A week after returning from Bali, where she had been celebrating finishing her law degree late last year, Bella Fidler walked into a Gold Coast hospital.
She would never leave.
While the 23-year-old had flu-like symptoms, her condition rapidly deteriorated and she was eventually diagnosed with meningococcal B, which caused deadly bacterial meningitis.
Her mother, Jodie Fidler, said Bella "had a seizure and from that point on it spiralled rapidly out of control".
"She stopped breathing, they did a lumbar puncture to determine what was wrong with her," she said.
"By that stage she'd already had a cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated."
Within five hours of being admitted, Ms Fidler said Bella had "a catastrophic brain injury".
"There was no hope at that point."
Push to expand vaccinations
Meningococcal bacteria is spread through close, prolonged contact, including kissing, sneezing or sharing drinks or food.
In a small number of cases, the bacteria can spread into the bloodstream causing illness, with about 10 per cent of cases being fatal, according to Meningitis Centre Australia.
"There's five strains and four of those strains — A, C, W, Y — are covered under the free National Immunisation Plan that all our year 10 students get and also babies get at 12 months of age," the centre's chief executive, Karen Quick, said.
"But that fifth one, meningococcal B, that vaccine is not covered."
South Australia is the only state that funds a vaccination program for meningococcal B for the broader population.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children under two years old, and people at increased risk due to specific medical conditions, are eligible for a free meningococcal B vaccination under the National Immunisation Program.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 396 people died from meningococcal disease between 1997 and 2016, with 32 per cent under five years old.
Ms Quirk said because the vaccine costs about $200, all state and territory governments should fund its inclusion in their free immunisation programs.
"It's a dangerous disease. We shouldn't be having vaccine preventable deaths," she said.
"Twenty-five per cent of people who get this disease, end up with a disability."
Family advocates for change
Bella's father, Blair Fidler, said he had asked state government representatives to consider funding the meningococcal B vaccine this week.
"We put the case to them," he said.
"We'd encourage anybody to go speak to their local member of parliament."
Ms Fidler said after Bella's death last November, her family "promised to do something positive to change things".
"It's not something that's terribly well known," she said.
"We just assumed she would have been vaccinated for that — we just couldn't fathom how [it happened].
"We would all sleep better and feel happier [knowing] that no one else would have to experience something so traumatic."
Queensland assistant health minister Julieanne Gilbert has been contacted for comment.
'Eye opening' experience
Bella's older sister, Amelia, said her death had been "eye opening for the whole community".
"We have a lot of friends with children in similar age brackets," she said.
"A lot of them were like, 'Oh no, our children are immunised for this'.
"[But] they checked their children's immunisation schedules and realised none of them had been immunised against it either."
She hopes Bella's story will help others avoid a similar tragic experience.
"She was really beautiful on the inside and outside," she said.
'Not a high level of awareness'
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners representative James Best said there were subtle differences between different strains, but all meningococcal diseases had "a very high complication rate and very high mortality rate".
"[It's] a rare but very terrible disease," Dr Best said.
"If it's an invasive meningococcal disease, which means it's actually into your bloodstream, it's a very, very serious situation that needs urgent and critical care."
Dr Best said there was not a high level of awareness that a different vaccine was needed for meningococcal B.
He said factors such as efficacy, safety and cost would influence a potential national rollout for health authorities.
"It comes down to relying on your GP to be able to explain what vaccines are indicated for your particular situation," he said.
A Department of Health and Aged Care spokesperson said the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) considered "all the available evidence to support the listing of the Meningococcal B vaccine" on the National Immunisation Program in 2019 but did not recommend it for the general population.
