Many Parents Still Lack Proper Meningitis Awareness
In 1997, Cindy Krejny’s daughter Erin had spent the week back home with her family for spring break. That Sunday, she left back for school. The next day she went to eat with her friends when she began to feel sick, numbness in her arms and neck pain.
At 2:30 her friends took her to the hospital. By 5:15 she was pronounced dead. The Krejny family never got to say goodbye to Erin because they lived three hours away.
Cindy was like all too many parents at the time, completely unaware of meningitis and its vaccine. Today, she works with the NMA to make sure parents are informed of the proper steps to vaccine their child so they won’t have to experience the terrible effects of the disease that can potentially kill within 24 hours.
Unfortunately, meningitis awareness is not as prevalent as some may think. A 2014 Harris Poll revealed that more than two in three mothers have little to no knowledge of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations to prevent meningococcal meningitis. Another alarming stat revealed that 28% of the 2,000 mothers polled believed that the first meningitis shot was needed around 11 years old, but the second around age 16 was not. For your high schooler or freshman in college, you can’t risk skipping the second dose.
Be sure to visit the NMA to learn more about meningitis and its prevention. And be sure to visit their blog, Parents Who Protect, to read more from parents like you and I.
