Meningitis B in the UAE – your questions answered

With rumours and concerns growing about the unavailability of the Meningitis B vaccine here in the UAE, I spoke to Kim Quick, travel medicine specialist at Health Bay PolyClinic, to find out more – and if parents should be worried

Can you tell me a bit about Meningitis in general?

There are many different strains of Meningitis. Historically according to data in the UK most cases were Meningitis C and B, although trends can change and the W strain is also causing an increasing number of cases. However due to meningitis C vaccine being given routinely now cases of Meninigitis C have reduced, but Meningitis B is responsible for 80 % of cases in the UK. Infection is highest in the under 5 year olds and peaks under the age of 12 months, with another peak at 15-19 years of age. (NHS Green Book Meningitis)

What is the current Meningitis vaccine available to UAE patients?

In Health Bay we currently give the MENACTRA vaccine. This covers the Meningitis ACWY strains and can be given from the age of 9 months. If your child has the vaccine under the age of 2 years they require two doses three months apart. From the age of 2 years they only need one dose.

Does this vary from clinic to clinic?

Yes, there are different vaccines on the market, that are given at different times and some require boosters. This will be decided by your child's doctor.

Why is the Meningitis B vaccine absent from schedules – and does this pose a threat?

Meningitis B vaccine BEXSERO is a new vaccine only introduced to the UK in 2015, and is currently not licensed here in Dubai. As soon as it is we will be introducing it. The UAE have strict licensing laws we have to abide by and, until it is decided on by the governing bodies, we cannot introduce it.

Has there been an increase of Meningitis worldwide, or are we just more aware because of social media?

As far as I am aware there is not an increase worldwide. The bacteria responsible for Meningitis infection is carried in the nostrils of 5-11% of adults and 25 % of adolescents with no symptoms, and so far it is not known why some people are susceptible to the infection. However, we do know that it affects children under 5 more and particularly under one, hence the introduction of the Meningitis B vaccine being given from the age of 2 months in the UK.

Should parents be worried?

I think as parents we all need to be aware of Meningitis symptoms, and if you are at all concerned about your child seek medical help. Always trust your gut instinct when your child is sick. The incubation period is two to seven day and the onset varies from general malaise, fever and vomiting to headache, neck stiffness, photophobia drowsiness, confusion, joint pains and the rash, which does not blanch when you put a glass on it. Young infants do not always have the classic signs and may present with fever, vomiting and irritability and deterioration can be rapid with pallor, fast pulse and a rash. (NHS green book Meninigitis)

Should I get the Meningitis B vaccine if I’m at home in the UK?

You can ask your GP at home about getting the vaccine if you have a young child, but be aware it is a course of three vaccines given at 2 months, 4 months and 12-13 months.

Is it possible to bring it into the UAE from abroad?

All vaccines have to be carefully stored and kept at certain temperatures and it is very important not to break the cold chain so travelling with them is not recommended. Also as the vaccine is not licensed here, it may cause you a problem.

A parody of Rudyard Kipling's If - by a mum

Kipling's famed poem is about stoicism, something a lot of mums know a lot about, so I felt a little mother-themed update was in order....

If - by The Mothership

If you can keep your head during witching hour,   

While the baby is screaming blue murder,

If you can be trusted to go on a trampoline,

And not accidentally wet yourself;   

If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,

For a teething baby to finally sleep,

Or to eat that puree you lovingly made,

And stop dropping dummies on the floor.

If you can wear black leggings for a year (or two), 

Of varying but limited styles;

If you can meet with practicality and spontaneity,

And leave the house within 1 hour and 45 minutes,

If you can bear to survive on toast crusts, cold cups of tea, 

And hastily drunk wine after bedtime;

Or watch your home be taken over by plastic toys,

And noise, and crumbs, and handprints,

If you can learn to love tiny fingers being shoved up your nose, 

And in your eyes and fish hooking your mouth,

If you don’t mind bathing with plastic toys and baby bubbles,         

Instead of Jo Malone and a G&T,

If you can put a dummy in the baby’s mouth from the driver’s seat, 

And still sing their favourite song,

And get a sleep-suit on what is effectively a ferret,

Trying to escape from a sack,

If you can suffer birth, maternity pads, sore boobs and worse,

And want to go through it again,

If you surrender your body, your brain and even your damn fat feet,

And still love why you did it,

If you can witness some friendships fall away, 

But others get stronger than ever,

And have your vulnerability on show for the world to see, 

And not have it any other way, you’re a mum.

How did we get here?

Do you ever, out of nowhere have one of those ‘how did I get here?’ moments where, suddenly, you take a step back, disappear into your head and try to make sense of that exact second in time? It happened to me today, as I was driving. It was almost like a realisation - I am a woman who drives a Volvo estate with a ‘baby on board’ sticker, my husband is next to me (I’m married!!!), and my daughter is in the back. A Volvo. A husband. A baby. How?

During my early 20s (AKA The Wilderness/Party Years) the thought of settling down into the kind of life that I now have - and love - was tantalising yet incomprehensible. 

 - How on earth would I find a lovely man who would be kind, and clever, and a great father, and only bitch for a new moments before making me an orange squash? 

- Why would I ever get rid of my ancient, almost certainly unsafe 4x4 (nicknamed The Vaginero by my boss)? 

- Could I bear to live with someone else after blissful years of living alone in the perfect (admittedly minuscule) apartment? 

