A mother’s worst fears were realised when she made the discovery that her baby’s teething symptoms was actually meningococcal disease.

Baby Violet was flown to Adelaide’s Women’s and Children’s Hospital from regional South Australia when her parents discovered red spots on her stomach and legs.

Mother Tiffany Henderson told 9 News she feared that her seven-month-old daughter could have been left with no legs.

Purple blotches coated Violet’s legs and torso, as she was diagnosed with meningococcal B.

Violet’s unwillingness to eat quickly developed into other symptoms of meningococcal disease.

‘She started to get really purple lips, they got really dark purple, they started to get really dry and cracked and she started to just go limp and it was within five minutes that happened,’ Ms Henderson said.

The family was flown 563km to Women’s and Children’s Hospital, fighting against the clock to properly diagnose and treat which specific strain of the disease she had.

Violet spent five days in intensive care receiving life-saving treatment, and was released from hospital after two weeks of care.

Eliza Ault-Connell from Meningococcal Australia told Daily Mail Australia that time is the key when diagnosing meningococcal disease.

‘We’ve seen people at breakfast be dead by dinner,’ she says.

‘You literally see rashes develop before their eyes.’

Symptoms in babies and young children

Symptoms of meningococcal disease in infants and young children can include:
fever
refusing to feed
irritability, fretfulness
grunting or moaning
extreme tiredness or floppiness
dislike of being handled
nausea or vomiting
diarrhoea
turning away from light (photophobia)
drowsiness
convulsions (fits) or twitching
rash of red or purple pinprick spots or larger bruises.

Symptoms in older children and adults

Symptoms of meningococcal disease in older children and adults can include:
fever
headache
loss of appetite
neck stiffness
discomfort when looking at bright lights (photophobia)
nausea and/or vomiting
diarrhoea
aching or sore muscles
painful or swollen joints
difficulty walking
general malaise
moaning, unintelligible speech
drowsiness
confusion
collapse
rash of red or purple pinprick spots or larger bruises.

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