does not only affect infants. Ryan Milley, the only child of Bob and Frankie Milley, was diagnosed and died of meningitis at age 18. Because of this, his parents formed Meningitis Angels to help educate about meningitis, and support those who have lost children to the disease.
If you feel as strongly as I do about including a meningitis vaccine with your child’s routine vaccine, I urge you to sign this petition. Let the CDC know that this disease is serious and as deadly, if not worse, than other diseases we routinely vaccinate for.
I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central and Meningitis Angels. This campaign was made possible in part through support provided by Novartis Vaccines. A small donation to a charity of my choice was made in my name from Mom Central as a thank-you for participating. All opinions in this posting are 100% my own.
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