- Would they have invented a way of having a baby without actually giving birth by the time I wanted a child? C’mon science… 

- Am I too selfish to be a mother? Would that ever change? What if I think the child I bring into the world is, frankly, a bit of a dick when he/she grows up? What if I have a child that’s a he/she?! And what if the worst happens and… I can’t bring myself to write it.

- It it possible to have a baby and a career? Or a relaxing holiday and a baby? And money and a baby? 

And yet here I am. In another part of the world. Behind the wheel of a large automobile. Baffled. Singing Talking Heads. And I wouldn’t change a thing (apart from getting more wear out of those pre-preggo dresses and the occasional lie-in).

The hardest morning of the week for working mums?

In the last week Phoebe has started two new things; waving, and pointing her finger. She often does them at the same time, looking like a sassy woman admonishing her wayward baby daddy on the Jerry Springer stage (“Aww hell no!”). In truth, I don’t think she really knows what waving means, and probably just likes the way it feels, and how we react when she does it.

This morning, on the first day back at work after a blissful weekend of family time, I started to leave the house. Phoebe chose this exact moment to beam at me in the doorway and wave back, seemingly knowing exactly what she was doing. I then turned my back to walk out and she started wailing. This was the first time that I think she’s really understood that I’m not going to be around for the day.

I’m under no illusions that within minutes she was on fine form, merrily playing, terrorising the dogs and having the rest of her breakfast, but the same couldn’t be said for me. Hint: tears in the car. By 9am I was okay, but definitely looked at more photos of her on my phone than usual, and missed her terribly. 

Perhaps in a year or so I’ll be skipping off to my desk, grateful for a break from the demands of a toddler, but at 10 months, my little girl is all fun and chatter. 

On the upside, her face when I came home was heaven. And hopefully tomorrow will be easier. 

Print available from Society 6.

10 lessons I’ve learnt during weaning (so far)

Phoebe wasn’t interested in solid food until she was about six and a half months old. Before that we lovingly steamed and pureed various veg only for her to clamp her little month shut as the spoon approached. Then, during lunch one weekend, she wrestled a piece of baguette out of my hand (a carb lover, like her mother) and we were off. 

In keeping with my approach to parenting, I hadn’t read any books. Well, I’d started a Gina Ford guide to weaning for a ‘contented’ baby that held big promise, but frankly it made my head fall off. Trying to keep to her daily planner of introducing new foods on a staggeringly rigid basis was a test of patience, discipline and shopping lists that proved too much for me. I could picture Gina shaking her head at me as I closed the book for the last time. 

Since then, weaning has been a combination of purees, putting nibbly bits on her high chair table and letting her eat from our plates on occasion. In short, we’re winging it. And she’s not starving, so I’m calling it a win.

Here are some lessons I’ve learnt so far:

1. Ella is a goddess (or her father who allegedly makes those yummy pouches deserves an OBE). We use them at weekends when the thought of defrosting sloppy broccoli on the go makes my stomach turn. I’m pretty sure we’ve spent so much on them that Ella and her entire family can comfortably retire to Bermuda in 2016. 
2. What the baby doesn't eat, the dogs will. Earlier today our aged spaniel Lizzie licked up some discarded chicken casserole from the floor, while the puppy often benefits from a stray berry-flavoured rice cake, organic carrot crisp and those melty hoop things that sadly don’t taste as good as they smell. Note: descriptions of baby food make it sound delicious but they’re all rank, which quickly ended my plans of getting on Jennifer Aniston’s reported diet plan. 
3. Don’t worry about what your baby eats in a day, worry about it over a week. Sometimes distraction, teething, tiredness or whatever goes through their tiny minds means that their appetite is smaller or bigger on any given day. Don’t stress.
4. Sometimes it’s ok for a baby to eat pain au chocolat. If it keeps her quiet long enough for me to have a cup of tea in a cafe with another mum then it’s fine in my book. 
5. Don’t compare. As with crawling, talking, walking and every other developmental point of difference, what your kid eats won’t be the same as that baby over there (yes, that one happily dipping their focaccia in truffle oil with an air of sophistication). 
6. Persevere. Baby might adore your famous spag bol one day, then the next act like you've warmed up excrement in their orange plastic bowl. Chances are, they’ll like it again tomorrow. Don’t take it personally.
7. Planning helps, if you’re an organised person. I’m not. A lot of mums cook most nights and cunningly make separate portions of salt-free meals for their baby. Due to both parents working full time, at our house dinner is often cheese on toast or ordered in - and I seriously doubt Gina or Annabel would endorse me whizzing up Biryani Pot’s butter chicken or 800 Pizza’s finest pepperoni. 
8. The Nutribullet is your friend. Yes, it was bought with romantic, idealistic notions of a green juice before work leading to so much baby weight lost that friends would ask for my secret, with mock concern. It has, however, never seen spinach but is brilliant for pureeing the crap out of just about anything.
9. The contents of nappies change. I can’t say more without getting graphic, but let’s just say that you’ll yearn for the days of newborn poops once the more grown-up, umm, efforts appear.
10. Wipes. Wipes. Wipes. Great for distracting baby long enough to shove a spoon in their mouth, essential for cleaning up after and good for your handbag when you see you have Mango Baby Brekkie behind your ear in the rearview mirror on the way to work. 

Bonus tip: my very clever friend Lyndsay is a trained chef and has a blog called I Eat My Peas full of awesome recipes that can be adapted for big people and little people. Check it out here.