But more than 40 per cent of respondents in a survey of 1,000 British adults said they could not spot the common symptoms of meningitis. The research, carried out for the Meningitis Trust, found that 27 per cent of parents questioned were even unaware that their children fell into the groups that are at high risk.
Children under five represent half of all meningitis cases and more children of this age are killed by meningitis than any other infectious disease. Public Health Laboratory Service figures indicate that since 1998 there has been around a 45 per cent rise in cases of meningococcal B, the most common cause of meningitis in the UK.
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