Rubber ducks help raise Meningitis Awareness

The need to be on guard against the dangers of meningitis will again be stressed during Meningitis Awareness Week at the University of Teesside (from October 15-19, 2001).

Click here to view the meningitis web site

The awareness-raising week includes a poster and leaflet blitz of halls of residence and a range of activities organised by the University Student Services Department and the Students’ Union.

A new way to get the message across this year is the Meningitis Awareness night in the Students’ Union night club on Friday October 19, when 400 rubber ducks decorated with the symptoms to look-out for will be given away to students at the disco event. The rubber ducks will be catapulted - safely, of course - across the Union in a duck long-jumping event. (PHOTOS CAN BE ARRANGED BEFOREHAND WITH TRACEY GOODFELLOW - SEE NOTES/MORE INFO)

Tracey Goodfellow, the Students’ Union Education and Welfare Officer, said: “Students, for some reason, are fond of rubber ducks and this is the time of year when students have to be especially vigilant about meningitis and meningoccal septicaemia. So, if we use a fun way to get the message across about the signs and symptoms, then so much the better.”

The University’s new Student Health Adviser, Aline Marron, agrees. She said: “Information leaflets have been distributed to student residences and we will be following this up with information stands and the issuing of symptom cards with library books and activities in the Students’ Union.

“Students starting University for the first time, especially those living in the Halls of Residence are at a higher risk of developing meningitis. Vaccination offers protection against certain strains of the virus, but does not offer protection against the group B strain, the most common form of bacterial meningitis. This is responsible for over half the cases. It is therefore important to continue to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of meningitis in order to obtain prompt medical treatment if a case is suspected. Staff and students can get more details from our Meningitis web site on http://meningitis.tees.ac.uk.”

Notes to Editors: The signs and symptoms of Meningococcal Septicaemia are similar to flu and include non blanching rash (i.e. it does not fade under pressure), fever, cold hands and feet, rapid breathing, muscle/joint pain, stomach pain and drowsiness and losing consciousness. The signs and symptoms of Meningitis include severe headache, stiff neck, dislike of bright lights, fever, vomiting, drowsiness and/or loss of consciousness and rash. These symptoms may not all appear at the same time.

For more information about Meningitis Awareness Week at the University of Teesside, please contact Aline Marron on Middlesbrough342277, ext. 3202 or e-mail a.marron@tees.ac.uk or contact Tracey Goodfellow in the Students’ Union on 01642 342234 - email t.goodfellow@tees.ac.uk

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