Teesside students urged to act fast on meningitis symptoms

As Teesside University students begin their summer term, they are more alert to the symptoms of meningitis, thanks to an internal awareness raising campaign.

The campaign, initiated by the University’s Student Services Department, offered students a ‘goody bag’ after successfully completing a quiz about the symptoms of meningitis. The bag included:

>A glass to be pressed on the skin if a student develops a rash. This is known as the ‘tumbler test’, if the rash doesn’t fade or change colour after the glass is rolled on the skin, this is one of the symptoms of meningitis. >A coaster listing the other symptoms of meningitis-high temperature, headache, stiff/sore neck, dislike of bright light, vomiting and or diarrhoea. The coasters were also issued to the Students’ Union bars and to pubs near the University. >Information and contact points from the Meningitis Trust in a wallet-sized format, website www.meningitis-trust.org.

Hazel Wright, Health and Well-Being Co-ordinator in Student Services, said: 'This awareness raising campaign aimed to ensure that the message about acting fast on meningitis symptoms was made clear to students. That’s why the information about the symptoms of meningitis was made available to them in different formats, with coasters in pubs, and wallet-sized information in the goody bag, all of this was beneficial.'

Hayley Jobson, 22, a second-year BA (Hons) English Studies student, from Thornaby, said: 'I think it’s a really good campaign. I didn’t know the facts about meningitis, I wasn't aware that it was actually contagious.'

Fellow English Studies student Charlotte Evans, 19, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, agreed. She said: 'I didn’t know it was contagious either. There isn’t much reported on the news about it so this has given us a chance to learn something.'

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