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One nursery's story

A nursery school was turned into a vaccination clinic after meningitis struck close to home. Liz Fox reports Val Webb, proprietor of Ashford Play Nursery Schools in Kent, knows all too well how important it is to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis.

Val Webb, proprietor of Ashford Play Nursery Schools in Kent, knows all too well how important it is to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis.

In 1999, staff and parents had a double shock when two of the nursery children contracted the life-threatening disease within weeks of each other.

'The first child to be diagnosed was Alex,' Val recalls. 'The staff noticed that Alex had a sore and bruised knee in the afternoon, and when his dad came to pick him up we told him to keep a close eye on him. An hour and a half later we had a call to say Alex had been admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis.'

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