Claudia Gill was just 18 when she died within hours of meningococcal disease attacking her body.
Two years later, the university student warns everyone to beware of the symptoms.
After returning home from a long holiday in Queensland, the New South Wales woman was struck by fatigue, her ears were very sensitive to sound and there was a ringing in her head.
Her neck stiffened, she vomited and fainted.
The young woman was rushed to hospital and doctors discovered she had a potentially fatal meningococcal B bacterial infection. The doctors told her that if she had arrived at the hospital later, there was a good chance she would have died.
Assignment Freelance Photo NSW woman Claudia Gill was struck by meningococcus in 2022
Assignment Freelance Photo NSW woman Claudia Gill was struck by meningococcus in 2022
Her recovery took five nights in the hospital, weeks of rest and a slow return to work and study. Two years later, Mrs. Gill began experiencing more frequent and intense headaches.
Once she was out of the hospital, she wanted to find the community of people who have had the disease and learn what had attacked her body.
From there, Ms. Gill began speaking to community and advocacy groups, realizing she would be a good test case for advocacy about the disease.
“It’s coming so quickly… it was quite scary,” Ms Gill said.
She wants people to be aware of the symptoms so they can act quickly if they suspect an infection.
Mrs Gill only developed a small rash, which is usually a later symptom and often associated with meningococcal disease.
The rash followed increasing sensitivity to light and sound, a stiff neck, nausea, a stiff back, vomiting and then a completely stiff body and headache.
‘If I had had the results earlier, we would have acted sooner. But that’s why it’s so important to know all the symptoms,” she said.
Meningococcus is a type of bacteria that can enter your bloodstream and cause blood poisoning.
Vaccinations against variants A, C, W and Y are free in Australia for newborns, 14-16 year olds and people with asplenia and hyposplenia, complement deficiency and those receiving eculizumab treatment.
Ms Gill was affected by meningococcal B. The vaccine for this is free for people with the above immune conditions, as well as for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newborns.
Meningococcal deaths in Australia are in the news because of the widespread vaccination coverage we have, but also because of the rapid onset of the disease.
Last week, a Western Australian adult died from the disease, and two others were hospitalized; The cases were not related but were the state’s first fatality since 2020.
Ms Gill studies in Newcastle but is originally from Wollongong.
Vaccinations against variants A, C, W and Y are free in Australia for newborns, 14-16 year olds and people with asplenia and hyposplenia, complement deficiency and those receiving eculizumab treatment
It was in late 2022 in Wollongong that 23-year-old Brayden Chater became brain dead and died of meningococcal B.
His condition deteriorated rapidly over 24 hours, from feeling like he just had a fever, to convulsing and becoming unresponsive.
Doctors were unable to tell Ms Gill where she had contracted the bacteria.
Across Australia, there were 143 laboratory-confirmed cases of all meningococcal variants in 2023. Infections were most common in toddlers and 15- to 19-year-olds.
New South Wales had the most cases last year (36), but the Northern Territory and South Australia had the highest rates per capita, about one case per 100,000 people.
So far in 2024 there have been 31 confirmed cases, most of which are South Australia’s total of nine.