A mother whose son narrowly survived a severe bout of meningitis B is backing calls for a national vaccination programme targeting teenagers and young adults.
Gaynor Simpson described it as "heart-breaking" and "infuriating" that two young people have died in the Kent outbreak, despite the availability of vaccines.
Her son, Ross, then 18, fell critically ill in February 2023 while studying computing science at the University of Glasgow.
He first started feeling unwell with a headache in the flat he shared with others.
His condition rapidly deteriorated, prompting Ms Simpson to take him to hospital after he developed severe head pain, a stiff neck, and an aversion to bright lights – all symptoms of meningitis.
Doctors warned Ms Simpson that her son might not survive the illness, and he spent five days on life support at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
A lumbar puncture confirmed invasive meningococcal disease, which started to progress into sepsis (blood poisoning).
Ms Simpson said: “He was on life support for five days. The first three of those days were the days where we just we didn’t know.
“We were told it’s very possible that he will not make this, he was that ill.
“He did pull through, he started to turn the corner thankfully, and he was in intensive care in total for 10 days, and then came home to start the long road to recovery.”
Her son, now 21, has recovered though still sometimes experiences fatigue.
Ms Simpson is an ambassador for Meningitis Now, which is calling for teenagers and young people to be vaccinated against meningitis B on the NHS, as well as a booster programme by 2030 to protect those vaccinated as babies.
The MenB vaccine was integrated into the NHS schedule for infants in 2015, yet children born prior to this date remain unprotected by the health service.
Ms Simpson said that had she been aware of the vaccine sooner, she would have ensured Ross was protected "in a heartbeat".
She said: “That’s what I would really like to see happen, that this vaccine becomes available for all the young people as they get to 16, so that we know that they’ve had everything that they can have that’s going to protect them during that window of time when they are at higher risk of developing it.”
Teenagers in school are currently offered the MenACWY vaccine, a single dose jab that protects against four strains of meningococcal bacteria that was also introduced in 2015.
It is also available to those entering university, up to the age of 25.
As authorities continue to deal with the Kent outbreak, UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting has asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to “re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines” for a wider group of people after it previously ruled a menB catch-up campaign for older children was not cost-effective.
Ms Simpson said her son had the MenACWY vaccine but it is “confusing messaging” for parents who think they have done all they can to protect their child by taking up the vaccines offered by the NHS.
She said: “It’s just very confusing for parents when you find out that there’s a vaccine.
“If we had known that there was a menB vaccine, Ross would have had that vaccine in a heartbeat, without question.”
Ms Simpson, who lives in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, and also has a younger son Stuart, 19, said she was “heartbroken” to hear about the deaths in Kent and that it highlights the need for vaccinations for teenagers.
She said: “There’s two mums out there on that day that had the worst possible Mother’s Day.
“It’s heart-breaking, but it is also infuriating, because we know that there’s a vaccine there that could protect and saves lives.”
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