I was 18 when I developed a niggling 頭痛 at work - then I woke up in hospital with a deadly 病気. These are the symptoms I wish I knew sooner
- Claudia Gill, 20, 契約d?meningococcal two years ago?
- She still 苦しむs after 影響s 含むing 頭痛s and tinnitus?
- READ MORE:?Mum's 警告 after her four-year-old caught meningococcal
Claudia Gill knew something was terribly wrong when she woke up dazed and 混乱させるd, squinting under 有望な lights in a hospital bed while 麻薬中毒の up to 監視するs.?
The last thing the then 18-year-old remembered was talking to someone in a hospital hallway hours earlier after she had arrived in an 救急車 with a 厳しい 頭痛, stiffness, vomiting and?sensitivity to light and noise.?
The 20-year-old, from Wollongong,?had been placed in an 孤立／分離 区 because she had 契約d the contagious and 潜在的に deadly meningococcal 病気 にもかかわらず never developing the tell-tale purple 無分別な.
She 生き残るd, albeit with ぐずぐず残る tinnitus and 頭痛s, but doctors said if she had turned up to hospital just 30 minutes later she probably would have died.?
Now the （犯罪の）一味ing in her ears and 苦痛 in her 長，率いる serve as a 執拗な 思い出の品 of the illness that almost took her life.?
Claudia Gill (pictured), from?Wollongong, 契約d the contagious and 潜在的に deadly meningococcal 病気?
The 20-year-old's first symptoms were a 頭痛, light and noise sensitivity, vomiting and stiffness. She started slipping in and out of consciousness when she was on the way to hospital
Claudia told FEMAIL she wants all Australians to familiarise themselves with the 調印するs and symptoms of?meningococcal.
'I was so incredibly lucky - my story could have ended very 異なって. I 勧める people to learn the 調印するs and symptoms and stay 警報,' she said.??
In May 2022 when she was 18, Claudia had returned to her casual 小売 職業 after a family holiday in?Queensland when her symptoms started.?
She had a bad 頭痛 and 設立する she was 極度の慎重さを要する to the lights and music. When she went home, her 条件 悪化するd その上の.?
'I got a stiff neck and I was nauseous then I ended up vomiting and passing out,' she 解任するd.?
'I was laying in my parents' bed really stiff. I couldn't move much because my 長，率いる felt so swollen and sore. My dad was trying to get a doctor's 任命, but we couldn't get one.'
Claudia's dad, Sam, called an 救急車 and the paramedics すぐに 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd? she had meningitis.?
'I don't get sick that often so we thought it could have been the flu or an 感染 of some sort. I don't think the thought ever crossed any of our minds that it could have been meningococcal,' she said.?
'I managed to walk to the 救急車 up my driveway into the 救急車. Looking 支援する, I don't know how I walked but once I got into the 救急車, I just kept getting worse and worse.'
In May of 2022 when she was 18, Claudia had returned to her casual 小売 職業 after a family holiday in Queensland when her symptoms started
On the way to the hospital, paramedics were asking Claudia questions but she 設立する it difficult to speak and she was slipping in and out of consciousness.?
The next thing she remembers was talking to a doctor in the hospital hallway and then waking up in an 孤立／分離 区 hours later.
She never got the tell-tale purple 無分別な (在庫／株 pictured)
'I had just the hospital gown on and all these 監視するs all over me. I remember thinking it was so 有望な and so loud and I was 混乱させるd,' she said.?
While she was asleep, doctors had run a bunch of 実験（する）s and a 悪名高くも painful and unpleasant 板材 穴をあける which she said she was happy to be unconscious for.
実験（する）s 確認するd Claudia had 契約d invasive meningococcal 病気, a bacterial 感染 影響する／感情ing?the 血 or the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.?
It is spread?by tiny 減少（する）s of fluid from the nose and throat 経由で coughing and sneezing. 事例／患者s go up in autumn and winter as 冷淡な 天候?運動s 集会s into enclosed, indoor spaces.?
Meningococcal is 一般的に thought of as something that 影響する／感情s young children who 勃発する in a 無分別な however it is also 流布している in 十代の少年少女s and young adults.
Doctors 扱う／治療するd Claudia for the 病気 based on her symptoms but before it was 確認するd as meningococcal can 原因（となる） disabilities or even death if it isn't 扱う／治療するd quickly enough.
While a 無分別な that looks like red or purple pinprick 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs or a larger bruise is a 調印する of meningococcal and often associated with the illness, it only develops in the later 行う／開催する／段階s of the 感染.?
Claudia said she only ever noticed two small red dots on her arm.
'I only got a tiny bit of the 無分別な on my arm, but it was just a couple of red dots rather than that purple 無分別な everyone knows about,' she said.?
Doctors 扱う／治療するd her for the 病気 based on her symptoms but before it was 確認するd as meningococcal can 原因（となる） disabilities or even death if it isn't 扱う／治療するd quickly enough.?
'Doctors said the time was pretty much what saved me. If we'd been half an hour later, it would have been a lot a lot worse,' she said.?
Claudia spent five days in hospital on 抗生物質s she 答える／応じるd 井戸／弁護士席 to and was able to return home and slowly start 支援する at work.?
However, she has been left with 継続している 影響s.?
'The 頭痛s are worse than they were before, but they're manageable. I also have a bit of 損失 in my ears. If I go to a concert or an event where there's loud music, I have to wear earplugs,' she said.?
Claudia wants people to educate themselves on the 調印するs and symptoms so they know when to go to hospital before it's too late(pictured with her parents Sam and Katrina and sister, Alice)
To this day, Claudia has no idea where she caught?meningococcal even after 医療の staff tried to trace the 原因（となる） to 抑制（する） its spread.
'They did some 跡をつけるing of where I'd been but we couldn't find anything so it's 全く unknown where I got it,' she said.?
Claudia wants people to know how serious?meningococcal can be and educate themselves on the 調印するs and symptoms so they know when to go to hospital before it's too late.??
'It's 利益／興味ing because I get one of two reactions, people are either like, "Oh, my God, that's so scary. I can't believe that happened", or they have no idea what it is and how serious it is,' she said.?
'If you've got any of the symptoms take it 本気で and go get it checked because it can happen to anyone at any time.'
