‘I survived the meningitis outbreak – one horror effect terrified my family and friends’ | UK | News
A student at the University of Kent who survived a meningitis infection described the pain and fear he experienced when he lost his sight; This “really scared” his family. Annabelle Mackay, 21, said she was grateful to be alive after being hospitalized with an infection that caused “a lot of pain”.
Ms Mackay said she believed she may have contracted meningitis during a night out at Club Chemistry in Canterbury on March 5, or at a different venue the evening before. The law student said he initially thought he was suffering from Covid-19 symptoms and got tested, but his result came back negative. Ms Mackay said: “Then I started going quite delirious and couldn’t really make any sense and I was also really sensitive to light, that’s when I thought something was really, really wrong.”
Confusion and dislike of bright lights are among the symptoms of meningitis.
Other symptoms of meningitis and sepsis include high fever, cold hands and feet, vomiting, muscle and joint pain, pale, mottled or splotchy skin, spots or rash, headache, neck stiffness, very sleepy and seizures.
Ms Mackay said she lost the ability to speak and did not remember being taken to hospital by ambulance.
he said BBC: “I was still delirious and at that time I also lost my eyesight, which was really scary, especially for my friends and family.
“I wasn’t paying too much attention to it because there was so much pain in my body that I didn’t have time to process something I couldn’t see, but it was definitely really scary for my family and friends.”
She added: “I’m so grateful to be alive and to be here. I’m still dealing with the effects at the moment but I think I just need to focus on my healing, healing and getting back to myself.”
More than 100 students queuing for a meningitis vaccine at the University of Kent campus in Canterbury on Friday were turned away as Kent County Council public health director Anjan Ghosh said household clusters could “occasionally” occur in other parts of the UK.
The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) said earlier on Friday that the number of cases linked to the outbreak had risen from 27 to 29.
The UKHSA said around 18 cases had been confirmed, along with 11 “probable cases”, all linked to Kent.
