Angry protests erupt outside taxpayer-funded asylum hotel as demonstrators shout: 'Back in your rubber dinghies!'

NINE PEOPLE SUFFER BACTERIAL MENINGITIS AND SEPTICAEMIA EVERY DAY

Meningitis Research Foundation estimates that there are around 3,400 cases of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia every year in the UK and Ireland.

This means that every day nine people become ill with the diseases. With one in ten people dying, a death will occur almost every day.

A further two people will be left with life-altering after effects as severe as brain damage, deafness and multiple amputations.

Meningitis vaccines offer excellent protection, but they are not yet available for all forms. So it's vital to know meningitis symptoms and what to do if you suspect someone has meningitis or septicemia.

Symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia: 

• Fever and/or vomitting
• Severe headache 
• Limb, joint or muscle pain 
• Cold hands and feet and or shivering
• Pale or mottled skin 
• Breathing fast or feeling breathless 
• A rash anywhere on the body 
• A stiff neck - less common in young children 
• A dislike of bright lights - less common in young children
• Very sleepy, vacant, or difficult to wake 
• Confused or delirious 
• Seizures or fits may be seen 

Other signs in babies:

• Tense or bulging soft spot on their head
• Refusing to feed 
• Irritable when picked up, with a high pitched or moaning cry
• A stiff body with jerky movements, or else floppy and lifeless 
• Fever is often absent in babies less than three months of age 

Septicaemia can occur with or without meningitis. Not everyone gets all the symptoms and they can appear in any order.

Source: Meningitis Research Foundation