WHEN sisters Miah and Nicole McGill were diagnosed with meningitis in the same week, their parents feared they would lose both their daughters.
Miah, two, and Nicole, five, spent more than a month fighting bacterial meningococcal septicaemia B, which killed ten people in Scotland last year.
And yesterday the pair were described by their parents as "little miracles" after surviving the d
isease.
Now the sisters have recovered and are back home in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, John McGill, 32, and Michelle Scott, 29, are keen to raise awareness of the disease to prevent tragedies in other families.
Ms Scott, a complaints manager with insurance giant Prudential, said Miah had been struck down first. When the youngster developed a rash Ms Scott took her to the doctor, who referred her to Stirling Royal Infirmary.
Tests revealed Miah was suffering from the group B strain of meningitis, for which there is no vaccine.
Six days later Nicole was diagnosed with the same strain.
Ms Scott said: "There was no warning. It was scary. Then six days after Miah was diagnosed Nicole also fell ill.
"I recognised the symptoms immediately and had her in hospital no more than 30 minutes after she fell ill. Within hours she was delirious. Her symptoms worsened. She was fighting for her life."
Nicole was transferred to Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital. She spent two nights in intensive care and three weeks in a dependency unit.
Ms Scott said: "I was told before they transferred her to Yorkhill to be prepared because she might not make it.
"I was so lucky. I had picked up a leaflet on the illness and had it stuck on he fridge," said Ms Scott. If it wasn't for that leaflet I wouldn't have known what symptoms to look for, or what to do."
During the girls' time in hospital, Ms Scott and her family contacted the Meningitis Research Foundation for help and advice.
Lynsey Andrews, the medical information officer for the foundation, said: "The quicker the diagnosis and treatment the better.
"If the sufferer is not in hospital within hours, it can kill."
UNDER-FIVES HIT HARDESTMENINGITIS is an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord, while septicaemia is blood poisoning caused by the disease.
Last year, there were 156 cases of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia in Scotland, with the majority caused by group B meningococcal bacteria.
One person in ten carries meningococcal bacteria and is immune, passing the virus on through prolonged close contact. It cannot be caught from the air, clothes or bedding, or from handling toys, cutlery or furniture.
More than half of all meningitis cases occur in children under five, although the disease peaks again between the ages of 14 and 24.
One person in ten who contracts meningitis and septicaemia dies from the disease and one in seven has after-effects which can include memory loss, deafness, loss of limbs or sight.
The full article contains 491 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
