Stress of doctors in battle on meningitis
MENINGITIS is every doctor's worst nightmare and keeps them awake at night, a leading researcher has revealed.
Doctors are nervous even discussing meningitis in public, said Dr Tom Bourke from the Paediatric Department in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast.
And the problem of children presenting with non-specific symptoms is the biggest fear for doctors at all levels.
"There are a few things that keep you awake at night as a doctor. One of the things I worry about when I go home is if I've sent a child home with meningococcal disease.
"A child with meningitis can have non-specific symptoms. They can be the same as a tummy bug. We see 17,000 children with temperatures a year and only 30 have meningitis.
"I'm at the middle level of experience and for more junior doctors it's even more of an issue. I have enough experience now that if children have enough signs and symptoms, I'll know straight away."
Dr Bourke said often medical professionals can be blamed for not spotting meningitis on time, but he says the cruel virus is often very evasive for doctors.
"I think doctors are just generally afraid of publicity because they're afraid that the perception is going to be negative, quite often if the family feels that a mistake has been made.
research
"Often it's not a mistake, and the signs very early on are non specific and no one could have made a diagnosis at that stage."
As many as half of all children who present in the early stages of meningitis are sent home without the correct diagnosis, according to Dr Bourke.
"The second problem is there is no test, so doctors have no way of knowing whether it's meningitis or infection. We're trying to develop rapid tests in research funded by the Meningitis Research Foundation.
"This would reassure doctors that most people are well and correctly diagnosed. All we can do is examine children and look for specific symptoms like the rash and sore eyes and stiff neck."
hnews@herald.ie
- Geraldine Gittens
