13 Nov 2018

Mother pleads for meningoccocal vaccine after daughter's death

From Morning Report, 7:48 am on 13 November 2018

A Whangarei mother of four wants a nationwide meningoccocal vaccination and awareness programme after she lost her 7-year-old daughter to the disease. The number of cases of group W meningococcal disease has doubled over the last 12 months and health officials are at a loss to explain why. There have been 24 cases this year and 6 deaths, with half of those deaths in Northland. Alexis Albert came home from school four months ago feeling unwell. Her condition worsened over two days, and she later died in Starship Hospital. Her mother Rowshae Albert told our reporter Eva Corlett that her daughter was a bright, inquisitive girl.