A meningitis survivor has spoken about the harrowing effects of the disease as the foundation pushes for vaccine funding to prevent its deadly spread.
The Meningitis Foundation NZ is using World Meningitis Day today to push for urgent funding of vaccines for all 16-year-olds.
Meningococcal disease, a bacterial infection that can lead to meningitis, affects between 100 and 200 Kiwis a year.
One of these Kiwis was survivor Alisi Naufahu.
Naufahu was diagnosed with the disease as a newborn after medical staff noticed several purple rashes on her skin.
After a lot of tests, she was found to have listeria meningitis - a rare foodborne bacterial illness.
"They hadn't seen meningitis like this at Waikato hospital in 20 years," Naufahu told AM.
Naufahu ended up contracting hydrocephalus, which is one of the common complications of meningitis - affecting the majority of children with the disease.
She said it is like a weakness down her right side and struggles with long-term implications such as fatigue and short-term memory loss.
"It's basically a brain injury," Naufahu said.
Meningitis can progress very rapidly with about 10 to 20 percent of people dying from the disease, typically within 24 hours of contracting it, Meningitis Foundation NZ said.
Almost one-third of patients suffer severe permanent impairment and disability including loss of limbs, hearing loss, learning difficulties, cerebral palsy and brain damage.
"It's so important to look at the signs. You might think that it's COVID, malaria… Because they are very similar symptoms," Naufahu said.
While the disease affects all ages, 13-to-25-year-olds are particularly vulnerable and Māori and Pasifika communities are also at high risk of catching the disease and not receiving timely treatment.
Naufahu urges people with symptoms to go to their doctor and get all the tests they can because the disease can quickly become fatal.
Kiwis can also prevent contracting the disease by getting meningitis vaccines.
The Meningitis Foundation NZ is calling on Parliament to make two currently available vaccines, which cover the most common strains of meningococcal disease, free for all young people.
